Key events
Sarah Basford Canales
Labor to launch revamped federal digital ID system
The government services minister, Bill Shorten, will today announce a new federal ID system to be launched by the end of the year with “consent, choice and trust” at its heart.
In a speech to be delivered at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Shorten will unveil the proof of concept designed to give Australians the option to share select aspects of their identity and credentials with services and businesses using a government app.
The new digital ID system, which the government has invested $11.4m in to build and launch by 2024’s end, will be called Trust Exchange, or TEx for short.
Shorten will say the system would allow users to hand over only the necessary information, or none at all, through a digital wallet containing official information already held by the federal government.
For example, a person checking in at the hotel could store key information – such as passport or a driver’s licence – in the digital wallet and scan a code to hand specific details over to the hotel rather than allowing a business to scan your documents.
Shorten is expected to point to other examples where the system could work, such as verifying your age at a nightclub or your qualifications with an employer. The minister will say:
The token will be a valuable promise to the club, but of zero value to a cybercriminal because the confirmation token will not contain any personal information.
Shorten will say the technology is “brand new” and “world-leading” and opts for a carrot over stick approach.
The strength of TEx lies in its potential to give Australians control of their data that will rival the gold standard General Data Protection Regulation in Europe but without the regulation and complexity.
We’ll learn more after the minister’s speech begins at 12.30pm.
Good morning
Happy Tuesday – also known as party room meeting day/the calm ahead of the storm.
Usually, Tuesdays are a flurry of activity quite early on and then a bit of a lull before the parliament sits at midday.
Today is also Bill Shorten day. The government services minister is chasing his Q&A appearance last night with a National Press Club address. He’ll be announcing a new digital national ID, with “consent, choice and trust” at the centre.
It’s very Shorten language to describe a system where the government holds a digital wallet where people can store their ID, but can opt to share tokens showing their ID has been verified rather than the ID itself. The idea is to cut down on the number of vendors who can hold your ID. He’ll have more in his speech later today.
Last night, Shorten was selling the government’s message on everything from cost of living to gambling reform on the ABC, so he is pretty primed for attention today. He all but confirmed the government won’t be going for a blanket ban on gambling advertising, as Peta Murphy’s inquiry called for, saying he “wasn’t convinced complete prohibition works”.
On that point, he and his Liberal sparring partner, senator Jane Hume were in agreement, with Hume saying it was all about “balance”.
Shorten also said the quiet part out loud when it came to some of the commercial media concerns around the ban: “Some of you might say, ‘well, bugger them, just don’t worry, we don’t need free-to-air media’ … but free-to-air media is in diabolical trouble,” adding a lot of that trouble was coming from “big tech” like Meta.
The Coalition has not ruled out supporting the government’s gambling legislation, which would mean negotiations with the crossbench and Greens would not be needed. Still, we all have to see it first. We are all told that negotiations are “ongoing”.
Meanwhile, in Perth, former prime minister Scott Morrison is expected to enter the witness box to give evidence in the defamation trial Linda Reynolds has brought against her former staffer, Brittany Higgins. Morrison is expected to be asked about some of the statements he gave at the time.
When it comes to Canberra, you’ll have Karen Middleton, Paul Karp, Daniel Hurst and Sarah Basford Canales covering the day. Mike Bowers is already up and about wandering the hallways and you have me, Amy Remeikis, with you on the blog for most of the day.
Ready? Let’s get into it.
