· Written and maintained by Nonimo
The card number on a NSW driver licence is printed in the top right corner of the plastic card. On the NSW Digital Driver Licence it sits at the very bottom, under your address and signature, after you scroll. It is a separate number from your licence number, and it is the one to cover before you send a copy of your licence to anyone.
The reason is simple. Since 1 September 2022, a Document Verification Service check on a NSW licence needs both numbers, the licence number and the card number. A clear copy that shows both is a copy that can pass that check in your name.
Drop a photo of your licence above, or take one with your phone, and the card number, the licence number and the signature are covered before you have touched anything. Your name and photo stay visible, a watermark saying who the copy is for runs across the card, and you download a clean PNG, JPG or PDF. Your document never leaves your device: it is read and redacted in your browser.
The same tool works on the other ID documents Nonimo redacts, from passports to licences. Want to ask ChatGPT about your licence instead? Tap the name and photo chips too, and nothing personal is left on the image.
Where is the card number on a NSW drivers licence?
Service NSW describes the card number’s position in one phrase: top right of the card. That is the number to look for when a form, a bank or an agent asks for it. The other number on the card is your licence number, and the two do different jobs.
Stays with you. It does not change when the card is replaced.
Belongs to this card. It is printed top right and changes when the card is replaced.
People mix the two up all the time, and forms do not help, because many simply ask for “licence number” and “card number” in two boxes side by side. The difference matters. The licence number stays with you, while the card number belongs to the piece of plastic in your wallet and changes when that card is replaced. That is why a licence carries two numbers, not one, and why both matter on a copy.
On the NSW Digital Driver Licence
The digital licence in the Service NSW app puts the card number last. Open the licence, swipe down to refresh it, and scroll. Service NSW’s guide for licence checkers lays the screen out from top to bottom, and the card number is in the footer, below the signature.
| What you see, top to bottom | Do you need to scroll? |
|---|---|
| Photo, name, last refreshed date and time | no |
| Licence number and expiry, next to the QR code | no |
| Date of birth, class and conditions | no |
| Address | usually |
| Signature | yes |
| Card number, in the footer | yes |
Source: Service NSW, How to check the NSW Digital Driver Licence.
That order explains a common slip. Someone asked for “a photo of your licence” takes a screenshot of the digital version, scrolls to make sure everything is in, and sends an image with the address, the signature and the card number all on it. The same thing happens with a photo of the plastic card taken in a hurry: the corner with the card number is the part people forget.
If you hold a Victorian licence instead, our guide to the Victorian licence card number covers that card.
Why the card number is the field to cover before you send a copy
From 1 September 2022, NSW brought in stronger identity protections for driver licences. Since that date, Service NSW says, both numbers on the licence are required to pass a Document Verification Service check, the DVS. Service NSW says institutions such as banks use that check to verify a person’s identity.
Since September 2022, the card number has been the second half of the key. Someone holding a clear copy of your licence holds both halves, together with the name, date of birth and address that the check matches them against. A copy with the card number covered still shows who you are; it just stops working as a ready made identity kit.
The licence number is also the half you cannot easily change. When you replace a NSW licence, the licence number stays exactly the same and only the card number is reissued. Covering the card number protects the part of the licence that is cheap to leak and tedious to fix, and leaves the agent, employer or hire company with everything they need to see.
What else a copy gives away
The card number is the field this page is about, but it is rarely alone on a copy. Your signature is printed on the card, and a sharp photo of a signature is useful to anyone forging a form. Your residential address is there too, which an employer or a car hire desk does not always need on file.
The list of personal identifiers to take out of a document puts the licence next to the TFN, the Medicare card and the passport, and the logic is the same for all of them: show what the person asking needs, and keep back what only helps someone pretend to be you.
