Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

The RSHQ Portal is the new online regulatory system from RSHQ for the Queensland resources sector. All industries RSHQ regulate will eventually be moved onto the Portal including the explosives and fireworks, petroleum and gas, mining and quarrying industries.

The Portal brings a range of reporting, licensing and compliance activities onto a central, online platform. It will make your regulatory transactions with RSHQ faster, simpler, and more secure.

Many of your transactions with us are already done online, however the introduction of the RSHQ Portal provides a centralised, secure system with benefits for all industry members by making your transactions:

• simpler by eliminating stand-alone forms
• faster by reducing processing time
• cheaper, if you currently buy physical compliance materials
• more secure by using onshore identity verification rather than just username and password credentials
• more convenient with on-the-go mobility
• more accurate with pre-populating fields, and less typing
• more traceable by storing your transaction history
• overall, a more user-friendly experience.

The RSHQ Portal is being developed, and coming ‘online’, in stages.

As new functionality becomes available it will be listed in the Services available on the RSHQ Portal section of our web page.

We will communicate any changes or actions required to the affected industry group via email and other suitable publications ahead of time.

To ensure you are kept in the loop, contact the relevant Inspectorate and make sure the contact details we have for you are up to date.

Like most government, banking or other online service apps or hubs, the RSHQ Portal is a web-based system, so you need access to the internet to use it.

Some workers in remote areas have told us that they use a Starlink device to connect to the internet and to ensure they can communicate in an emergency.

For now, internet connectivity is required, however offline functionality may be addressed in the future.

If your browser is an older version than those listed below, the RSHQ Portal may not function as intended:

• Google Chrome: compatible with version 60 or newer versions.
• Firefox: compatible with Mozilla Firefox version 60 or newer versions.
  • Firefox ESR: also compatible with Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) used by enterprises and organisations.
• iOS: compatible with Safari (and other browsers) running on iOS 12 or newer versions.
• Safari: compatible with Safari version 12 or newer versions on MacOS.
• Microsoft Edge: compatible with version 16 or newer versions.
• Internet Explorer: NOT compatible with version 11 or earlier versions.

Your industry hasn’t been transitioned to the Portal yet

If your industry or transaction types have not yet been developed in the RSHQ Portal you will not have received any communication from us yet.

We are introducing the Portal in stages and will reach out to affected industry members at the beginning of each stage. You will have plenty of advance warning of impending changes and the opportunity to provide feedback by being part of a trial/ ‘soft launch’ prior to full industry release.

Are your contact details up to date?

It is important that you periodically check that the contact details we have for you are up to date. If you haven’t received any email or text messages from RSHQ it could be that your details are not current.

Your email address is the key contact associated with your licence. It needs to be individual to you, and easily accessible. Everything that RSHQ needs to communicate to you about your licence will be sent to the email address we have on file. Your email is also how you will log into the Portal. A verification code is sent to your registered email every time you attempt to log in to your Portal account.

If you complete transactions on behalf of a licence holder or company, you will be invited by the ‘authorised person’ in the system to create a Portal account. Once you have an account, you will need to maintain your contact details.

Have you checked your junk mail folder?

If your details are up to date, you may need to check that our emails aren’t going into your spam or junk mail folders.

Without an easily accessible, current and individual email address, you may miss important messages that impact your licence.

An individual email address also helps to safeguard the information stored in your account. Every time you access the RSHQ Portal, a code is sent to it to enable you to log-in. Your Portal account is unique to you, and the email you use to access it must be too.

Identity verification ensures you are who you say you are by cross-referencing the details you provide against official records. This may be done manually or digitally.

The Portal requires identity verification. Using digital identity verification reduces the risk of identity fraud.

Identity verification has been performed manually in the past by providing hard-copies of documents, typically to satisfy a ‘100-point’ criterion. This involved obtaining or making registered copies of official documents, having them witnessed by a Justice of the Peace, and then submitting them to the service you were accessing – taking time, effort, and only providing a one-off verification for a single specific need.

A digital identity verification removes much of the time and effort previously required by enabling you to verify online, where the documents you provide are checked against the existing, official records of your identity documents online.

Depending on the verification service you use, this may also be attached to a digital identity, which enables you to use that single verification to access many other services ongoing (until any of the verified documents expire).

