The 6 situations when photo ID is required

Checking a patient’s photo identification (ID) can be both a useful – and mandatory – practice.

Australian Pharmacist explores the instances where minimum practice and legal obligations require pharmacists to verify photo ID.

Signing a statutory declaration as a witness

Under the Statutory Declarations Regulations 2023 and various state/territory regulations, pharmacists are approved to witness a Commonwealth statutory declaration. 

The Statutory Declarations Act 1959 contains surprisingly little guidance on the responsibility of a witness. While the Act does not require witnesses to confirm a declarant’s identity or validity of their statement, there is an expectation witnesses are confident the person making the declaration is not acting fraudulently or under coercion. 

Whether to increase confidence in a person’s identity, allay doubts or improve workflow, if the declarant is not known to them, pharmacists should request photo ID – or may choose to refuse to witness the Commonwealth statutory declaration altogether.

This approach also helps with consistency, as different types of declarations have different identity verification requirements. For example, in Victoria, the Oaths and Affirmations Act 2018 says a witness must not sign a statutory declaration unless the authorised witness has taken reasonable steps to ensure the declarant is the person named in the statutory declaration.

If the witness doesn’t know the declarant personally, the quickest and most reliable form of proof is always likely to be photo ID.

Signing a patient up for Active Script Lists

Following the implementation of the Active Script List (ASL) functionality, the Active Script List Release 1 – Privacy Framework was released in May 2021 – requiring pharmacists to verify a patient’s identity for ASL registration.

To confirm a patient’s identity, pharmacists are legally required to check both a current government-issued photo ID and a Medicare or Department of Veteran Affairs card. 

If the patient doesn’t have a photo ID, pharmacists can either verify 100 points of other ID (along with their Medicare or DVA card) – or apply the ‘known patient model’. 

The threshold for the ‘known patient model’ may surprise you. The patient must already be familiar to the individual pharmacist and have had at least four prescriptions filled in their name at that pharmacy in the past year.

Prescribing pseudoephedrine

Due to the potential for misuse, in most jurisdictions, pharmacists are required to sight or record certain details when prescribing medicines containing pseudoephedrine as Pharmacist Only medicines – including identity verification.

But the requirements vary from state to state.

For example in South Australia,  pharmacists must not supply pseudoephedrine unless patients provide a form of photo ID or their birth certificate.

In NSW, the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 requires pharmacists to record a unique reference number, the supplier’s name, the patient’s name and address, and the product name, strength, quantity, and supply date. Importantly, if the recipient’s identity is unknown, pharmacists must record the unique reference number of a form of photo ID. And the implications of failing to do so are dire – resulting in up to 20 penalty units, 3 months’ imprisonment – or both.

Establishing patient identity for enrolment in opioid dependence therapy

Critical to patient safety in opioid dependence therapy is correct identification, as administering a dose to the wrong patient can lead to a fatal overdose.

Positive patient identification is critical to validating someone’s identity accurately when establishing a person in the program, particularly when biometric data is collected. 

Biometric identification systems, such as iris scanning, can be helpful in pharmacotherapy programs such as opioid dependence treatment for verifying patient identity, reducing the risk of diversion and dramatically streamlining workflow.

Photo identification at the time of establishing the profile can be valuable in supporting this. Most jurisdictions also have workaround options to establish patient identity (e.g. photo of patient signed by the prescriber) where photo identification is not available.

Dispensing controlled drugs (S8)

If a patient is not known to a pharmacy or their Medicare card details are unspecified, asking for photo identification can be useful to confirm identity when dispensing controlled substances.

This can be helpful in establishing the prescription is for a real person and reduce the risk of someone accessing Controlled Drugs through impersonation.

While this will be normal practice for many pharmacists, some may be surprised at specific requirements in their state and territory poisons regulations.. For example, in:

• Western Australia, under the Medicines and Poisons Act 2014 (WA) pharmacists must confirm the legitimacy of the prescription and the identity of the recipient. If the recipient is unknown, sighting photo ID is strongly recommended.
• New South Wales, the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 requires pharmacists to be satisfied with the collector’s identity. While not mandatory, asking for ID is standard if the person is not known.
• Victoria, the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Regulations 2017 requires accurate records and identity confirmation, but it is not stipulated that photo ID must be viewed in every case.

In other words, when in doubt, requesting photo ID when dispensing Controlled Drugs can help reduce risk of dispensing fraudulent prescriptions or identify impersonation. 

Supplying S3 vapes

When supplying vapes as Pharmacist Only medicines, pharmacists must sight identification at every encounter to confirm patients’ identity and age.

This stipulation remains despite the length of the relationship with the patient, or whether the pharmacist has supplied the patient with vaping products over several months.

It’s also essential to confirm the person prescribed or supplied the vape is who they say they are, with vaping products only able to be provided in-person to the person who requires them.