A range of how-to guides are available to assist producers with using the NLIS to record livestock movements onto and off their property identification code (PIC).
8am-7pm (AEDT), Monday-Friday.
Ph: 1800 683 111
Email: info@integritysystems.com.au
Before you call us, note your User ID and the Upload ID for any transactions you want to discuss. You may also need the livestock device numbers mentioned in any NLIS email messages you have received about the transaction.
Trouble accessing the NLIS database?
The NLIS website is not fully compatible with some older internet browsers, so you should always ensure that you are using the latest version of your internet browser when you visit nlis.com.au
To check if your current internet browser is up to date, visit www.whatismybrowser.com. For assistance with upgrading your browser, contact your local IT provider.
The NLIS database will be unavailable between 6.00pm and 8.00pm (AEDT) every second Thursday, for routine maintenance. View the NLIS maintenence dates.
Warning Emails
These messages are generated automatically by the NLIS Database when a discrepancy arises in an animal's movement history.
The fact that you have received this email message indicates that your PIC is featured somewhere in the animal's life history.
Below is an example of the type of situation that will generate a 'Warning' email:
You are not required to do anything in response to this email, however, the email contains valuable information to assist you in investigating the message, such as the PICs involved.
These PICs can be investigated on the NLIS PIC register to determine the entities involved. For instructions on how to do this refer to the Tech Tip – ‘Search the PIC Register’.
Reconciling the devices that are physically on your property against the devices registered to your NLIS Database account may be of assistance. Access information on how to complete a PIC reconciliation.
For more information on any 'Warning' emails you have received, please contact ISC Customer Service on 1800 683 111, or via support@integritysystems.com.au between 9am and 5pm (AEDT, Monday to Friday.
Please have the email you received handy when you call.
You can recover your NLIS user ID and password here.
If you have incorrectly recorded a livestock movement, you may be able to delete or correct it, depending on the circumstances of the movement. Refer to the Transfer correction Tech Tip for more information.
If your upload has failed or was rejected, refer to the relevant Tech Tip on the NLIS website in the Help section.
If you still encounter issues please contact ISC Customer Service on 1800 683 111 or at support@integritysystems.com.au. Please have the relevant NLIS user ID handy when you call.
A PIC reconciliation compares the tags you have on your property with what the NLIS database has recorded for your property. Any differences must be reconciled so the database accurately reflects what animals (devices) are on your property.
Situations where a PIC reconciliation is useful include:
Conducting a PIC reconciliation involves scanning all animals on your property and the spare NLIS tags you have to generate a file of tag numbers which you can upload to your account in the NLIS database. These tags are ‘active’. This enables the system to compare the tags assigned to your PIC on the NLIS database and what is active in animals on your property.
A PIC reconciliation will identify two groups of animals – those that are on your NLIS account but not physically on your property (either lost tags or animals that have not been transferred off). These can generally be set to ‘inactive’. The other group are animals (devices) that you do physically have but are not appearing on your NLIS account. Tracking down where this group came from to complete the transfer may be easy or difficult – the visual tag that has the PIC number of the animal’s place of birth may help you when going through your NVD records.
ISC has a detailed Tech Tip on how to do a PIC reconciliation by file upload and if you are seeking more of these step-by-step documents to use the NLIS database, visit www.integritysystems.com.au/techtips.
Contact ISC Customer Service for further assistance or contact your state agricultural department. ISC recommends conducting a PIC reconciliation at least once per year.
If the tag has been transferred to your PIC when you purchased the animal (it should have been) – you can generate the report ‘Device query’ on the NLIS database and enter the tag number. This report option is available in the dropdown menu of reports in your account.
The report will tell you the date the animal was transferred to your PIC and the PIC it was transferred from. If the animal does not appear, it means it was not transferred onto your PIC.
There are a few ways to add a management number to NLIS tags.
To have a management number identified separately within the NLIS database you will need to order matching management tags at the same time as ordering your NLIS tags. The management number can be up to five characters long – the first character can be a letter and the rest must be numbers. This will also be the last five characters printed on the NLIS tag.
As the below example outlines, 00611 is printed on the management tag number and is also printed on the NLIS tag. Database device reports will include a column called ‘visual ID’ where this number can be viewed.
Every year when NLIS tags are ordered, the 11th character denotes the year of manufacture. This means that each year, you can order the same series of numbers, because they will be differentiated by the changing year character. So if you brand 300 calves a year, you can order 300 new tags numbered 00001 to 00300 each year.
If you don’t want to order matching management tags then you can still request a specific series of numbers for your NLIS tags as above, eg. from 00001 to 00300. You will still be able to sort tags using these numbers, they just will not appear in a separate ‘visual id’ column in reports.
If you have an electronic system for recording data on animals, you can scan NLIS tags as cattle are processed and link the NLIS tag to a management tag (if you have one) in your device/system. This video from Queensland Agriculture outlines this process in more detail.
The NLIS database records electronic tags and visual tags. Electronic tags are mandatory for cattle and for sheep and goats in Victoria. If you are using the visual tag system, sheep movements will be recorded as mob-based movements on the NLIS database. The reports will look slightly different to that of cattle but all the records should be there. If you have any trouble accessing these results, contact the ISC helpdesk.
If you are unsure of a device’s whereabouts and need to remove it from your PIC, you should assign the ‘inactive’ (IA) status to the device.
Any device you have not yet used should remain ‘active’ on the database. Any such device should not be assigned the ‘inactive’ status white it is awaiting use.
Refer to the Assign device status Tech Tip for more information.
Please refer to the resources on PIC reconciliations.
When you move your stock to the new property you must transfer all the stock from your current PIC to the new PIC on the NLIS database. This will mean scanning cattle RFID tags and transferring them individually on the database. Sheep and/or goats with visual tags are moved as mobs.
An NVD for the current property for all cattle and sheep consignments must also be filled out when the stock are moved to the new property. If the property is in NSW, you will also need to update your details with Local Land Services.