Austroads’ proposed ‘Digital Trust Service’ is gaining momentum after state delegates met with international representatives at last week’s Identity and Verifiable Credentials Summit 2024.
Held in Sydney, the Summit was focused on the advent of digital drivers licences in Australia, and aligning their security, safety and validity with international best practice (ISO-compliant) standards.
Australia’s states and territories had previously agreed on June 21 that verifiable credentials, for example those applied to anything which proves a person’s identity including ID cards and drivers licences, will be held to the same standards nationwide.
Now, digital drivers licences will be the first digital identification that will have these standards applied to it. This is with the goal of a launch in 2025 and 2026.
International representatives demonstrated how this currently works across Europe and the United States, through the lens of airport security, but this will be applied to any driving licences including truck licences.
Austroads CEO Geoff Allan says the delivery of the Digital Trust Service will be a major step forward in a nationwide solution for licence and identification verification.
“It seeks to solve complex credential challenges,” he says.
“Currently states and territories do not use a common standard. Fragmentation between states leaves Australians more open to security and road safety risks.
“The Digital Trust Service seeks to harmonise all digital drivers licences across Australia, ensuring that they can be verified regardless of the jurisdiction or location within Australia or New Zealand and even verified in North America and the European Union.”
Ministers from New South Wales and Western Australia are in support of the development of the Digital Trust Service.
“As one of the first jurisdictions in the world to develop a digital driver licence, the NSW government is excited to be partnering with Austroads to develop the Digital Trust Service,” says NSW roads minister John Graham
“This will ensure NSW continues to be a leading partner in international identity and credential verification.”
‘Western Australia is excited to be involved in developing this world class system that enables safe and secure verification of identity, not just in WA but across the world,” adds WA assistant transport minister David Michael.
“I would like to acknowledge the collaboration between Austroads, the WA Department of Transport and the other jurisdictions which has enabled significant progress in the important digital transformation space.”
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