Premier

Identity Fraud Crackdown

16 September 2019

The Andrews Labor Government is cracking down on identity fraud and doing more to protect Victorians and their digital data through the use of new identity matching technology.

Following a Council of Australian Governments’ agreement, Victorian driver licence data will be uploaded to the Federal Government’s National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution (NDLFRS), improving the way VicRoads and Victoria Police can monitor for fraudulent or duplicate IDs.

The upload will make it easier for authorised government agencies to identify fake licences or multiples IDs connected to a single individual and stop potential fraud.

Driver licences are the most common form of identification used in Australia, but current image-based identification methods can be cumbersome, with sharing between agencies sometimes taking days or even longer to process.

This agreement will help get dangerous drivers off our roads by reducing the chance of people using multiple licences to avoid demerit points or licence cancellations.

It will also provide agencies with increased capabilities to prevent, detect and investigate identity crime, which impacts around one in every four Australians, costing about $2.2 billion a year.

Victoria has agreed only to upload the data to the system and make it available to other Victorian-based government agencies.

Any further use – by federal authorities or other states – will not be authorised until Victoria is satisfied with the proposed Identity-matching Services Bill currently before the Federal Parliament.

Victorian participation will be monitored to ensure the privacy of individuals is not compromised.

More information about the NDLFRS can be found at vic.gov.au/national-driverExternal Link .

Quotes attributable to Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings

“This technology will help keep government agencies ahead of the pack when it comes to combating identity fraud, which is one of the most common and costly crimes facing our state.”

“We are doing this as part of a national agreement, while ensuring the privacy of Victorians is not compromised.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Roads Jaala Pulford

“This will make it harder for people to conceal their true identities and use multiple licences to avoid traffic fines, demerit points or licence cancellations.”

“This will greatly assist in removing unauthorised and dangerous drivers from our roads.”

Reviewed 19 August 2020

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