Australian Government: Attorney-General's Department
Australian Government: Attorney-General's DepartmentAchieving a Just and Secure Society

Identity security

Identity security is central to Australia’s national security, law enforcement and economic interests. It is vital in protecting Australian citizens from the theft or misuse of their identities.

The misuse of false or stolen identities underpins terrorist and criminal activity. It also undermines border and citizenship controls and efforts to combat the financing of crime and terrorism. It is essential to Australia’s security and economic interests that the identities of persons accessing government services, benefits, official documents and positions of trust, can be accurately verified. Also, the victims of identity theft bear significant financial and emotional costs in regaining their identity and credit ratings.

The Australian Government is working to improve identity security, combat identity crime and protect the identities of Australians from being used for illegal purposes. Current initiatives include:

National Identity Security Strategy

The Australian Government is leading government action on the National Identity Security Strategy (the Strategy) to combat the misuse of stolen or assumed identities in the provision of government services.

The Strategy is based on a cross-jurisdictional, whole-of-government approach to maximise its effectiveness and inter-operability across all governments.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) considered identity security at its special meeting on Counter-Terrorism on 27 September 2005. COAG agreed to the development and implementation of a national identity security strategy, underpinned by an inter-governmental agreement (IGA), the development and implementation of a national document verification service to combat the misuse of false and stolen identities, and to investigate the means by which reliable, consistent and nationally inter-operable biometric security measures could be adopted by all jurisdictions.

The Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers signed the IGA at the COAG meeting on 13 April 2007. The key objectives of the Strategy, as set out in the IGA and detailed in the reports to COAG, include:

  • improving standards and procedures for enrolment and registration for the issue of proof of identity documents (POI)
  • enhancing the security features on POI documents to reduce the risk of incidence of forgery
  • establishing mechanisms to enable organisations to verify the data on key POI documents provided by clients when registering for services
  • improving the accuracy of personal identity information held on organisations' databases
  • enabling greater confidence in the authentication of individuals using online services, and
  • enhancing the national inter-operability of biometric identity security measures.

At that meeting, COAG also noted the progress made to date in giving effect to the six elements of the Strategy, and acknowledged the value of this work in providing guidance to government. The Australian Government has adopted the Report as a reference document for its agencies and departments. The Report will provide a useful reference point and guidance for future work on upgrading security of POI documents and procedures.

A governance framework was set up to guide and progress the Strategy. The National Identity Security Coordination Group (NISCG) is a high level group consisting of representatives from central agencies of the Australian and State and Territory governments, the Council of Australasian Registrars for Births, Deaths and Marriages, Austroads and the Privacy Commissioner. The NISCG was established to coordinate and implement the National Identity Security Strategy.

The Attorney-General’s Department commissioned a nation-wide survey into issues relating to identity theft. The survey sought to enquire into the level of concern, incidence and type of identity theft experienced by Australians. A key result of the survey shows that one in six respondents had either been directly affected by identity theft or misuse, or knew somebody who had been affected in the last six months. The survey also showed that more than half of those affected were targeted through the Internet. The independent online study was conducted by Di Marzio Research in May 2011 and surveyed 1200 people from across Australia.

National Document Verification Service (DVS)

The national Document Verification Service (DVS) is part of the Australian Government’s commitment to protecting the identity of Australians. The DVS is a secure, electronic, on-line system that can be used to check, in real time, whether a particular proof-of-identity document that has been presented by a person applying for a high value benefit or service is authentic, accurate and up-to-date.

The DVS does not store any personal information. Requests to verify a document are encrypted and sent via a secure communications pathway to the document issuing agency. If a document ‘matches’ information held by the issuing agency, a ‘yes’ response is transmitted to the querying agency; otherwise, a ‘no’ response is returned indicating that the document details were not verified. No personal data is transferred from the document-issuing agency.

The DVS has been designed to be accessible by Australian Government, State and Territory agencies, and potentially by the private sector. Following a successful trial in 2006, the DVS is being progressively implemented, with more agencies planning to commence using the DVS during 2009/10. Currently, passports, visas and drivers licences are among the proof-of-identity documents that can be verified using the DVS.

With the assistance of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) has guided the development of the DVS and its supporting processes and frameworks. This reflects the Australian Government’s commitment to recognising, and appropriately managing, privacy impacts that may result from its projects and policies.

Improving the integrity of identity data - data matching better practice guidelines

The Better practice guidelines for data matching - Improving the integrity of dentity data sets out 17 key principles to consider in the technical design, build and analysis of data matching applications and the analysis and interpretation of the results produced.  

The information contained in the Guidelines has been developed with the assistance of the Commonwealth Reference Group on Identity Security’s Data Matching Working Group, and is largely based on methods applied by experienced data matching practitioners within government. 

Recording of a name to establish identity – Better practice guidelines for Commonwealth agencies

This paper outlines better practice guidelines to improve consistency and accuracy in use of name as an identifier by Commonwealth agencies. Developing better practice guidelines for use of name requires balancing the interests of individuals and those of government in establishing and maintaining a secure identification regime. 

The practices outlined in these guidelines seek to balance the operational requirements of different agencies, with better practice principles that aim to increase consistency and uniformity in use of name policy and procedures.

ID Theft prevention products

A number of ID theft prevention products have been developed to help Australians prevent, and deal with, identity theft. The ID Theft Booklet is about how to prevent, and respond to, identity theft. It provides practical strategies on how individuals can protect themselves from becoming victims of identity theft, and what to do if they become a victim of this crime. This has been supplemented by A4 size ID Theft posters, which are available for downloading to use in identity theft awareness activities. If you wish to link to our website and would like to use the ID Theft logo, you can download it by clicking on the link below.

Lost, stolen or found identity documents

Identity documents are a valuable asset. They enable individuals to provide evidence of their identity to allow them access to services and benefits and to conduct everyday transactions. Lost or stolen identity documents can be fraudulently used to establish false identities. Identity document issuer and law enforcement agencies have been working together to improve the management of lost, stolen or found identity documents. Information about what to do if you lose, have stolen or find an identity document can be found on the Lost, Stolen or Found Identity Documents page.

If you have any trouble accessing these documents, please email us at identity.security@ag.gov.au.