Help
- Help for Change Password
- Help for Reset Your Password Using your Secret Questions and Answers
- Help for Online Login
Help for Change Password
- How to use this service
- How to choose your password
- Managing your password
How to use this service
This service allows you to reset your password. For your security, if you have not already logged on to Centrelink Online Services you will be prompted to enter your Customer Access Number (CAN) and your current password. Once you have been validated you will then be able to set a new password. You will be asked to enter your new password twice.
How to choose your password
In order to make it more difficult for somebody else to guess your password, there are some rules about the sort of password you can use. The password must be between six and eight characters in length and there must be a mixture of different characters including at least one number and one alphabetical character. For example you won't be able to use a password like "1111111" or "AAAAAA". The following special characters may be used: !, @, #, $, %, ^, & and *.
There are other things that you can do to make it more difficult for somebody to guess or find out your password:
- Do not base your password on something that other people know about you, like:
- significant dates - family birthdays, anniversaries etc;
- family names - children, partners, parents etc;
- favourite things - colours, football teams, songs etc;
- Do not use a word that appears in a dictionary. Some hackers use a computer with a dictionary programme to guess people's passwords. You can make up a password using the first letters of the words from a song, poem or saying that you will easily remember;
- Do not choose the same password that you use for other internet sites. Not all internet sites are secure, even if they ask you for a password. Hackers can sometimes find the passwords on insecure sites and then use them to get into more secure sites.
Managing your password
Once you have chosen a secure password, you need to make sure that nobody else discovers what it is. There are some simple precautions you can take:
- Do not write your Password down;
- Do not tell anybody what your Password is;
- Do not use your Password when people can see what you are typing.
It is also a good idea to change your password on a regular basis. The longer you use the same password, the more chance there is that somebody else might guess what it is. We recommend that you change your password every 3 months.
Help for Reset Your Password Using your Secret Questions and Answers
- How to use this service
- What are secret questions and answers
How to use this service
This service allows you to reset your password using your previously set up secret questions and answers. You must have the minimum number of secret questions and answers recorded to use this service. If you do not have enough secret questions and answers to use this service you will need to re-register to obtain a new password.
What are Secret Questions and Answers
Your secret questions and answers would have been provided when you registered or after you first logged on to Centrelink Online Services, using the Set Your Secret Questions and Answer option. If you have less than the minimum required number you will be prompted to enter more each time you log on to Centrelink Online Services. Your secret questions and answers are used to help increase protection over your personal and sensitive information.
Your secret questions and answers will be encrypted and cannot be read by Centrelink staff.
For privacy reasons, once you start using this service, you will be "timed out" if you do not continue to use it by clicking on a field, entering information or scrolling up or down the page at least once every fourteen minutes.
Help for Online Login
- Customer Access Number
- Password
- Personal Identification Number
Centrelink is expanding the range of services available to customers via the Internet.
Some services need you to logon to access the information. Use your Customer Access Number and password to logon. If you are using Online Services for the first time, you need to register before logging on.
If you forget your password, you need to register again to get a new one. To register again, select the 'forgotten your password' link.
If you have obtained a Personal Identification Number (PIN) for Centrelink's telephone self service facilities, the PIN is not recognised as your password to logon to our Online Customer Services. You need to register before logging on.
For privacy reasons, once you start using this service, you will be "timed out" if you do not continue to use it by clicking on a field, entering information or scrolling up or down the page at least once every five minutes.
If you have any problems using the services, please contact Centrelink. To do so, please click on Help and Comments. This will take you to our secure messaging service, which will enable you to request assistance. Please be sure to tell us the following information:
- your Customer Reference Number (CRN);
- a description of the problem
- your name and a contact phone number (in case we need to speak to you to resolve the problem).
Customer Access Number
Your Customer Access Number (CAN) is the number you were given when you first registered to use online services with Centrelink and the Family Assistance Office. Please enter this number without spaces.
Password
This is the password you supplied when you first registered to use online services with Centrelink and the Family Assistance Office. If you forget your password, you need to register again to get a new one. To register again, select the 'forgotten your password' link.
Personal Identification Number
Your Personal Identification Number (PIN), if you have one, is the number you selected when you registered to use Centrelink's telephone self service facilities. This number cannot be used to logon to Online Customer Services.
