Why you must remove personal details such as Tax File Numbers (TFNs) from TRA Skills Assessment documents

Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) has updated its Applicant Guidelines to:

• remind applicants and their authorised representatives to protect personal details that are not required for a skills assessment, such as Tax File Numbers (TFNs) or bank account details; and
• make clear that any unnecessary information must be deleted or obscured before documents are submitted to TRA or TRA-approved Registered Training Organisations.

Do not provide information that is not required
Personal or sensitive information that is not relevant to a TRA skills assessment must be removed before documents are lodged. For example, bank statement details unrelated to salary deposits should not be visible, as TRA has no need to collect, store, or use this information.

TFNs must not be included
TFNs must never be supplied in pay slips, tax notices, or any other employment-related documents. TRA does not require TFNs for skills assessments and is not permitted to collect, use, store, or disclose them under the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015.