What Australian Access Federation does

The Australian Access Federation (AAF), established in 2009, is Australia's national Trust and Identity Capability for the research and higher education sector. It operates as a Company Limited by Guarantee headquartered in Brisbane and is recognised by the Australian Government as the NCRIS Capability for Trust and Identity. AAF provides a federated single sign-on (SSO) platform built on Shibboleth-based identity management with OIDC and SAML support, enabling researchers, students, and educators to access digital resources across separate organisations using one set of credentials. The core technology stack includes the Federation itself, Rapid IdP (a hosted cloud identity provider with Starter, Research, and Enterprise tiers), EduGAIN for international interfederation, the Australian ORCID Consortium for persistent researcher identifiers, and VerifID for industry identity verification.

The business model combines direct Australian Government funding through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) with subscription-based revenue from members. In May 2026, the government committed $18 million in NCRIS funding for a Sovereign National Trust and Identity Capability. Subscription fees span Rapid IdP (from $4,500 to $30,000 AUD per year), Service Provider subscriptions (from $2,046 AUD per service per year plus a $4,400 joining fee), and ORCID Consortium fees ($10,067 AUD Consortium Leader Fee plus a $3,830 USD ORCID Member license fee). AAF operates on a cost-recovery basis with a stated cost base of approximately $6.8 million annually, against which a Lateral Economics analysis quantifies $51 million in net sector benefits (benefit-cost ratio of 8.5). As of 2025, the Federation connects 108 organisations to 685 Australian and 498 international services, enabling over 13 million annual authentications and over 12.4 million sessions.

Name

Australian Access Federation

Legal name

Australian Access Federation Limited

Website

https://aaf.edu.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Australian Access Federation operates Australia's national federated identity and trust infrastructure for the research and higher education sector, providing single sign-on across 108 organisations and enabling over 13 million annual authentications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Federated Identity Management

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Single Sign-On (SSO) & Federation (SAML/OIDC, Identity Providers) (HDAEAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Federation & Identity Standards (SAML/OIDC/OAuth, Federation Hubs) (HDADAAAG), Single Sign-On (SSO) & Federation (BPAMAEAF), Digital Archives, Libraries & Institutional Access Platforms (MPAJAMAJ)

Keywords

• Federated identity management
• Single sign-on services
• Research identity federation
• Trust and identity infrastructure
• Academic access management

Headquarters

HQ city

Australian Capital Territory

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. NCRIS Government Funding: Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy funding provides core operational support. In May 2026, $18 million invested through NCRIS for Sovereign National Trust and Identity Capability.
2. Subscription Fees - Identity Providers: Annual subscription fees for Rapid IdP services: Rapid IdP Starter from $4,500/year, Rapid IdP Research from $11,300/year, Rapid IdP Enterprise from $30,000/year. Fees based on organization size and service requirements.
3. Subscription Fees - Service Providers: One-off joining fee from $4,400 and annual subscription fee from $2,046 per service per year for publishers and service providers. Fees waived for Enterprise members.
4. ORCID Consortium Fees: Consortium Leader Fee from $10,067 AUD per year (covers operational costs) plus ORCID Member Fee from $3,830 USD per year (ORCID license cost). Consortium operates on cost recovery basis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Australian Access Federation operates a national federated identity management service that enables Australian universities, research organisations, government agencies, and publishers to provide single sign-on access to digital resources across separate organisations. Its core offerings include The Federation (SSO infrastructure), Rapid IdP (cloud-hosted identity provider), eduGAIN (international research connectivity to 80+ federations), the Australian ORCID Consortium (researcher persistent identifiers), and VerifID (commercial identity verification).

Product overview

The Australian Access Federation operates as a national Trust and Identity capability for Australia's research and higher education sector, providing a unified platform of federated identity and access management services. The core offering is The Federation, a single sign-on system enabling secure cross-institutional access to digital resources. Built around this core are the Rapid IdP hosted cloud identity provider solution and the EduGAIN international connectivity module. The AAF also leads the Australian ORCID Consortium for researcher persistent identifiers. Supporting these are tools including Federation Manager, Validator Service, Virtual Home, Attribute Validator, Federation Status monitoring, and Support Tutorials. The Trust and Identity Pathfinder incubator program extends capabilities to national research infrastructures. The product portfolio enables over 13 million authentications annually, connecting 108 organisations to 685 Australian and 498 international services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Rapid IdP: Hosted cloud identity provider solution providing fast and easy connection to the AAF Federation. Available in Starter, Research, and Enterprise configurations.
• VerifID
• Australian ORCID Consortium