Who asks for a copy of your NSW licence, and what each one needs
People are asked for a copy of their driver licence all the time, because most adults have one and it carries a photo. Real estate agents ask for it with a rental application, employers ask for it when the role involves driving, car hire companies ask for it at the counter or in an app, and a 100 point ID check often starts with it.
| Who asks | What the copy is for | Leave visible |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate agent or property manager | to confirm the applicant is who the application says | name, photo, licence number if asked |
| Employer, for a driving role | to confirm the class, conditions and expiry | name, class, conditions, expiry |
| Car hire company | to confirm you hold a current licence | name, photo, expiry, class |
| A 100 point ID check | to confirm identity with a photo document | name, photo, date of birth |
Source: Nonimo, from the purpose of each check.
In every row the card number and the signature can be covered, because none of these checks needs to read them off a photograph.
What the OAIC says real estate agents can collect
The Privacy Act limits what a covered real estate agent can take. The OAIC’s tenancy guidance says an agent can only collect personal information that is reasonably necessary for one of its functions or activities, and that it isn’t allowed to collect more because it is convenient or might be useful later. That is the collection rule in APP 3, and APP 11 then asks them to protect what they hold and to destroy or de-identify it in certain circumstances.
The same OAIC page speaks directly to copies of identity documents. It suggests that if an agent needs a copy, you think about blanking out personal information the agent doesn’t need. It also says that if an agent needs to use or disclose a document carrying a government related identifier, such as a driver licence number, including copying it, the agent must generally blank that identifier out.
So covering the card number on your own copy is in line with what the regulator asks of agents. The tool covers your licence number too from the start; tap its chip only if the agent has asked for it. Agencies handling a stack of applications every week will find our page for real estate agents useful too.
When a form asks you to type the card number
There is one situation where giving the card number is the whole point. When a bank, a broker or an online service runs a DVS check, its form asks you to type the licence number and card number into two boxes, and the check needs both to succeed. That is the number being used for what it was designed for, at the moment it is needed.
A photo emailed to a property manager is a different thing. It sits in an inbox, a shared drive and perhaps a tenancy platform for years, and nobody needs the card number to read your name off a picture. Typing it into a verification form is fine; leaving it readable on a photograph that will be filed away is the habit to drop.
How to cover and watermark a copy of your NSW drivers licence
A safe copy is not a copy with everything blacked out. It is a copy that does its job for the person receiving it and is useless for anything else. That means covering a short list of fields, adding a watermark that ties the copy to one purpose, and saving a new file with nothing hidden inside it. The steps take a minute with the tool at the top of this page.
- Photograph the plastic card. Lay it flat in good light and fill the frame. A photo of the card is what Service NSW tells licence checkers to ask for, as the section on the digital licence below explains.
- Cover the card number and the signature. These two go on almost every copy. The tool covers both as soon as it reads the licence.
- Show only what they asked for. The licence number, date of birth, address and expiry start covered too, leaving your name and photo. If the person asking needs one of them, tap its chip to show it.
- Fill in the watermark. It is on from the start, with a line ready for who the copy is for and the month. The next section has wording that works.
- Download a new file. Save it as PNG, JPG or PDF with the boxes and the watermark burned into the pixels, and send that file, not the original photo.
What to cover, field by field
The tool reads the licence and lists a chip for each field it finds. It starts with everything covered except your name and your photo, and every chip can be tapped either way. Your licence class and conditions stay visible, because they are what an employer or a hire desk reads.
| Field on the licence | Covered by default for a copy | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Card number | yes | half of what a DVS check needs |
| Licence number | yes | the other half; tap to show it if asked |
| Signature | yes | easy to copy onto a form |
| Date of birth, address, expiry | yes | needed by some, not by others |
| Name, photo | no | what the person asking is checking |
| Class and conditions | no | what employers and hire companies check |
Source: Nonimo, the starting point for a copy; the card number fact is from Service NSW.
