National Identification Number - New Zealand

New Zealand

In New Zealand, an Inland Revenue Department (IRD) number is issued by the IRD to every taxpayer (a natural or juristic person), and is needed with all dealings with the IRD. It must be given to any employer or bank responsible for charging withholding tax, and to apply for or use a student loan. Driver's licences carry a unique number, often recorded when providing them as identification.

The social security and student support services of the Ministry of Social Development (Work and Income, and StudyLink) issue a Work and Income client number, assigned at the occurrence of a person's first contact with either service. A general letter of enquiry about a service appears to be sufficient for one to be logged and may be assigned without the letter writer's knowledge.

A National Health Index (NHI) number is assigned to all newborn New Zealanders at birth, and those who use a health and disability support service that do not already have one.

The Ministry of Education also issues a National Student Number (NSN) which is the key to its database of qualifications. Students receive a their NSN from the Ministry their education provider if they do not have one already. Those who previously held an NQF number from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority use this as their NSN.

Though there has been a plan for a National ID Card (dropped after three months), the small population means a name and date of birth can usually uniquely identify someone, though identity theft is easily possible when two people share a name and birthdate. Since there are several different numbers, people do often not remember their number, making a search for the number based on name and birth date needed when dealing with authorities.