At the interface between citizens and digital government services, Australia has implemented the Credential Protection Register to curb identity crime.
As digital innovation becomes more embedded in our future, the trust of services must not be questioned.
Threats, which may always exist, should and can be stopped before they impact citizens, as the Albanese Government reports it has successfully blocked over 750,000 fraudulent verification requests at an average of 18,000 per month.
The register will stop bad actors from misusing identity documents, such as passports, in the verification process, to commit loan, rental or employment fraud. All the protectors of the documents across jurisdictions, like issuers, can actually monitor how it is being used with exclusive access to the register. Therefore, Participating Commonwealth, State, and Territory document issuers can protect their documents, respond to data breaches and bestow more control to users.
$14 million has been invested into enhancements for the register and work is underway to allow users control over identity documents in the myGov app and website.
Although the emphasis is on prevention, the government is also committed to supporting victims of identity crime in the immediate aftermath, funding Identity Care Australia and New Zealand Limited to provide critical support services. Funding support from the government over 3 years has enabled to the services to continue supporting victims and vulnerable individuals.
The Digital ID Act 2024 has also led to 15 million citizens activating myIDs, enabling them to verify transactions and interactions through the Australian Government Digital ID System (AGDIS). Usage has more than tripled to reach 80 million as last reported in 2025.
Digital ID is an important part of Australia’s digital infrastructure for reducing the amount of information stored and shared. Digital ID is also a key to 246 government services that accept this verification, such as the ATO, myGov and the NDIS provider portal
