Digital licence trial resumes in Queensland after Optus, Medibank hack pause

The Queensland government is back on the horse to continue its pursuit of a digital driver’s licence linked to a state digital identity.

It’s pushing ahead with an expanded trial in Townsville to gauge user experience after cybersecurity pressures from a spate of massive data breaches at Optus and Medicare forced delays.

According to Queensland’s minister for transport and main roads Mark Bailey, the trial will kick off with a small group of super-user customers for initial testing, feedback and debugging before being made available to the wider Townsville from May 2023.

“The app has been completely redesigned to meet international standards. This means customers will be able to use their Digital Licence around the world. The technology is compatible with systems used in the European Union and parts of North America,” Bailey said in a statement.

“More than 700 people and 120 businesses were part of the initial pilot on the Fraser Coast. Their experience and comments were used by the department to make improvements to the app.”

While the digital licence is essentially an authority to drive, it also doubles as a proxy of other authorities, with the government saying “the service is available to anyone who has a Queensland driver’s licence, marine licence or photo identification card”.

“The app has been designed by Queenslanders, for Queenslanders. We have made sure that communities are involved at every step of the project, from selecting the developer, through to design and testing,” Bailey said.

“Since inception, we have taken the time and put in the effort to make sure that we aren’t just delivering the best digital licence but the safest as well.”

Queensland licences, indeed registrations, have had some quirks. One is seasonal credentials that allowed farmers and agricultural workers to just buy a short-term credential, like car rego to cover the harvest season rather than the full year.

Another was enhanced privacy that allowed the suppression of a driver’s address on a physical licence after nightclub bouncers scanning ID documents were busted using the address information to try and hook up with female patrons later.

These days a quick digital exchange can verify digital identity credentials either from a handset or using multiple authentication factors online or from a mobile app.

Queensland Transport and Main Roads (TMR) is working with defence and identity security vendor Thales for the build of the credential.

The first groups to access the trial include the Townsville liquor accords, local, state and federal government agencies, Palm Island and Indigenous community representatives, significant local businesses and industry groups and the Townsville Chamber of Commerce.

This article was first published by The Mandarin.