Queensland’s first Digital Licence app will progress to an expanded trial in Townsville in late 2022, followed by a statewide rollout in 2023.

The Digital Licence app will allow Queenslanders to easily and securely store their driver licence, marine licence and/or photo identification card on their mobile devices. The app will be free, optional and opt-in, and Queenslanders will continue to receive physical cards for their licences and photo identification cards upon renewal.

Legislation was passed in July 2020 making the digital licence the legal equivalent of the physical licence. The Digital Licence offers a safe and more convenient way for Queenslanders to digitally share and validate their identity.

The app has been developed with security and privacy at its heart, with features built into the app to protect personal data and ensure authenticity. Using sharing bundles, users can control the information they share and with whom they share it. They can share just their photo and they are over 18, their full licence details as well as a digitally signed, printable PDF. Secured behind the user’s native phone security and a six-digit access PIN, the app provides protection from identity theft and fraud.

The Digital Licence can be verified in two ways:

1. You can do a simple visual check, keeping an eye out for security features like the pulsating Queensland Coat of Arms or the last online refresh date.
2. You can scan a user’s Digital Licence using your own Digital Licence app, or a Digital Licence Verifier app. The user’s app will provide a QR code which verifies details through an encrypted exchange. (Note: the QR code cannot be scanned by the phone camera)

Scanning a user’s Digital Licence in this way is the safest and most secure form of verification, allowing businesses to confidently meet their identification monitoring and management obligations. Should you need to keep a photocopy of a driver licence in your records, for example, when someone buys a new or used car, the app allows the user to generate and share a PDF using the phone’s native sharing options, like SMS and email. The PDF contains all the information from their driver licence and can be stored in the same way you currently store the photocopies. It is also digitally signed for additional protection.

The Digital Licence app is being developed to comply with the International Standard for Mobile Driver Licence Apps (ISO18013-5), published in September last year. This means the app will meet a set of internationally agreed standards for verifying, authenticating and keeping your information safe, secure, and private. In addition, Queenslanders will be able to use their Digital Licence in any jurisdiction which has also built their Digital Licence to meet the standard.

More information will be provided by the project team in the leadup to the Townsville trial and statewide rollout. In the meantime, you can find out more about the digital licence online, register for updates, or email digitallicence@tmr.qld.gov.au for more information.

Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (July 2022) 

14 July 2022