Digital ID legislation
The Digital ID Act 2024 and the Digital ID (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Act 2024 will commence by 1 December 2024.
These Acts will provide individuals with secure, convenient, voluntary and inclusive ways to verify their identity for use in online transactions with government and businesses.
The Digital ID Act 2024 will:
- legislate and strengthen a voluntary Accreditation Scheme for digital ID service providers that wish to demonstrate compliance with best practice privacy, security, proofing and authentication standards
- legislate and enable expansion of the Australian Government Digital ID System for use by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments and eventually private sector organisations
- embed strong privacy and consumer safeguards, in addition to the Privacy Act to ensure users are protected
- strengthen governance arrangements for the Accreditation Scheme and the Australian Government Digital ID System, including by establishing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as the Digital ID Regulator, and expanding the role of the Information Commissioner to regulate privacy protections for digital IDs.
From commencement, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be the Digital ID Regulator alongside the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), who will regulate the privacy aspects of Australia's Digital ID System. After no more than 2 years from commencement, accredited private businesses will be able to apply to join the Australian Government Digital ID System.
Read more
- For a quick summary of the Digital ID legislation and to download the factsheet, head to Digital ID Bill | Digital Identity.
- To read both the Digital ID Bill and the supporting revised explanatory memorandum, head to aph.gov.au.
- To read both the Digital ID (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Bill and supporting explanatory memorandum, head to aph.gov.au.
- To read the statement from the Minister when the Bill passed the Senate in March 2024, head to financeminister.gov.au.
Public consultation
The Acts were informed by public consultation on an Exposure Draft of the Digital ID Bill in September and October 2023. The Department of Finance received 113 submissions about the Digital ID Bill, of which 88 agreed to be published.
Following introduction to Parliament, the Bills were referred to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 28 February 2024. You can read the Department of Finance submission [PDF 688KB], the Department of Finance opening statement, or access all other public submissions on aph.gov.au.
Rules
We are seeking feedback on the proposed 2024 Digital ID Accreditation Rules, Accreditation Data Standards, and Digital ID Rules which support the overarching Digital ID Act. You can provide your feedback on these supporting rules and data standards on the Have Your Say page.
The proposed rules and data standards, together with the Digital ID Act, will provide strong regulation for accredited Digital ID providers to make sure they keep your information private and secure, if you choose to create and reuse a Digital ID to access online services.
