Identity crime and misuse is one of Australia’s most prevalent crimes with an estimated 750,000 to 937,000 people experiencing financial loss as a result, and a total economic impact estimated to exceed $1.6 billion each year. Unfortunately driver licences are often used by perpetrators to commit identity related crimes.
Australian driver licensing authorities (DLAs) have for many years had systems in place to confirm the identity of a person applying for a driver’s licence. These systems together with the physical driver licence product have become increasingly sophisticated over time in the interests of maintaining positive road safety outcomes, including effective on-road enforcement.
Today, because a driver’s licence is the most widely accepted identity credential in our community, DLAs recognise the need to strengthen name based checking processes to protect the community from the risk of potential identity crime created through the production of a fraudulent driver’s licence.
A National Approach to Identity Management
As part of the National Identity Security Strategy, the Commonwealth Government published National Identity Proofing Guidelines in 2014. The purpose of these guidelines is to strengthen identity proofing processes and increase trust through a standardised and transparent national approach.
These new national guidelines provide a more robust, yet flexible risk-based approach to identity proofing than the traditional ‘100 point check’, and are aligned with international best-practice standards. This approach enables a greater range of identity verification processes to be conducted online, using systems such as the national Document Verification Service (DVS).
The DVS is a secure, national, online system that enables automated checks of the information included on key government documents commonly presented as proof of identity. The DVS helps organisations build greater confidence in the identity of their clients, and so helps protect governments, businesses and Australians from identity crime. The checking available through the DVS is currently being integrated into driver licensing processes throughout Australia.
Downloads
 | National Identity Proofing Guidelines 2014 [PDF 1.8MB] |
 | Austroads Policy Statement | Protecting Your Identity [PDF 336 Kb] |