Pilbara Ports operates five declared security facilities in the Pilbara region of Western Australia: the security regulated ports of Port Hedland, Dampier, Ashburton and Cape Preston West, and the Varanus Island Offshore Facility Network, a declared security regulated offshore facility rather than a port. One MSIC covers all five, and every other regulated port and offshore facility in Australia, and this page brings together what applies at each and how to get your card through ClientView.
Illustration of the port, not a photograph.
Each port below is separately declared a security regulated port under the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act 2003. One MSIC covers all of them, and every other regulated port and offshore facility in Australia.
Each port below shows the participating Australia Post outlet closest to it, but you do not have to use that one. Any participating outlet in Australia can verify your identity, and for most people the easiest one is near home, not near the wharf. Not every Post Office offers the service, so use our one-minute guide to find one that does: Find an Australia Post MSIC verifier near you.
Verify your identity at
South Hedland Post Office, U 12, 22-26 Throssell Rd, South Hedland WA 6722
Verify your identity at
Onslow Post Office, 47 Second Ave, Onslow WA 6710, or Karratha Post Office, Lot 3915 Klenk St, Karratha WA 6714
An MSIC shows you have passed the AusCheck background check. Your port or terminal operator decides who enters, and runs the inductions, permits and access cards. Your MSIC and permission to enter are separate. Pilbara Ports' own pages state the MSIC is not an access card: it controls access to its maritime security zones through a separate process, with local site inductions at each location on top of the MSIC. Confirm current requirements with Pilbara Ports or your employer before you travel.
Pilbara Ports runs its own MSIC service, by appointment, from its Port Hedland and Dampier offices. Its own pages state that the MSIC identifies a person who has been the subject of a background check so that port security is consistent Australia-wide, and that the MSIC is not an access card: Pilbara Ports still controls access to its maritime security zones through a separate process.
ClientView is the online alternative: an Australian Government authorised MSIC issuing body offering the same card and the same AusCheck background check, completed online with identity verified at a participating Australia Post outlet rather than by appointment at a Pilbara Ports office.
Local induction and site access arrangements at each Pilbara Ports location are separate from the MSIC itself, and Cape Preston West does not yet have port facilities in operation. Confirm current requirements with Pilbara Ports or your employer before your first visit.
The Maritime Security Identification Card (MSIC) is a maritime identification card issued to identify a person who has been the subject of a background check to ensure port security is consistent Australia-wide.
Four of these are security regulated ports declared under the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act 2003: Port Hedland (C2023G00467), Dampier (C2025G00547), Ashburton (C2024G00301) and Cape Preston West (C2026G00179). Varanus Island is declared separately, as a security regulated offshore facility under the same Act, the Varanus Island Offshore Facility Network (C2025G00548), not as a port.
Under regulation 6.07F(1) of the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Regulations 2003, anyone who needs unmonitored access to a maritime security zone at any of these five at least once a year must hold a valid MSIC. The card is national: issued once, it is valid at all five Pilbara Ports locations and at every other regulated port and offshore facility in Australia.
Four steps. We lodge to AusCheck every business day, so nothing sits in a queue at our end.
Fill out the secure online form. Between 20 and 45 minutes online if you have your details to hand.
Visit any of at least 324 Australia Post outlets that offer the MSIC identity check (Australia Post outlet locator, 27 August 2026), or use your trained workplace verifier if your employer has one.
Once you are verified we submit your application to the Department of Home Affairs for the mandatory AusCheck background check.
After approval your MSIC is printed and dispatched by registered post to the address you nominate.
How long it takes
Apply at least six weeks before you need the card, so there is buffer even if your application falls outside the typical range. ClientView's measured processing time data, with its sample size, period and full methodology, is published and refreshed monthly at msic.com.au/msic-processing-times, which is the page that owns that dataset.
One all inclusive price covering the government background check fee, identity and document verification, secure lodgement and postage. No separate verification, finance or postage charges. Prices as at 18 August 2026. You will complete your application on our secure application portal, msic.au.
Get cleared before you get hired.
Job Ready lets you start your AusCheck background check before you have a job.Companies with a trained workplace verifier pay less
If your staff verify identity through your own trained workplace verifier rather than at Australia Post, the rate is $451.82 ex GST for a 2 year card and $765.45 ex GST for a 4 year card, a saving of $27.27 and $9.10 respectively.
If your organisation puts people onto Pilbara Ports sites, ClientView's corporate portal lets you apply for, track and renew every MSIC in one place, and bulk applications take a single spreadsheet. Tell us and we will set it up.
If you need unmonitored access to a maritime security zone at Port Hedland, Dampier, Ashburton, Cape Preston West or Varanus Island at least once a year, yes. Escorted visitors and people who stay outside the security zones do not.
Yes. An MSIC is national. One card is valid at every Pilbara Ports location and at every other regulated port and offshore facility in Australia.
Yes. ClientView is an Australian Government authorised MSIC issuing body, and the application runs fully online for every Pilbara Ports location, with identity verified at a participating Australia Post outlet rather than by appointment at a Pilbara Ports office. Call 1300 855 960.
No. Pilbara Ports' own page states that the MSIC is not an access card, and that Pilbara Ports still controls access to its maritime security zones through a separate process. Confirm current site access and induction requirements before you travel.
At a participating Australia Post outlet. The nearest to each location is shown on its card above; the nearest to you may be closer to home than to the port.
Yes. Pilbara Ports runs its own appointment-based MSIC service from its Port Hedland and Dampier offices, separate from ClientView's online application; its MSIC pages name no issuing body. Site inductions and access arrangements are Pilbara Ports' own, on top of the MSIC.
ClientView has issued MSICs as an Australian Government authorised MSIC issuing body since 2005, and has served more than 5,000 companies.
An MSIC can only be issued by a body the Australian Government has authorised under the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Regulations 2003, and the background check behind every card is run by AusCheck. If you are ever unsure about an issuing body, ask AusCheck before you pay.
You do not have to take our word for it. AusCheck publishes the list of MSIC issuing bodies, and you can read it yourself: the AusCheck issuing bodies list.
Pilbara Ports' own MSIC and application pages describe an in-house, appointment-based MSIC process run through its Port Hedland and Dampier offices, and state plainly that the MSIC is not an access card. Neither page names any MSIC issuing body, ClientView included.
One all inclusive price for a two year card, covering the government background check fee, identity and document verification, secure lodgement and postage. Prices as at 18 August 2026. See full pricing
ClientView issues your MSIC the same way at every Australian port: same price, same process, same team.
Applications lodged to AusCheck every business day. Transparent pricing, Australian owned, and a local team on the phone when you need one.
Start your application