Aboriginal digital ID offers Indigenous Australians pathway to essential services

There are more than 200,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia who lack a birth certificate. Without this vital document means accessing essential services such as employment, healthcare and education is nearly impossible.

But a new technology platform that was guided in its creation by an Indigenous member is intent on providing access to services through digital identity. WUNA was developed in collaboration with ConnectID to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

“For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, identity is deeply connected to culture, heritage, and community,” says Jason-Urranndulla Davis, founder and CEO of WUNA. “On Human Rights Day, we’re calling for systems that respect and honor this connection.”

In Australia, some 15 to 18 percent of births to Indigenous mothers go unregistered in some regions, while mobility and homelessness affect around 20 percent of Indigenous Australians, which further hinder access to legal identity. On World Human Rights Day, ConnectID and WUNA released their whitepaper “Identity in Crisis: Addressing the Gaps for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Peoples.”

The whitepaper calls for a reimagining of identity systems to honor cultural heritage, foster inclusion and uphold human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that everyone has the right to recognition before the law. The Aboriginal-led digital identity platform WUNA is unique in that it integrates cultural practices like Traditional Owner Membership and Native Title ID, which aim to reduce administrative burdens and provide identity pathways rooted in community.

The whitepaper introduces WUNA, a digital wallet that stores a person’s identity documentation, but cleverly relates it to the traditional Aboriginal cultural practice of the “message stick” — a communication tool carried by messengers to deliver news or help recount oral histories between Aboriginal peoples. “WUNA represents a modern adaptation of this trusted system,” the paper explains.

ConnectID meanwhile acts as an identity exchange as the organization onboards government social services, financial services, housing and rental services to its exchange, it is working with WUNA to ensure its digital wallet and community-based verifications can be reused to access these critical services.

WUNA currently has 17 partner organizations and a pilot extending to 1,000 users. More about WUNA can be learned via its official website here.

Article Topics

Australia  |  birth registration  |  connectID  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  government services  |  WUNA