Monday, 5 February 2024
Austroads, a longstanding authority in verifying Australian driver licenses, is set to spearhead a groundbreaking initiative in the digital identity landscape. Having played a pivotal role in the National Document Verification Service (DVS) for driver licenses, processing over two million verifications each month, Austroads is poised to extend its expertise into digital identity.
Since 2018, Austroads has led development of international digital credentialing standards with its partner peak bodies the Association of American Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) and Association of European Vehicle and Driver Registration Authorities (EReg).
The global partnership and vendors including Google, Apple, Samsung, Thales, Idemia, HID, NEC and Get Group collaborated to develop the International Standard for digital driver licences.
Across Australian states and territories, there's a concerted push to adopt the standard to ensure that digital driver licenses provide robust privacy protection, security, and cross-border compatibility. In a pioneering move, Austroads is now actively seeking partnerships to develop a Digital Trust Service based on ISO 18013-5. This initiative will initially focus on verifying digital driver licenses and digital photo ID/proof of age credentials, addressing the evolving needs of an increasingly digital society.
“Europe and North America have successfully invested in secure, privacy-preserving credential verification. Austroads intends to bring this technology to Australia to position us at the forefront of identity and road safety,” said Austroads Chief Executive, Dr Geoff Allan.
Driver licences are a key document used by Australians to verify their identity. Dr Allan highlighted that “More than 80% of the adult population have a driver licence and use it as a form of identity. Harmonising digital driver licences across all jurisdictions is an important and complimentary step to the larger national digital identity agenda.”
Austroads Director of Digital Identity, Dr Kirsten McKillop, said “We aim to harmonise digital driver licenses and other credentials across Australia, enabling their use by any government agency or business at any time and place. A common standard is essential to ensure that the mutual recognition we have today for physical driver licenses extends seamlessly into the digital realm. We understand that our customers and businesses are demanding this.”
Austroads has also welcomed Christopher Goh into the team, as the new National Harmonisation Lead – Digital Identity. Chris led the development and pilot for the Queensland Digital License and his expertise will be instrumental in this groundbreaking initiative.
Austroads' vision goes beyond pioneering this transformative initiative; they aspire to co-design national policy in this space and openly share the architecture and approaches with other government entities, contributing to the growth of knowledge and capability in Australia.
Mr. Goh shared his perspective on the pilot, saying, "We will work closely with issuing authorities of digital credentials across Australia and New Zealand. We also maintain a strong rapport with our North American and European counterparts. Our pilot aims to demonstrate the feasibility of verifying credentials across Australia and to coordinate tests with our international partners, ensuring international alignment."
What’s next?
Austroads will release an Expression of Interest in February 2024 to seek appropriately experienced service providers for the purpose of nationally harmonising digital driver licences, photo identity and associated digital identities. A forum on 26 February will provide vendors who are interested in partnering with Austroads to deliver next generation digital credentialling services, an opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification on direction, architecture and solution requirements.