Australia’s Department of Finance is consulting on a proposed Commonwealth policy for the use of verifiable credentials, the structured digital credentials that an issuer can sign and a holder can present to a verifier without exposing the underlying record. The consultation is open until 11:59 p.m. AEST on July 3, 2026, with submissions made through the government’s Digital ID System Have Your Say page.
The consultation is part of Australia’s broader Digital ID and Verifiable Credentials Strategy, which the data and digital ministers across the Commonwealth and the states and territories have endorsed. The consultation is distinct from the Department’s existing work on the Digital ID Rules and Accreditation Rules, focusing specifically on Commonwealth policy positions for issuing and accepting verifiable credentials.
The materials the department has put out for comment are split into two parts. Part A frames the case for Commonwealth use of verifiable credentials and the role they can play alongside the Australian Government Digital ID System. Part B is the operative section, setting out proposed policy positions in nine areas: use case selection, the criteria for issuing a verifiable credential rather than another type of attestation; issuers, the entities that can issue Commonwealth verifiable credentials; verifiers, the entities that can request and rely on them; digital wallets, the holders’ apps in which credentials are stored and presented; trust services, the registries and signing infrastructure that underpin the system; privacy and consumer protection, including selective disclosure and consent; voluntariness and inclusion, ensuring non-digital channels remain available; interoperability and standards, which standards Commonwealth issuance and verification will conform to; and security.
The consultation sits alongside other Australian identity work. The federal government has already committed 654.3 million Australian dollars over four years to expanding the national Digital ID System, and it has enacted the Digital ID Act 2024, which provides the statutory framework that any Commonwealth verifiable credentials policy will sit on top of. State-level work has also moved ahead, with New South Wales running verifiable credential pilots inside its Digital Wallet.
The Department of Finance said it is seeking submissions from individuals, businesses, and other organizations that are already using verifiable credentials or planning to do so. Responses received during the consultation period are intended to feed into the next stage of Commonwealth verifiable credentials policy development.
Sources: Australian Department of Finance
–
By Cass Kennedy
