The Federal Government, in conjunction with all state and territory data and digital ministers, has unveiled its National Strategy for Identity Resilience aimed at strengthening the country’s identity infrastructure and increasing the protection of citizens’ personal data.

The overriding goal of the strategy will be to make Australians’ identities “hard to steal and, if stolen, easy to restore”, the Minister for Finance and the Public Service, Katy Gallagher, said in a media release.

Efforts will be also put into creating a secure and trusted digital environment for the country, which would also enable smarter service delivery. The strategy forms an important part of Australia’s broader whole-of-nation cybersecurity efforts, which include the development of the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy.

“Our approach to identity resilience needs to keep pace with our economic and social activity, and the changing nature of identity crime. It is essential we deliver a future-ready identity system,” the Minister said.

“This starts with a nationally consistent and coordinated approach to identity and strong partnerships between Commonwealth and state and territory governments.

“This Strategy is a way for all jurisdictions to work together to better protect Australians from identity crime and help them recover when the worst happens.”

The Government indicated that it would work closely with its state and territory counterparts while developing these initiatives, being that they are often “on the front line of service delivery”.

Recent high-profile cyber incidents have demonstrated that more needs to be done to protect Australians’ data and their identities. According to Government figures, identity crime impacts around one in 20 people, with an estimated cost of $3.1 billion in 2018-19.