Before you show your licence to an AI chatbot
If what you want is to ask an AI about the licence itself, say to check what a condition code means, tap the name and photo chips as well, so no personal detail is left on the image. How long a chatbot keeps what you send depends on the account you use, as our guide to whether ChatGPT saves your data sets out. Photos have a wrinkle of their own in ChatGPT, where an upload is also filed in Library, as our guide to whether ChatGPT saves your photos explains.
What to write in the watermark on your licence copy
A watermark only helps if it is specific. A line that says who the copy is for, why and when makes it obvious, to anyone who sees the copy later, that it was never meant for them. Something like this works for a rental application:
Copy for King Street rental application only · October 2026
The watermark is switched on from the start, and it comes in two styles. All over repeats your line diagonally across the whole card, through the photo and the details, so it cannot be cropped out; use it for agents, employers and anyone storing the file. Stamp puts the line in a single discreet band, for when the receiver has asked for a clean looking copy.
A generic word such as “copy” in one corner does very little, because a corner is the first thing a crop removes.
Screenshot of the Digital Driver Licence, or a photo of the card?
Send a photo of the plastic card. Service NSW tells licence checkers that accepting a screenshot or copy of the NSW Digital Driver Licence is not recommended, and that anyone who needs a copy of a licence should ask for the plastic card and follow their usual process. The digital licence is built to be checked live, with a refreshed time, a moving hologram and a QR code that expires and reloads.
What Service NSW tells checkers to ask for when they need a copy. Cover the card number and signature, add the watermark.
Not recommended by Service NSW as a copy. Scrolled to the end, it holds the address, signature and card number in one image.
A screenshot of the digital licence is static, so the live checks are gone and the risky parts stay. Scroll down to capture the whole licence and the image carries your address, signature and card number in one file. If the person asking will only accept the digital version, show it to them in person rather than sending a screenshot.
What a phone photo carries that you cannot see
A photo straight from your phone usually comes with metadata attached: the phone model, the date and time, and often the GPS position where it was taken, which for a licence photographed at the kitchen table is your home. The tool writes a new file, and the copy carries no location or camera data. The same problem in office documents is covered in how to remove metadata from Word and PDF files.
If the copy has to go into a PDF, make sure the cover is part of the image, not a black rectangle drawn on top that can be lifted off. A download from the tool already has the boxes in the pixels, so there is nothing underneath to recover.
If your NSW drivers licence card number has already been exposed
If you sent a full copy years ago, or a company tells you its systems were breached and your licence was in them, the fix is cheaper than it sounds, because only the card has to change.
Service NSW’s rule is clear: you only need to replace your licence if you have been told that both your licence number and your card number were compromised. If they were, you replace the card online or at a Service NSW Centre, choose stolen as the reason, and your new card comes with a new card number. Your licence number stays the same.
Who pays, and who to call
You pay the $29 yourself and, as Service NSW puts it, discuss reimbursement with the organisation that was breached. If you replaced your card in the last 12 months and never gave the new details to that organisation, you may not need to replace it again. There is no need to replace a licence as a precaution when only one of the two numbers was exposed.
The OAIC’s advice for anyone told about a data breach is to act quickly and keep a record of what you do. For a government issued document such as a driver licence, it says to contact the agency that issued it, which in NSW means Service NSW. ID Support NSW helps people replace NSW documents after identity crime, on 1800 001 040, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Businesses holding licence copies carry the other side of this risk. A practice that collects them should know what its cyber cover will pay for if those files are taken, which our guide to what cyber insurance covers in Australia walks through.
Watermark your licence copy in a minute, on your phone
Everything on this page comes down to one habit: before a copy of your licence leaves your hands, the card number and the signature are covered and the copy says who it is for. On a phone that takes less time than finding the email address of the person who asked.
Drop the photo in, check the chips, adjust the watermark line, and download. If the photo is a file on your computer, the Nonimo desktop app, on Mac or Windows, covers and watermarks it in the same way. The same approach works for any document you send to someone outside your household. For the documents your practice handles every day, Nonimo covers names, licence numbers and other identifiers before text goes to ChatGPT, Copilot or Claude.
