RealMe
What is RealMe?
RealMe is an authentication service that enables you to prove who you are online. Your RealMe login is a single username and password you can use to securely access online services.
The authentication process is run by the Department of Internal Affairs, which takes privacy and security very seriously. They were the first government service to be awarded the Privacy Trust Mark.
The RealMe website provides a general explanation, and an extensive list of users including government organisations, companies and other councils.
How does Environment Southland use RealMe?
We use your RealMe information to:
- verify who you are
- pre-populate some information in forms (such as your name)
- provide you with access to your consents and view individual details, like conditions or expiry details, or application status, where we know you are authorised to view them
What are the benefits of using RealMe?
Once we've verified who you are and matched your account to the details held in our system, you're a registered user. As a registered user you can:
- ‘save for later’ at any step in the process of lodging an application and come back and complete at a later time.
- ‘share’ your application with other registered online users, such as consultants.
- update your contact details, which get updated directly into our database.
An overall benefit to doing things online is that it ensures accuracy, and enables council staff to work more efficiently, resulting in shorter turn-around times and less costs for consent applicants.
What happens if a consultant wants to lodge an application on my behalf ?
- The consultant has their own RealMe account and their own “My Account”
- The consultant can view all the applications they lodge and see the status of these.
- The consultant can ‘share’ the application with their customer, as long as the customer is a registered user.
Note 1:
When the consultant is lodging an application on behalf, our online application is asking for Agent (consultant) contact details, along with applicant contact detail.
Note 2:
When the application becomes a consent – the consultant does not see the consent as they are not the authorised person. However in the future when the authorised person needs to renew the consent, they can share the consent with their consultant online.
