The Victorian 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).
This initiative will improve the way VicRoads and Victoria Police can monitor for fraudulent or duplicate IDs.
Benefits of the Initiative
According to a recent press release, 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.
However, 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 the roads by reducing the chance of people using multiple licences to avoid demerit points or licence cancellations.
Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings explained that 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 the state.
Additionally, it will also provide agencies with increased capabilities to prevent, to detect and to investigate identity crime.
This type of crime impacts around one in every four Australians and costs about AU$ 2.2 billion a year.
National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution
The NDLFRS is hosted on a Department of Home Affairs platform. It is part of the Commonwealth Government’s national Face Matching Services but cannot be used for mass surveillance.
Once implemented, approved Victorian Government agencies can use advanced face matching technology to review specific photographs.
The system identifies distinctive facial characteristics, which can then be compared against driver licence images. This technology is already in use in Australia for passport and immigration purposes.
Background of the Initiative
The Victorian Government is doing this as part of a national agreement, while ensuring the privacy of Victorians is not compromised.
Victoria has agreed only to upload the data to the system and make it available to other Victorian-based government agencies.
Furthermore, any further use, by federal authorities or other states, will not be authorised until Victoria is satisfied with the proposed Identity-matching Services Bill, which is currently before the Federal Parliament.
Victorian participation will be monitored to ensure the privacy of individuals is not compromised.
Minister for Roads Jaala Pulford explained that 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.
Moreover, it will greatly assist in removing unauthorised and dangerous drivers from the roads.