In order to get the most from the address verification process it is good to understand how the address verification process works. This will allow you to interpret the results and make good decisions regarding addresses which fail to match.

The address verification process is a matching exercise in which we try to match your address with its verified equivalent from the GNAF address database. In order for a match to occur, we have to be confident that the match is correct and to get this confidence we need matching to occur in multiple areas without breaking too many rules.

A basic match requires three things:

1. The street part of the submitted address [street number, street name, & street type] matches to the street part of the verified address [number, street_name, street_type]. If a unit identifier or street suffix is included, these must match the unit_identifier and street_suffix of the verified address.
   
   
2. The location part of the submitted address [locality/suburb and/or postcode] matches the location part of the verified address.
   
   
3. If included, the state/territory of the address must match the state_territory of the verified address.
   
   

At the same time as achieving the above criteria, there are additional rules that need to be applied. These are:

1. There needs to be a certain level of spelling accuracy.
2. The submitted address can not include multiple inaccurate locations (eg incorrect suburb and incorrect postcode).
3. There cannot be other addresses in the database with the same level of matching confidence (ambiguous result).

If an address is unable to be verified it will likely fall into one of three categories below.

1. Incorrect address - the submitted address contains either significant spelling errors, incorrect parts (eg, wrong street type), missing components (eg, street suffix) or inaccurate sub address data (eg, A/17 instead of 1/17). These addresses will break the verification rules and fail to be verified.
   
   
2. Multiple match addresses - this occurs when more than one address in the AddressFinder database matches your submitted address. Rather than return a potentially false positive match we return a match=false response.
   
   
3. Missing addresses - these are correct addresses, but do not currently exist in the verification database. These may occur in areas of recent development and if so, they will likely be added to the database once released by the PSMA.
   
   

Addresses that can successfully be verified.

Submitted address	Verified address	Notes on components
10 Cyril Street, Waratar NSW	10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	Missing postcode is okay
10 Cyril Street, WARATAH New South Wales	10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	A non-abbreviated State is fine and replaces a State code so long as spelled correctly.
10 Cyril Street, NSW 2298	10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	Missing locality is fine.
10 Cyril Street, Waratar 2298	10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	Missing state is fine.
10 Cyril Street, 2298	10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	Missing locality and state is fine.
10 Cyril Street 2298	10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	Missing punctuation is fine.
10 Ciril Stret, Warratar NSW 2298	10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	Misspelling of address components is fine so long as it is within allowed levels.
10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 3456	10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	Significantly incorrect postcode is fine so long as the State and Suburb are included and correct.
United airlines, 10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	Addresses with leading account names (United Airlines) are fine.
10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298 Australia	10 Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	Australia appended to the end of the address is fine.

Addresses that can not be verified.

Submitted address	Verified address	Notes on components
Cyril Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	false	Missing the street number.
10 Street, WARATAH NSW 2298	false	Missing the street name.
10 Cyril, WARATAH NSW 2298	false	Missing the street type.
10 Cyril Road, WARATAH NSW 2298	false	Incorrect street type.
10 Cyril Street	false	Missing all location information.
10 Cyril Street, Waratar	false	Missing state and postcode information.
10 Cyril Street, Waratar QLD 2298	false	The State is incorrect.
10 Cyril Street, WARATAH New South Whales	false	The non-abbreviated State is fine but it must spelled correctly.