Products and services

• The AAF Federation Core federated single sign-on service enabling students, educators, and researchers to access services across separate organisations with one username and password. Connects 108 organisations to 685 Australian and 498 international service connections, processing over 13 million authentications annually.
• Rapid IdP (Rapid Identity Provider) AAF's hosted cloud identity provider solution providing fast and easy connection to the AAF. Available in three tiers: Rapid IdP Starter (from $4,500/year, up to 100 users for small organisations), Rapid IdP Research (from $11,300/year for small to medium research organisations), and Rapid IdP Enterprise (from $30,000/year for large scale teaching, learning, and research organisations). Includes maintenance, security patches, high availability, automated updates, and integration with Azure AD and Okta.
• EduGAIN Connectivity International interfederation service connecting Australian research communities and higher education identity federations globally. Enables sharing of research tools and secure collaboration between researchers, educators, and students, connecting to over 80 participating federations and 8,000+ Identity and Services Providers worldwide.
• Australian ORCID Consortium AAF-led consortium providing local support and ORCID member integrations nationally. ORCID provides researchers with persistent identifiers connecting them to their research activities and outputs. Consortium includes 38 Higher Education Organisations, 4 Research Organisations, and 2 Funders. Consortium Leader Fee from $10,067 AUD per year plus ORCID Member Fee from $3,830 USD per year, operating on not-for-profit cost recovery basis.
• VerifID Identity verification solution for industry and commercial organisations, integrated with universities and organisations. VerifID provides reliable, accurate online verification of customers associated with their institution, removing manual processes and improving conversion rates.

Quantifiable outcome

• $51 million net benefits annually vs $6.8 million cost (central case), benefit-cost ratio of 8.5
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

24 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• NCRIS (National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy)coreOthersAAF is recognized as the NCRIS Capability for Trust and Identity. Receives government funding through NCRIS ($18 million announced May 2026). NCRIS provides ongoing operational funding and strategic direction for national research infrastructure capabilities.
• eduGAINcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAF is a Member Federation of eduGAIN, the international interfederation service connecting research communities globally. Enables Australian researchers to access services from 80+ participating federations with over 8,000 organizations.
• ORCIDcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAF leads the Australian ORCID Consortium and AAF's CEO Heath Marks serves on the ORCID Board as a Board Director. AAF's PIDs Engagement and Support Lead Melroy Almeida is a Crossref Ambassador.
• CAUDIT (Council of Australasian University Directors of Information Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAF originated via CAUDIT program of work. CAUDIT is the peak body for ICT in Higher Education and Research sectors. AAF is a member of CAUDIT.
• AHECS (Australasian Higher Education Cyber Security Service)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAF is a founding partner of AHECS alongside AARNet, CAUDIT, AUSCERT and REANZ. Multi-skilled group of sector leaders in cybersecurity.
• Digital Nexus Alliance (DNA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAF is a partner of the Digital Nexus Alliance alongside ARDC, AARNet, NCI and Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre. Collaborative initiative for national digital infrastructure.
• APAN (Asia-Pacific Advanced Network)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAF is an associate of APAN. AAF's Head of Support, Terry Smith, chairs the Identity and Access Management (IAM) Working Group.
• REFEDS (Research and Education FEDerations group)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAF is a member of REFEDS, the global group of research and education federations working on identity and access management standards.
• ARDC (Australian Research Data Commons)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAF partners with ARDC on Trust and Identity Framework development, National PIDs Strategy, and various incubator projects. Co-commissioned PID cost-benefit analysis.
• Australian BioCommonsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on GUARDIANS project implementing identity and access management for human omics research. Builds on earlier Human Genomes Platform Project (HGPP) collaboration.
• TERN Australia (Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAF enables access to TERN Australia's ecosystem research data. Partnership enables researchers to access critical environmental and climate data with federated credentials.
• NCI (National Computational Infrastructure)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAF partnered with NCI to explore improved trust and identity solutions for HPC users through an incubator project. Enhancing authentication assurance levels for secure supercomputing access.
• Pawsey Supercomputing Research CentremajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership exploring options to provide seamless and secure access to supercomputing services using federated identities. Incubator project building trust and identity capabilities.
• AURIN (Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAF and AURIN partnership enables access to urban research data supporting climate change, energy transition, and demographic transformation research.
• NIF (National Imaging Facility)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership exploring improved access and collaboration for complex multi-site human imaging projects and medical trials using sensitive data through Trust and Identity Pathfinder Incubator.
• Microscopy AustraliamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership exploring impact tracking through persistent identifiers (PIDs). Aims to connect and report on distributed microscopy services using ORCID iDs.
• SAHMRI (South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership supporting 700+ researchers annually with secure federated access. Enables collaboration with external researchers via REDCap and other platforms.
• Phenomics AustraliamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew incubator partnership to enable seamless access to phenomics and life sciences data. Working on Australian Phenome Bank and Australian Stem Cell Registry services.
• APPN (Australian Plant Phenomics Network)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAPPN connection to Federation enables national and international researchers to access state-of-the-art phenotyping services and data.
• ACCESS-NRImajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership exploring options to provide consistent user tracking and reporting for Australia's climate simulator infrastructure.
• LDaCA (Language Data Commons of Australia)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership implementing policy and tools to manage access to language datasets, leveraging experience from other AAF projects.
• AARNetmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch network operator and founding partner of AHECS. Connected to AAF as both Identity Provider and Service Provider.
• Astronomy Australia LimitedmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew incubator partnership to expand Australia's position in astronomy research. Building Trust and Identity Roadmap for Astronomy Data Commons connecting to global infrastructure including SKA telescopes.
• ORCID Steering Committee MembersmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernance body for Australian ORCID Consortium including Judi Zielke (Independent Chair), Natasha Simons (ARDC), Martin Borchert (CAUL), Prof Deborah Sweeney (Universities Australia), Greg Sawyer (CAUDIT), Julie Glover (NHMRC), Alison Beasley (ARC), Michelle Vincent (ARMS).

