Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher

In conjunction with all state and territory Data and Digital Ministers, we are proud to announce the release of the National Strategy for Identity Resilience, which demonstrates the commitment of all Australian governments to strengthen our identity infrastructure.

We want Australians’ identities to be hard to steal and, if stolen, easy to restore.

We are focused on creating a digital environment for Australia that is secure, trusted and that enables smarter service delivery.

This Strategy is an important part to achieving this and contributes to broader whole-of-nation cyber security efforts, including the development of the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy.

Recent cyber incidents have demonstrated that there is more work to be done when it comes to protecting Australians and their identities. Each year, identity crime impacts around one in 20 people, with an estimated cost in 2018-19 of $3.1 billion. Initiatives like Digital ID can protect people and their personal data from identity crime and misuse.

Australians increasingly rely on their identities – we use them to access everyday services and conduct business. As the digital economy accelerates, and as the world increasingly operates online, Australians’ identities are vulnerable in new ways.

Our approach to identity resilience needs to keep pace with our economic and social activity, and the changing nature of identity crime. It is essential we deliver a future-ready identity system.

This starts with a nationally consistent and coordinated approach to identity and strong partnerships between Commonwealth and state and territory governments. This Strategy is a way for all jurisdictions to work together to better protect Australians from identity crime and help them recover when the worst happens.

The initiatives within the Strategy will help to address gaps and long standing barriers to achieving identity resilience nationally, including improved responses to large data breaches.

The Commonwealth will closely develop these initiatives with our state and territory counterparts, who are often on the front line of service delivery.

We would like to thank all states and territories for their hard work in contributing to the Strategy, and look forward to working closely with them to build identities that are secure and resilient for all.