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Cover of Digital Trust Service Benefits Report
Digital Trust Service Benefits Report
  • Publication no: AP-C116-26
  • ISBN: 978-1-923617-50-6
  • Published: 16 June 2026

Austroads Digital Trust Service (DTS) provides the foundation for secure, interoperable mobile driver licences (mDLs) across Australia and New Zealand.

This Benefits Report (Report) builds on the January 2025 Austroads DTS Business Case (Business Case) by including more detailed estimation of the benefits to Austroads member jurisdictions and additional case studies of specific use cases.

The DTS delivers an interoperable mDL capability across Australia and New Zealand for the first time. The DTS has an estimated value of $162 million per year by 2030 or $954 million over 10 years in present value (PV) terms.

All member jurisdictions are estimated to benefit significantly from the DTS, regardless of whether they have an existing mDL. This is because a DTS enables trusted and interoperable verification of interstate and international mDLs, and national scale is required for the participation of global wallet providers, which are unrelated to the maturity of a jurisdiction’s own mDLs. Although, jurisdictions without an mDL will experience greater benefits per user as they are starting from a lower base.

  • Executive Summary
  • Definitions and Terms
  • 1. Introduction and Background
    • 1.1 The role and management of driver licences
      • 1.1.1 About Austroads
      • 1.1.2 Austroads role in the harmonisation of driver licences
      • 1.1.3 Defining the DTS
    • 1.2 Austroads is best placed to deliver the DTS
    • 1.3 The rise of digital licences and current challenges
      • 1.3.1 Digital driver licences are not compliant with international standards
      • 1.3.2 Remaining jurisdictions face significant time and costs
      • 1.3.3 Global wallet providers require a single point of engagement
      • 1.3.4 There is no trusted way to verify mDLs from other jurisdictions
  • 2. The Global Shift Towards mDLs
    • 2.1 EU requirement to issue mDLs by default
    • 2.2 US launch of a DTS and REAL ID enforcement
    • 2.3 Other global trends towards mDLs
      • 2.3.1 Increasing cross-border trust and a growing global trust network
      • 2.3.2 Advancing mDL capabilities
  • 3. Benefits of an Austroads DTS
    • 3.1 DTS benefits framework
    • 3.2 Beneficiaries of the DTS
    • 3.3 Additional case studies for specific use cases
      • 3.3.1 Law enforcement and road safety
      • 3.3.2 Privacy and selective disclosure for vulnerable users
      • 3.3.3 Social inclusion and accessibility for people who are blind or have low vision
      • 3.3.4 Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games
  • 4. Conclusion
  • Appendix A: Benefit Estimation Approach and Jurisdiction Results
    • A.1 Scope of economic and financial modelling
    • A.2 Benefit estimation methodology overview
    • A.3 Jurisdictional results
  • References
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