Australia has announced a comprehensive “National Strategy for Identity Resilience,” aimed at bolstering the security and resilience of citizens’ identities.
The strategy, developed through collaboration between the Commonwealth, state, and territory governments, focuses on protecting Australians from identity crime and facilitating their recovery in the event of a breach. With the increasing reliance on digital verification processes, the strategy places particular emphasis on the role of digital identification in ensuring robust identity protection.
The strategy acknowledges the need for identity management systems to evolve alongside these emerging risks, emphasizing the importance of privacy and strong security measures. By establishing a secure and inclusive identity ecosystem, Australia aims to facilitate safe participation in the economy and reinforce its broader efforts in online safety and cybersecurity.
The National Strategy for Identity Resilience outlines key principles guiding the strategy, including the seamless integration of Commonwealth, state, and territory digital ID systems, inclusivity in accessing services, and the roles of individuals, industry, and government in building resilience.
The strategy also emphasizes the role of digital credentials and biometrics in enhancing identity resilience. Digital IDs are seen as providing highly secure credentials, enabling Australians to selectively share only the necessary information for a given transaction, reducing the risk associated with sharing valuable identity documents. Additionally, the use of biometrics, with individuals’ consent, is seen as a means to make identity credentials more secure against misuse.
To translate these principles into action, the strategy outlines a series of short, medium, and long-term initiatives. These include updating national identity proofing guidelines to ensure consistent standards, establishing a cohesive national response to identity security aspects of data breaches, raising identity resilience awareness and education, implementing a credential protection register, and facilitating the reissuance of digital credentials through digital wallets.
By prioritizing digital ID and implementing comprehensive initiatives, Australia aims to build a more secure and trusted digital environment, promoting safer and more efficient service delivery. The strategy aligns with the nation’s ambition to become the most cyber-secure nation by 2030 and sets the stage for continued collaboration between the Commonwealth, states, and territories.
The Australian government has been seriously exploring the potential benefits of digital ID for some time now, having allocated $256.6 million to the development of a system based on facial recognition in a 2020 digital business funding program meant to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The country’s Digital and Data Minister held meetings with state-level counterparts to further discuss a potential country-wide digital ID program in March of last year.
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June 27, 2023 – by The Mobile ID World Editorial Team
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