Voluntary Digital ID Could Be Mandatory in Practice: Senators

Two Coalition senators have expressed concerns that in practice, the national digital ID will not be voluntary, despite government reassurances. The comment was made in a report published in February by the senate standing committees on economics on the Digital ID bill 2023 and the Digital ID (transitional and consequential provisions) Bill 2023. The digital ID bill, which was introduced in Nov. 30, 2023, aims to establish an accreditation scheme for entities providing digital ID services and expand the national digital ID into an economy-wide system. In September, 2023, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher described the digital ID “an easy way of verifying who you are online, against existing government-held identity documents without having to hand over any physical information.”...