Identity verification helps protect your Portal account and the information within it from unauthorised access, identity theft, data breaches, and scams. It’s designed to be convenient, privacy-conscious, and fully under your control.

Digital identity verification provides a stronger level of verification, which may be required for some transactions (such as obtaining an explosives licence).

If you do not already have a digital identity you can choose one of the identity verification services below. Both services must be accessed via your name in RSHQ Portal once you have logged in.

If you already have a myID profile, you will just need to link it to the RSHQ Portal.

myID service  

The myID identity verification service is owned by the Australian Government and administered by the tax office; it cross-checks the documents you provide (such as your drivers’ licence, passport, birth certificate) to the original record held by the Australian Government’s document verification service (DVS).

Begin digital identity verification from within the RSHQ Portal, where you will be redirected to the myID webpage to download an app to your phone. The app provides a multi-factor authentication (MFA) code to ensure secure access to your myID profile for as long as your identity documents remain current.

IDVerse

The IDVerse identity verification service  provides a one-off verification of your identity for a specific use, in this case the Portal. It uses optical character recognition (OCR) to scan your identity documents to recognise the numbers and text to populate the system. OCR can make simple errors like scanning a zero (0) as a letter ‘O’, or a one (1) as a letter ‘L’, so you should always check the details before submitting.

Once you begin verification from within the RSHQ Portal, follow the prompts to receive an SMS and then complete the IDVerse process with your phone. You will need a smart phone because you need to provide a ‘selfie’ (a photo taken of yourself of your mobile phone) during the verification process.

If you have all required documents at hand, the actual verification process will take no longer than 10 minutes.

The process cannot be paused or saved to return to later, so make sure you read the instructions first and have the time to complete the process in its entirety.

When you use a digital identity verification service, RSHQ does not receive or store your identity documents.

When your identity documents are submitted to the verification service, they are only used to conduct the verification and are then redacted.

myID does not store your documents, but it does store your verification so you can use it to access other government services. myID is owned by the Australian Government and offers extensive support resources on its website.

IDVerse does not store a verification profile so it cannot be reused in the future. IDVerse is a company service, and any issues you experience should be referred to RSHQ.

Both services are free for you to use.

The only cost you may incur is if you want to obtain an identification document that you do not already have (such as a new drivers’ licence or passport) or renew an existing document.

We understand there are differing views on using digital identity verification services, and we are considering feedback and reviewing alternatives.

All activities on the RSHQ Portal require the user to have completed a form of identity verification to ensure the account user is who they say they are.

The two digital identity verification services you can use are myID and IDVerse, in the context of accessing the Portal these are only used to verify your identity.

If you do not want to use a digital verification service, contact the relevant Inspectorate and ask about an alternative option.

You may be interested to read some more information about digital identity verification and your rights on the Australian government website.

These tips will help you avoid the frustration of a failed identity verification:

• Verification takes approximately ten minutes and cannot be paused. Make sure you have your documents at hand and enough time to complete the verification process in its entirety.
• If your name varies across your documents, you must provide linking documents (such as a marriage certificate or change of name certificate).
• Capture your documents and ‘selfie’ (a photo taken of yourself of your mobile phone) in good, even lighting. Dim or high contrast lighting may prevent the verification system from being able to detect detail.
• Ensure all your identity documents are current, as expired documents will not be accepted.
• Remove anything obstructing your face such as face coverings or bandages (beards and glasses are okay) when capturing the facial recognition image.
• Make sure the details on the captured document match those in your originals exactly. If you notice any errors, edit them on screen before submitting.

Examples of common errors include:

• detection of name or spelling variations between documents – for example one document has your name as “Michael”, another as “Mike”.
• the number zero is incorrectly recognised as the letter “O” or a one (1) as letter ‘L”.

The Portal has been designed to be easy to use with drop-down menus, single-click selections and built-in options to avoid a lot of typing and reduce the potential for error.

Instructions are simple and consistent, but if you need extra help we have lots of guidance materials on the training and support section of the RSHQ website, and we add to them regularly.

You’ll find fact sheets and videos that help you through your first log-in, plus step-by-step guides on how to undertake more detailed tasks once you are up and running.

We understand it may initially be challenging, especially if you’re not used to computers, however our online resources and staff are here to help.

We are confident that any short-term discomfort during your transition to the Portal  will be worth it as your transactions with RSHQ will become simpler, faster and in some cases cheaper.