An MSIC and an ASIC are not the same card and do not substitute for each other. An MSIC (Maritime Security Identification Card) is issued under the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Regulations 2003 to identify someone who has passed a background check for access to a maritime security zone (r. 6.07A(1)(a)). An ASIC (Aviation Security Identification Card) is issued under a separate law, the Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005, for access to secure areas of a security controlled airport (reg 6.01). Every statement below cites the regulation it comes from.
separate Commonwealth Regulations govern these two cards, run through the same AusCheck background-check standard.
r. 6.07A(1), Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Regulations 2003, Compilation No. 48. Reg 6.01 and reg 6.28(1)(d), Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005, Compilation No. 78.
An MSIC and an ASIC both exist to prove someone has passed a background check before they get into a restricted zone, but the zone, the Act and the issuing body are all different. Holding one card creates no right of entry under the other scheme.
MSIC: what ClientView issues
An MSIC identifies a person who has passed an AusCheck background check for a role with an operational need for unmonitored access to a maritime security zone at least once each year (r. 6.07F(1)). It comes in blue and white (r. 6.07B(1)), is issued by an authorised issuing body such as ClientView, and is administered under the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act 2003.
Blue MSIC: 2 or 4 years, your choice (r. 6.08B(2)). White MSIC: 2 years only (r. 6.08I(1)(a)).
ASIC: a separate scheme
An ASIC identifies a person with an operational need for access to a secure area of a security controlled airport. Under reg 6.01, that includes a requirement for frequent access to all or part of a secure area of an airport where persons are required to display an ASIC, for the operation of the airport or an aircraft, or for the purpose of a person's occupation or business. ASICs come in red, grey and white, each Australia-wide or airport-specific (reg 6.03). ClientView is an authorised MSIC issuing body; it does not issue ASICs.
Maximum 2 years, no 4 year option (reg 6.32(2)).
Both schemes run through the AusCheck scheme (AusCheck Act 2007, s 5): a check of identity and criminal history, plus a security assessment (r. 6.08C(1) for MSIC; reg 6.28(1) for ASIC). Convictions for certain offences never become spent for the purpose of either assessment (Crimes Act 1914, s 85ZZH(k), and Schedule 2 to the Crimes Regulations 2019); the MSIC Regulations record this at Note 5 to r. 6.07B(1), and the ASIC Regulations record the same carve-out in their own definitions at reg 6.01. One background-check standard, applied twice, once for each card.
An issuing body may issue you an MSIC without re-verifying your identity documents if you already hold a valid ASIC and have an operational need for the MSIC (r. 6.08E). The trade-off: that MSIC then expires on the same day your ASIC does, whatever term you would otherwise have been entitled to (r. 6.08I(2)(c)). There is no equivalent shortcut running the other way: an MSIC does not shorten or simplify an ASIC application.
Zone
MSIC: maritime security zones, ports, wharves and offshore facilities (r. 6.07A(1)). ASIC: secure areas of security controlled airports (reg 6.01). Different defined terms, different Acts.
Card kinds
MSIC: blue and white (r. 6.07B(1)). ASIC: red, grey and white, each Australia-wide or airport-specific (reg 6.03).
Term
Blue MSIC: up to 4 years. White MSIC and every ASIC: capped at 2 years, no 4 year option (r. 6.08I(1); reg 6.32(2)).
Issued by
ClientView is an authorised MSIC issuing body. ASICs are issued separately, by bodies such as airport operators and the Comptroller-General of Customs (reg 6.12). ClientView does not issue ASICs.
Need both cards for one job?
Some roles genuinely need both, for example an aviation security contractor who also does maritime security work. Each card still needs its own separate application and its own operational need. The one exception is regulation 6.08E above: an existing ASIC can simplify the identity step of an MSIC application, not replace it.
Methodology
This page draws on two separate compilations of Commonwealth Regulations, read directly from the Federal Register of Legislation. MSIC content: Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Regulations 2003, Compilation No. 48 (F2026C00073), compilation date 22 January 2026. ASIC content: Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005, Compilation No. 78 (F2026C00282), compilation date 1 April 2026. Citations use "r." for the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Regulations 2003 and "reg" for the Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005, since both instruments number their provisions from 6.01 onward and the two must not be conflated. ClientView is an authorised MSIC issuing body; it does not issue ASICs, and nothing on this page is an ASIC application service. This is general information, not legal advice, and is re-checked against the current compilation on the 1st of each month.
No. They are two separate Commonwealth cards under two separate sets of Regulations. An MSIC covers maritime security zones (r. 6.07A(1), Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Regulations 2003). An ASIC covers secure areas of security controlled airports (reg 6.01, Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005). Holding one does not grant access under the other.
An MSIC. Port and maritime work is governed by the maritime security zone rules, not the aviation security rules. You need an operational need for unmonitored access to a maritime security zone at least once each year (r. 6.07F(1)).
Yes, but the application is simpler. An issuing body can issue you an MSIC without re-verifying your identity documents if you already hold a valid ASIC and have an operational need for the MSIC (r. 6.08E). That MSIC then expires on the same day as your ASIC (r. 6.08I(2)(c)).
No. ClientView is an authorised MSIC issuing body under the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Regulations 2003. For an ASIC, apply through an aviation security-accredited issuing body, such as your airport operator or employer.
If your work requires access to a maritime security zone, apply for your MSIC online. Our median time from a complete, identity-verified application to AusCheck lodgement is one business day.
Apply for an MSIC