The Australian Government’s 2026-27 Federal Budget allocates $654.3 million over four years to support the country’s Digital ID system, with $166.7 million per year committed as ongoing funding beyond the forward estimates period. The funding is intended to meet the government’s legislative commitments under Australia’s Digital ID Act 2024 and maintain the security and reliability of the Australian Government Digital ID System.
The $654.3 million is distributed across four budget years: $157.9 million in 2026-27, $166.0 million in 2027-28, $163.9 million in 2028-29, and $166.6 million in 2029-30. The largest share, $357.4 million over four years, is directed to the Australian Taxation Office to maintain the operation of myID and the Relationship Authorisation Manager, including additional security controls and functionality.
Other allocations include $135.2 million for Services Australia to continue its role as administrator of the Australian Government Digital ID System and maintain the Digital ID Exchange and myGov LinkID; $98.0 million for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to continue Digital ID regulatory functions; and $22.2 million for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to continue privacy oversight under the Digital ID legislation and Identity Verification Service programs.
The government has positioned the Digital ID investment as part of a broader productivity and regulatory modernization package. Budget materials say the funding will help individuals reduce the sharing and storage of personal data across businesses, government and individuals, while securely accessing 255 government services, including myGov, the Australian Taxation Office, Centrelink and the NDIS.
The budget also links Digital ID to a wider “tell-us-once” reform agenda, aimed at reducing the amount of time Australians spend providing the same information across different areas of government. The government describes the investment as part of its effort to make it easier for individuals and businesses to engage with public services online.
A related Consumer Data Right initiative will explore whether CDR and Digital ID infrastructure can better protect renters’ personal information while making rental applications easier. The budget describes this as an industry pilot, rather than a full-scale private-sector deployment.
The funding supports the Australian Government Digital ID System, whose main government identity app was renamed from myGovID to myID in 2024. According to the Department of Finance, 15 million Digital IDs had been created as of December 2025, and most were biometrically verified to a Strong level. The department said at the time that Digital IDs were being used to access 246 online government services.
The latest funding also follows technical work on myID’s security posture. ID Tech recently reported on the ATO’s request for upgraded liveness detection in myID, which sought presentation attack detection capabilities aligned with ISO/IEC 30107-3 to help address threats such as deepfake-enabled fraud.
The broader framework is regulated by multiple agencies. The ACCC serves as the Digital ID Regulator, overseeing accreditation, participation in the government system, and non-privacy compliance and enforcement. The OAIC serves as the privacy regulator for Digital ID, overseeing privacy safeguards, complaints, investigations and data breach matters.
The budget commitment comes as the government-backed Digital ID system continues to expand and as private-sector participation in the Australian Government Digital ID System is scheduled to open by December 2026. It also follows Australia Post’s decision to close its Digital iD app, reflecting a market in which government-issued and government-backed digital credentials are playing an increasingly central role.
Sources: Budget Paper No. 2, Productivity Package Fact Sheet, Treasury Ministers, Department of Finance
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By Cass Kennedy
