New South Wales has introduced legislation that would connect the state’s driver licence records to Australia’s national facial matching service, extending government-backed identity verification to millions of additional residents.
The Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill would allow NSW to join the National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution, a Commonwealth system that compares identity-document photos for verification. South Australia and Western Australia are already participating, with Western Australia having begun sharing driver licence records with the national service.
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said the proposed access is intended to prevent criminals from using stolen identities to open bank accounts and move illicit funds. Under the government’s description of the service, an authorized agency or organization submits an image for verification and receives a yes-or-no response indicating whether it matches the identity record.
The proposal follows NSW’s planned replacement of its licence-register facial recognition system. That modernization was designed to strengthen checks for duplicate or fraudulent licence applications while preparing the state for greater interoperability with national identity infrastructure.
The new bill also contains a separate measure that would give police access to unredacted images captured on publicly operated toll roads. Current images obscure vehicle occupants, but the government says investigators could request unredacted material for organized crime and missing-person cases. Initial access would cover cameras on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said requests would require investigators to provide search parameters, such as a vehicle type or model, before footage is released. Premier Chris Minns argued that access could help identify drivers when organized crime groups switch number plates or otherwise conceal a vehicle’s ownership.
The facial matching and toll-road provisions are subject to parliamentary approval. The government has presented both measures as targeted law-enforcement tools, while Catley said the national facial matching service would be restricted to identity verification rather than returning licence photographs to organizations conducting checks.
Participation would also bring NSW into a national framework developed to reduce identity crime across state borders. Driver licence records are commonly used to establish identity for financial services and other regulated transactions, making fraudulent documents useful to criminal networks beyond the road-licensing system itself.
Sources: ABC News Australia
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
