- 'It Will Be a Bit Contested'

Australian Finance Minister Katy Gallagher speaks during a budget lockup press conference in Canberra, Australia, on Oct. 25, 2022. (Martin Ollman/Getty Images)

By Nina Nguyen

Australians could soon have their personal details stored in a centralised, economy-wide system that would bundle together their driver's licence, Medicare card, passport and other credentials.

The national digital ID was initially a plan of the former Coalition government that aimed to gather different licences and documentation under a government-run platform that external organisations can access to verify their customers' information.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told the Australian Financial Review's Government Services Summit that the plan is due to be rolled out within a year.

She said the scheme has got cabinet approval, and the next stage will kick in by September, and she'd like to get it into the federal parliament this year.

"If all things line up and we're able to move pretty swiftly, we could have legislation in place mid-year next year. That's a pretty tight timeframe, so I don't want to be held to that. But that's kind of my roadmap," Ms. Gallagher said on July 25.

She said that the government has already got the system—with over 10 million Australians using myGOV ID and states and jurisdictions having their own systems—but noted it's "not regulated."

"We've got the system; it's just not regulated and not in a shape I think that will allow us to drive it forward and give the interoperability and the economy-wide benefits that come from having a national system, but we're very committed to it," she said.

MyGov is currently the Australian government's digital identity app that allows Australians to log in the government services for tax, business, immigration and s social services.

The Finance Minister noted that there was already pushback against the scheme while criticising "theories" "coming out of COVID" that she characterised as "conspiracy theories about what government's trying to do."

"I would say I think it will be a bit contested," she said.

A 'Western Version' Of China's Social Credit Scheme

In April 2022, a petition called Stop The Digital Identity Legislation (Trusted Digital Identity Bill) gathered over 46,000 signatures.

The petition, which was published on the parliament's website, warned the national digital ID would be "a threat to every Australian's privacy and security" and risk becoming "a Western version of China's social credit scheme."

The petition raised questions about the use and sharing of citizens' personal or biometric information to third parties, the lack of clarity about how the private sector will use the scheme, the ability to gather detailed profiles of individual Australians, and potential misuse, fraud and discriminatory practices.

However, Ms. Gallagher argued the national ID was "really about you having control as citizens; control of their information that allows them to access government systems in a very easy, secure, voluntary and efficient way."

She added that the government wanted to see a digital identity model in "an economy-wide system."

"We're going to implement it in phases," Ms. Gallagher noted.

"And I think our first, once we've got it up and running, the next stage is to really make sure that the State and Territory digital ID systems are interoperable, and then move to the private sector."

The universal ID is expected to also hold an individual's creditcard, Australian Post, Centre Link details and Australian Payments Plus.

The scheme was brought back into the spotlight despite multiple major cyber attacks in Australia in the last 1.5 year, with medical insurer Medibank and telecommunication giant Optus becoming targets.

In March, NSW Digital Government Minister Victor Dominello argued that the digital ID would address privacy concerns as it "centralises service delivery around the individual."

"We can't allow some people that are misinformed to say 'this is back to the Australia Card debate.' The Australia Card debate took place in a world without the Internet,” he previously said at the Tech Council of Australia.

"By this time next year, we will start seeing a whole lot of this start radiating out… into the industry. This is unquestionably the Holy Grail. This will take the hard edge off cyber… It also makes sure that when it comes to service delivery that the customer is truly in control."

Warning Of Misuse

But Professor John Hartnett—a retired physics research scientist who has worked on cryocooled sapphire oscillators (or “sapphire clocks”) used by the European Space Agency and the Australian military—was critical with the argument that the system will not be prone to misuse.

“The digital identity will rapidly lead to a digital dictatorship inside of a digital prison,” Hartnett said at a Building the Digital Prison conference hosted by the Civilisationists and Western Australian Legal Theory Association in Perth on Oct. 12.

“[People could be] controlled though this sort of tech coupled with the score each person is given. If you don’t behave, your score will be set to such a state that you cannot unlock any services, like buying food or travel,” he said.

“Just take a look at China now, with their social credit system.”

Daniel Khmelev contributed to this report.