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Okta: Okta is a leading commercial identity and access management platform offering SSO, MFA, and identity federation across enterprise and education segments. Rapid IdP integrates with Okta but Okta could compete for the broader industry/VerifID segment outside AAF's regulatory mandate.
• Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD): Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) is Microsoft's cloud identity platform offering SSO, federation, and directory services broadly across enterprises and educational institutions. Rapid IdP integrates with Azure AD, positioning Microsoft as a broad incumbent that could erode AAF's expansion into industry verticals.

Direct peers

• SURF: SURF is the Dutch collaborative organisation for ICT in education and research, running the SURFfederatie identity federation for Dutch universities and research institutions. Direct European peer with comparable mandate and tech stack (SAML/OIDC, Shibboleth).
• SWITCH (SWITCHaai): SWITCH operates SWITCHaai, the Swiss national identity federation for higher education and research. Direct European peer with similar federation-as-a-service model and eduGAIN participation.
• Internet2 (InCommon Federation): Internet2 operates InCommon, the US national research and education identity federation providing federated SSO and identity management for US universities and research organisations. Directly comparable to AAF as the analogous US national federation serving the same sector with SAML/Shibboleth-based SSO and eduGAIN-style interoperability.
• CANARIE: CANARIE operates Canada's national research and education network and supports the Canadian Access Federation (CAF) for identity federation in Canadian higher education. Closest North American (non-US) peer to AAF.
• JISC (Janet Federation): JISC operates the UK's Janet Federation for research and education identity management, providing federated SSO and access management for UK higher education institutions. Closest UK analogue to AAF in scope and sector focus.
• DFN (DFN-AAI): DFN operates the German research network and DFN-AAI identity federation for German universities and research institutions. Direct European peer with comparable Shibboleth-based federation services and eduGAIN membership.
• GÉANT: GÉANT operates the pan-European research and education network and is the operational backbone of eduGAIN. AAF is a member federation of eduGAIN operated via GÉANT, making GÉANT both a partner and the closest infrastructure-level peer at the global interfederation layer.

Emerging players

• Shibboleth Consortium: The Shibboleth Consortium maintains the open-source SAML/Shibboleth IdP software that underpins AAF's federation infrastructure. It is an enabling/standards-level peer rather than a direct competitor, but its open-source tooling means AAF's core technology could be self-hosted by large institutions if they chose to exit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ausaccessfed
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC-lLEcDyxEkmVh_XFzkTriA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/australian-access-federation-inc-

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Australian Access Federation