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futures
This page considers the future of national identification
schemes in Australia.
It covers -
introduction
Establishment of the TFN and federal privacy legislation
was followed by -
- sporadic
suggestions for a general purpose national identity
registration scheme and for purpose-specific identity
cards (eg a photo ID card for Victorians under that
state's Working With Children legislation)
- implementation
of purpose-specific cards at the federal level (eg the
Maritime Security Card)
- moves
towards enhancement of existing schemes (eg trials of
Medicare smart cards as part of the MediConnect/HealthConnect
national health registry vision)
- establishment
of a range of registers (eg the Australian Childhood
Immunisation Register) and agencies (eg tertiary students
enrolled in education, community and public health and
human service courses require clearance by the federal
CrimTrac
agency)
- criticisms
that the federal privacy regime was being vitiated through
under-resourcing of the Privacy Commissioner's Office
(or merely a complaisant attitude to perceived breaches)
and introduction of national security legislation
Calls
for a discrete, multi-purpose national identity card recurred
in the mid 1990s, after 9/11 and in 2005. Proponents within
government, business, community groups and solution vendors
typically encompassed a photo ID card - of varying degrees
of 'smartness' - that would
- serve
as a tool against terrorists or even "prevent terrorism"
- disrupt
use of false and multiple identities that a UK government
report claimed "are used by organised criminals
and in a third of terrorist-related activity"
- underpin
action against illegal working and immigration abuse
- ensure
public services are used only by those with a proper
entitlement
- complement
advanced passports,
with advocates in the UK for example claiming that a
smart ID card would ensure British citizens were able
to travel freely across Europe.
Given claims that Australian government consideration
of national identity schemes is a diversion to distract
community attention from embarrassments such as the DIMIA
scandal it is worth noting that most governments have
reviewed or indeed implemented schemes during that period.
A 2004 Canadian government report (PDF)
thus asked
- What
are the existing problems with Canadian identity documents,
particularly 'foundation' documents such as birth certificates?
-
What should be the guiding principles for a national
strategy on identity documents?
-
Which level(s) of government should be responsible?
-
Do we need to create a new national identity card, or
can the security features of existing “foundation”
documents be strengthened?
-
What has been the experience of other countries with
national identity cards?
-
Should everyone in Canada be required to carry a secure
identity document at all times? Or should the
identity document be voluntary for some (eg Canadian
citizens and permanent residents) and mandatory for
others (eg refugee claimants, foreign students, or other
temporary residents)?
-
What information should be imbedded in the cards, who
should be able to access that information, should the
information be stored centrally, and what safeguards
would be required to prevent misuse?
-
What technologies are available for enhancing document
security and what issues are raised by the use of particular
technologies, such as biometrics?
-
How much would a national identity card cost?
What savings would be realized by introducing such a
card (eg reduction in crime related to identity theft)?
a
possible future
Earlier in this profile we suggested that the 1980s Australia
Card proposals failed through lack of political will,
disagreement within the federal bureaucracy and poor marketing
in the face of campaigning by an articulate and energetic
advocacy group that shaped the terms of debate but did
not necessarily represent the views of most of the community.
That experience provides one model for the future.
2005 saw
- conflicting
statements by federal bureaucrats about the shape of
a potential national card scheme, with confusion about
"a master database"
- public
disagreement among federal ministers about the need
for and technical viability of what was tagged by critics
as 'Australia Card II'
- claims
by the Queensland Premier and others that the Card would
have a major impact on terrorism and fraud
- counterclaims
that the Card would be wholly without benefits, would
facilitate identity theft and would represent "East
Germany on steroids"
- moves
by state governments to strengthen occupational registers
and introduce new photo ID cards and registration requirements
in particular sectors (eg for anyone working with children)
- little
exposure in the mass media of underlying questions about
the shape of privacy legislation, existing national
security frameworks, spent convictions and private sector
data collection/handling
In
2005 we accordingly commented that it was likely that
a discrete 'Australia Card II' would not get off the ground,
with several functions instead being fulfilled by a second
generation health card that is linked to a scaled-down
version of the federal government's ambitious HealthConnect/MediConnect
scheme (including the UHI).
Bruce Arnold's discussion of the 2006 Access Card in Privacy
Law Bulletin questioned the Human Services Minister's
fatuous claim that the new card would be "a smartcard
not an ID card", one protected by an "anti-ID
card law".
Information will continue to be collected and aggregated
by different government agencies (potentially facilitated
through further exclusions in the 1988 Privacy Act
and associated legislation). We can expect an expansion
of services such as CrimTrac and state sex offender
registers, along with new services such as AusCheck.
next page
(Access Card FAQs)
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