Setting up Relationship Authorisation Manager for your business

About Relationship Authorisation Manager

Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM) is an authorisation service that allows you to act on behalf of a business online when linked with your Digital ID.

Depending on your type of organisation (and contractual arrangements with the department for employment providers), RAM will enable access to one or more of the following business services:

Apprenticeships Data Management System (ADMS)
Community Development Program (CDP)*
Employment Security Access Management (eSAM)
ESSWeb*
Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) Insolvency Practitioners (IP) Online
Unique Student Identifier (USI) Organisation Portal
Workforce Australia Online for Businesses
Workforce Australia Online for Providers*.

* also requires an eSAM registration and access roles.

Learn about Relationship Authorisation Manager.

Setting up RAM for your business for the first time

A principal authority (a person responsible for the business) may have already linked to the Australian business number (ABN) in RAM. For example, to use other government agencies’ online services, such as the Australian Taxation Office. If not, then a principal authority of the ABN needs to link their digital ID to the business in RAM before others can be authorised to act on behalf of the business.

Visit RAM to learn about linking your ABN as a principal authority.

Authorising your staff in RAM to act on behalf of your business

Once a principal authority has linked to the ABN, they can authorise staff to act on behalf of the business in RAM. They can also authorise one or more staff members to be authorisation administrators, who can manage authorisations on their behalf.

Important step you must complete

When a principal authority or authorisation administrator authorises a staff member in RAM, there is a step called Agency Access.

In the list of government agencies, you need to locate the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and select Custom or Full access. This will enable access to the services listed under DEWR.

Authorisation administrator setup: if an authorisation administrator will also access DEWR online services, they also need Agency Access set to DEWR.

Visit RAM to learn about setting up authorisations for your staff.

Why do I need to link my Digital ID to my ABN?

To access government online services such as Workforce Australia Online and ADMS, on behalf of a business, your Digital ID needs to be linked to the ABN in RAM.

As a business owner/person responsible for a business you are a principal authority and need to link the business in RAM first.

Once linked, you have the ability to authorise other staff in your organisation to act on behalf of the business when accessing the government online services you set up for them.

Learn about who can be a principal authority and how to link your business in RAM.

My ABN does not display in RAM after using the Link my business option

This may be because:

your details aren’t up to date on the Australian Business Register (ABR). For example, you’re not listed as the person responsible for the business or your name doesn’t match your legal name used in your myID app. Contact the ABR for support at the Australian Business Register website or discuss your associate status with senior management of the business.
your ABN is for a trust, charity, not-for-profit organisation or government entity – in these examples (and some others) you’re not listed as an individual associate on the ABR and will need to contact RAM support to link your ABN. You’re considered a primary person for the ABN (type of principal authority displayed as an indirect associate or responsible authority in RAM once you’re linked). Visit the RAM website to learn more about primary persons and other ways you can link your business in RAM.

Strong identity strength: If you’re a principal authority who is listed on the ABN in the ABR, you need a myID with a Strong identity strength to link your ABN online in RAM. If you’re unable to achieve a Strong identity strength, you can still link by contacting RAM support.

I’m a staff member of a business, how do I get linked in RAM?

A principal authority or authorisation administrator in the business needs to authorise you to act on behalf of the business in RAM.

You will receive the authorisation request by email and will need to accept the authorisation within 7 days. You’ll need to use your Digital ID to log into RAM and accept the request.

If you haven’t received an authorisation request, you’ll need to contact a principal authority or authorisation administrator.

See the next question if you can’t find a principal authority or authorised administrator.

Learn about authorised users in RAM.

I can’t find my principal authority or authorisation administrator

The principal authority of an organisation is usually a business owner or associate of the ABN (as listed in the Australian Business Register).

They can be hard to find in large companies or organisations such as educational institutions and trusts.

You may need to talk to senior management in the organisation to find the person, as government agencies will not be able to give out this information for privacy reasons.

Authorisation administrators are authorised by the principal authority in RAM, which an organisation will manage internally. A possible source could be the finance or tax area of your business.

See the types of persons who can be a principal authority for a business in RAM.

What level of access in RAM do I give my staff to access Workforce Australia Online, ADMS, etc?

If you’re a principal authority or authorisation administrator, when authorising a staff member in RAM:

At step 3 Agency Access
In the list of government agencies, locate the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
Select Custom or Full access.

How do I prevent staff accessing my other business information online?

When authorising a staff member to act on behalf of your ABN in RAM, you can choose what agencies (government online services) the person can access in the Agency access section of their RAM authorisation.

By default, a user has no access to each agency, which means they cannot see your business information online, other than their RAM authorisation details. It is up to you to set their authorised access as required for each agency (Custom, Full, or leave at None).

If, for example, you only want the user to act on your behalf in the Workforce Australia Online portal and not access your tax information in ATO online services, then:

for the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations give the user Custom access
for the Australian Taxation Office (and other agencies), leave the selection as None.

Additional access controls

For access to services in Workforce Australia Online for Providers, there are further access controls by setting roles in the user’s eSAM account, which you do separately to their RAM authorisation.

Authorisation code has expired or is not working

If you are trying to accept your RAM authorisation, but you get an error "Authorisation code has expired or is not working":

Try again and ensure you enter the code exactly as it appears in the email (it is case sensitive).
Check the date of your authorisation request email. If older than 7 days, the code will have expired. Contact an authorisation administrator or principal authority to re-issue a new authorisation code.
Your name in the RAM authorisation does not match your Digital ID name - get an authorisation administrator or principal authority to edit your name in RAM (see detailed help for more info).

Note: After 5 incorrect attempts to enter your authorisation code, you'll be locked out for two hours before you can try again.

Visit RAM for specific error codes.

RAM troubleshooting tips (including ABN not showing on the login page, checking your name)

ABN not showing at login (DEWR access not given) – how to check

To see if you have DEWR selected in your RAM Authorisation:

Login to RAM using your Digital ID
Select the ABN you can act on behalf of
When your name is displayed for the ABN, select View
Expand the Agency Access section
If None is displayed for the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, then you will need to get your authorisation administrator or principal authority to edit your authorisation in RAM and give you Custom or Full access to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Note: If the ABN is not displayed in RAM for you, see the next help item.

ABN not showing at login (no RAM authorisation or not accepted) – how to check

To see if you are linked to the ABN in RAM:

Login to RAM using your Digital ID.
See if the ABN is listed under Businesses you can act on behalf of
1. If the ABN is not listed, then you haven't been authorised for the ABN or you haven't accepted the Authorisation Request. Talk to a principal authority or authorisation administrator to authorise you or re-send your authorisation request.
2. If listed, but the authorisation is expired, you’ll need to link your Digital ID to the ABN again. Your authorisation in RAM as a responsible authority or indirect associate is valid for up to 12 months. Before expiry, you receive reminders to the email address you used to link to the ABN and in RAM to renew. Visit RAM and see other ways you can link your business.

How to check if your name doesn’t match between your myID app and RAM and how to fix it

RAM does not specifically tell you if your name doesn’t match when trying to accept an authorisation, you will only see an error "Authorisation code has expired or is not working".

If you see this error, you can check if your myID app name and your RAM authorisation are matched or not, in the following way.

Check your name is verified in your myID app:

Open your myID app and check your name in My identity, or
Log into RAM and see your name displayed at the top of the screen.

Check the name entered in your RAM authorisation request:

Find your RAM authorisation request email and check your name at the start of your email, or
Ask your authoriser to log into RAM and check the name they entered for you.

If the name entered for your RAM authorisation request is different to your name verified in your myID app, ask your authoriser to log into RAM, edit your authorisation to match your myID app and send again.