Australia’s peak banking industry body has backed the Federal Government’s move to legislate a voluntary Digital ID scheme, welcoming the legally enforced identity verification system as “the nation’s first line of defence against cybercrime”.
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) confirmed its support for the Bill, which creates a legislative framework for a nationwide Digital ID system. The new laws will, it said, be “critical in underpinning the banking sector’s efforts to safeguard Australians against scammers”.
The Government has recognised the “limitations” of the current framework, noting that its existing myGovID system can, at present, only be made available for government services.
myGovID counts more than 10.5 million users who may be eligible to access more than 130 government services.
Introduced to Federal Parliament on Friday, the Bill will move to replace an existing, and currently unlegislated, policy framework for Digital ID accreditation (the Trusted Digital Identity Framework) with a new voluntary Accreditation Scheme for public and private sector providers.
This effectively extends government-accredited Digital IDs for use by private sector entities as well as state and territory government agencies.
Finance minister Katy Gallagher, who tabled the Bill into parliament, said the new Accreditation Scheme will enable more Digital ID providers “to demonstrate that they meet strong privacy protections, security safeguards, and accessibility requirements”.
The Digital ID System will be framed around the ‘interoperability obligation’, giving individuals and businesses the right to choose which accredited Digital ID provider they use to access any website, app or other service that is connected to the system.
A new Trustmark will also be available for accredited Digital ID providers to display their accreditation status, with civil penalties imposed on those that falsely promote their services as meeting these accreditation requirements.
The Bill also introduces a raft of new privacy protections that will operate in addition to existing protections in the Commonwealth’s Privacy Act, ensuring that if the aforementioned Act does not apply, accredited providers will be subject to equivalent privacy protections.
Additional protections will also be provided for individuals’ personally identifiable information that may used in the identity verification process, including passport details, birth certificates, driver licences, Medicare cards and biometric information.
An amendment to the original Bill will see Australia’s competition and consumer watchdog, the ACCC, become the independent Digital ID Regulator, with responsibility for overseeing the Accreditation Scheme and the Australian Government Digital ID System.
The ABA, Australia’s peak banking industry body, welcomed the introduction of the Bill, noting that extending the Digital ID scheme to the private sector will mean that Australian companies will “no longer need to store copies of [individuals’] personal information, reducing the risk of data theft”.
“It also means people can apply for a passport, a mobile phone, a bank account within seconds using a digital identity established with a trusted digital identity provider.”
ABA chief executive Anna Bligh said the legislation would ensure “scammers can’t open false accounts with stolen or fake ID documents,” effectively stopping scams “in [their] tracks.
“Less copies of personal records out in the world means less risk for Australian consumers.
“A Digital ID will act as a shield against the scourge of scammers currently preying on the Australian people.”
