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In a move set to improve how Australians verify and manage their identities online, the Australian Federal Government is on the brink of legislating a groundbreaking Digital ID initiative.
The project is spearheaded by John Shepherd, a visionary with an illustrious track record introducing game-changing projects like Single Touch Payroll (STP) for the ATO and the digitisation of ABS reporting.
John Shepherd, now Head of the Digital ID Taskforce at the Department of Finance, highlighted the real-world applicability and demand for streamlined and secure identity verification.
"This change is already happening,” said John. "myGovID, which is a Digital ID, isn’t a new thing.”
“BAS Agents are already one of the highest users of Digital ID through their connection to the ATO.”
Acknowledging the existing myGovID and a growing range of accredited private sector digital ID providers, John highlighted one of the initiative's goals of expansion, aiming to provide consumers with a choice of ID providers that includes both commercial and government entities.
“This strategic expansion is intended to broaden the scope of the Digital ID system to a national, whole of economy enabler ,” said John.
“This would allow individuals to verify their personal identity documents confidently with both government and commercial providers in a way that is more secure.”
“This could facilitate processes such as property transactions and employment onboarding without the need to share personal documents in unsecure ways,” said John.
The primary objective of this initiative is to make identity verification more secure by replacing the need to repeatedly give copies of identity documents and stop the oversharing of information to verify your ID when accessing services.
By minimising the instances where sharing ID documents might leave a person vulnerable to ID fraud, the initiative aims to significantly reduce the risk of identity theft, a prevalent concern in the digital age.
One of the pivotal aspects of this initiative is its voluntary nature. Individuals will have the autonomy to choose whether to create and use a Digital ID, and who to create it with.
The process is being designed to be simple, inclusive, and convenient, providing individuals with a secure and reusable method to verify their identity online.
Underpinning the program is a focus on privacy-by-design with strong privacy safeguards that build on those in the Privacy Act. Your information and how you use your Digital ID is private and protected.
Having been in a holding pattern for several years, the draft Digital ID Bill has just gone through a consultation process with the goal to introduce it to Parliament late this year, signifying a pivotal moment in the landscape of digital ID verification.
The journey toward widespread acceptance and implementation will be ongoing. Even after the legislation is enacted, a considerable amount of work will be put into integrating this initiative into Australian’s lives.
As the initiative progresses and unfolds, you can anticipate follow-up articles from the Australian Bookkeepers Network (ABN) delving into the finer details and ramifications of this transformative approach to identity verification.
