The federal government has lost all momentum toward developing a national system of digital identity, a lack of action that is having an impact on the wider digital economy, according to shadow government services minister Paul Fletcher.
Speaking at an Australian Information Industry Association breakfast in Canberra this week, Mr Fletcher said the inaction on digital ID had also stalled broader improvements to digital delivery of government services.
Mr Fletcher also said he had requested that Opposition Leader Peter Dutton combine the government services and digital economy portfolios into a single shadow minister’s role because both areas relied on common regulatory and legislative frameworks for success.
The loss of momentum toward the roll-out of a national digital ID legislative framework had impacted the digital service delivery and the ongoing development of the digital economy, he said.
“The Coalition has a strong track record in this area. You can look at the terrific work that Victor Dominello did in New South Wales in using technology to deliver services to citizens better,” Mr Fletcher said.
“Sadly, the current government here in Canberra is not enormously interested in those considerations, and they have, for example, let the work on digital identity really lose momentum,” he said.
The Digital Transformation Agency had conducted consultation on draft digital identity legislation in 2021, and the legislation is thought to have been ready for presentation to Parliament prior to the election in May last year.
While the Albanese government was reported in February to be readying legislation ahead of further public consultation, it has been silent on the matter since, and no legislative draft has appeared or consultation opened.
It is understood the revised digital identity legislation is expected to be put to the Parliament in the spring session, a full 18 months after Labor was elected.
Mr Fletcher said that digital ID was the fundamental building block on which the digital economy is built, including government services.
Visiting India recently as part of an AIIA-led business delegation, Mr Fletcher said India’s government had rolled-out a universal digital identity system to 1.3 billion people – called Adhaar – that now underpinned the efficient delivery of a huge range of public and private services.
Mr Fletcher has been involved in tech and digital policy development since the 1990s when he worked as chief of staff for former Minister for Communications, Information Economy and the Arts, Richard Alston.
He believes the Australian tech sector has come a long way in the ensuing decades.
“It’s been fascinating seeing the growth and confidence and capability in our nation over the last quarter of a century,” Mr Fletcher said.
“I remember going on visits overseas in the late nineties, and coming home and thinking ‘I wish we had stuff like that here’. Now we do. Now we have unicorns. We have Atlassian, we have Canva.”
“And I think there’s now a much broader appreciation of the economic importance of technology.”
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