Victoria will allow its motorists to carry a digital driver’s licence on their phone, with a trial in Ballarat before a full state-wide roll-out by 2024.
From June, full licence holders in the regional town of Ballarat will be able to sign up for the pilot program via the Service Victoria or VicRoads website, which will give people a choice to store a digital version either in the Service Victoria app or the new-to-be launched my VicRoads app on their phones.
The digital card will present some more advanced, unique safety features such as real-time updates of home addresses and if the licence has been suspended or cancelled.
With the new safe and timed QR code in place, Police, businesses, and any other authorities will be able to check and verify authenticity to stop potential fraudulent use.
“This is world-class technology – the digital driver licence has a constantly refreshed unique QR code, and the customer has control over the level of personal information shared,” said Minister for Government Services Danny Pearson.
Since the accessibility and security of personal information is the highest priority, extensive feedback will be sought from a range of people such as motorists, retailers, licensed venues, Victoria Police and many other organisations.
Victoria Not First State to Go Digital
Although Victoria will be trying the new digital driver’s licence in July, other states, such as South Australia (SA) and New South Wales (NSW), have already switched over to the digital license.SA was the first state in Australia to introduce a rollout plan for digital licences in 2017. Now, they’re available to all drivers in the state with a Learner’s Permit, Provisional, Full or Heavy Vehicle Licence.
Digital passes, and licences displayed in the mySAGOV app are a duplicate of existing physical licences and can be accepted as valid and legal documents.
The NSW Government introduced its digital licences in late 2019, with residents able to download the free Service NSW app to hold their existing licence details.
However, although the NSW Government has said that the digital licence cannot replace the existing plastic card and recommends people still carry the old card as a backup, 4.4 million NSW drivers now carry a digital licence, which is 74.7 percent of the population.
The NSW government has assured its millions of digital card users about the security and privacy issues by applying similar measures used for Internet banking.
For Queensland, the state government started a similar trial to the Victorian one in April this year, beginning with regional areas first.
