Australia lays out priorities for myGov digital ID, including passwordless logins

The Australian government has released a set of recommendations for updating the MyGov digital identity, confirming the introduction of passwordless logins and promising to expand its uses.

MyGov is used for accessing government services, and has been facing heavy criticism this year for its vulnerability to scams and fraud which has cost the government billions of dollars. The new roadmap for the digital ID system comes months after the government received a scathing audit published in January.

Among the set of ten recommendations is introducing passkeys that leverage FIDO2 authentication standards. Originally announced in November, the passkey introduction will allow Australians to use face and fingerprint biometrics alongside PINs to sign in to government services while keeping safe from phishing scams.

Other recommendations cover creating a new decision-making framework that will help government agencies include digital services in the myGov system. The move will reduce duplication and consolidate the existing digital ecosystem, ACS Information Age reports.

The Labor government is already working on implementing the recommendations with an initial investment of AU$10.8 million (US$7.3 million) this financial year. The figure is part of the $134.5 million ($91.5 million) budget for operating and maintaining the platform in 2023 and 2024.

“Labor is taking a commonsense and coordinated approach to streamline and improve online government services for all Australians, keep their information safe through the rollout of Digital ID and other myGov security improvements, and change our long-term investment approach,” says Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten.

Last week, the government also announced that the digital ID app myGovID, which allows users to access government services on the myGov platform, will be rebranded, following a warning from the audit that users are confused between the two. The audit recommends either a merger of the front-end service of myGovID and myGov into one app, or a complete rebrand of myGovID.

According to August figures, the service currently has 26 million users with a total of 3.3 million app users.

A survey from Publicis Sapient, covering around 5,000 respondents, found that 56 percent had used the myGovID digital identity service. A large majority of 89 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the service while 85 percent said they can identify at least one benefit of using it.

Article Topics

Australia  |  biometrics  |  digital government  |  digital identity  |  passkeys  |  passwordless authentication