Queensland to upload driver’s licence images to Australia’s national biometrics database

Australia’s database of facial biometrics from driver’s licenses will soon add images from Queensland, the Department of Home Affairs told a senate committee, according to iTnews.

Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania have already uploaded their data to the National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution (NDLFRS), and Western Australia recently introduced legislation to join them. Queensland passed new laws to enable the information-sharing in 2018.

Home Affairs said it expects Western Australia, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory to all join within the next 18 months. Once the process is complete and the system is made operational, it will enable real-time responses to law enforcement identification queries. Victoria and South Australia are partway through uploading their data.

The legislation underpinning the driver’s license database has not yet passed its final hurdle, however.

In the meantime, a small number of federal and state agencies have already begun trialing the face matching service with visa, citizenship, and passport images, Home Office revealed. Services Australia is reported to have used the biometric service to verify the identity of people affected by fires in South Australia and Victoria, allowing government services to be delivered to people who have lost their physical identity credentials.

Queensland also recently introduced legislation to recognize digitized driver’s licenses, including a Thales app now in production.

Article Topics

Australia  |  biometric data  |  biometric database  |  biometric matching  |  biometrics  |  driver's license  |  facial recognition  |  law enforcement