Sources
- NSW Government, ID Support NSW. The 1800 001 040 phone line for replacing NSW documents after identity crime.
- Service NSW, Data breaches and your NSW driver licence, updated 7 April 2026. Card number at the top right of the card; both numbers required for a DVS check since 1 September 2022; replacement keeps the licence number and changes the card number; $29 fee; stolen as the reason; reimbursement from the breached organisation; the 12 month note; ID Support NSW on 1800 001 040, 9am to 5pm weekdays.
- Service NSW, How to check the NSW Digital Driver Licence (PDF). Layout of the digital licence from top to bottom, with the card number in the footer below the address and signature; refreshed time, hologram and expiring QR code.
- Service NSW, Licence checkers and the NSW Digital Driver Licence. Accepting a screenshot or copy of the digital licence is not recommended; checkers who need a copy should ask for the plastic card.
- OAIC, Tenancy. Agents may collect only what is reasonably necessary; think about blanking out what the agent doesn’t need on a copy; agents copying a document with a government related identifier must generally blank it out.
- OAIC, Australian Privacy Principles quick reference. APP 3 on collecting solicited personal information; APP 11 on protecting it and destroying or de-identifying it in certain circumstances.
- OAIC, Act quickly if you’re affected by a data breach. Act quickly, keep a record, and for a government issued identity document contact the agency that issued it.
Common questions
Where is the card number on a NSW driver licence?
On the plastic card it is printed in the top right corner, according to Service NSW. It is a different number from your licence number: the licence number stays with you, the card number changes with each new card. If a form asks for both, the card number is the one in the corner.
Where is the card number on the NSW Digital Driver Licence?
At the very bottom. Open the licence in the Service NSW app, swipe down to refresh it, then scroll past your address and signature. Service NSW's own guide for licence checkers shows the card number in the footer of the digital licence, under the signature.
Is the card number the same as the licence number?
No. The licence number stays with you, while the card number belongs to the piece of plastic you hold now. Service NSW says that when you replace your licence, the licence number stays the same and the card number changes. Identity checks on a NSW licence ask for both.
Should I cover the card number before sending my licence to a real estate agent?
In most cases, yes. An agent checking who you are can read your name and photo without it. The OAIC's tenancy guidance says agents can only collect what is reasonably necessary, and suggests blanking out details they do not need on an identity document. If they ask for your licence number, tap its chip to show it.
What should I write in the watermark on a copy of my licence?
Who the copy is for, why, and the month. Something like Copy for King Street rental application only, October 2026. A specific line is the point: if the copy turns up somewhere else, the watermark says it was never meant for that use. Run it across the whole card, not in a corner.
Can I send a screenshot of my NSW Digital Driver Licence instead of a photo of the card?
It is better not to. Service NSW tells licence checkers that accepting a screenshot or copy of the digital licence is not recommended, and that anyone who needs a copy should ask for the plastic card. A scrolled screenshot also carries your address, signature and card number in one image.
Does my card number change if I replace my NSW licence?
Yes. Service NSW says a replacement keeps your licence number and issues a new card number, which stops the old card's details passing a Document Verification Service check. The replacement fee listed on its data breach page is $29, and you choose stolen as the reason.
What should I do if my licence details were exposed in a data breach?
Follow what the breached organisation tells you, and replace the card if both your licence number and card number were exposed, as Service NSW advises. The OAIC suggests contacting the issuing agency and keeping a record of what you do. ID Support NSW can help on 1800 001 040.
Does the photo of my licence leave my phone when I cover it here?
No. The photo or PDF you drop stays on your device: it is read and redacted in your browser, not uploaded to our servers or anyone else's. What you download is a new file with the boxes and the watermark burned into the pixels, and it carries no location or camera data.