The Cook Labor Government in Western Australia has allocated $28.2 million from the Digital Capability Fund in the 2026-27 State Budget to deliver digital driver’s licences and a State Digital Identity. Science and Innovation Minister Stephen Dawson, Transport Minister Rita Saffioti, and Minister Assisting the Transport Minister Jessica Stojkovski unveiled the package.
The funding covers four components: a digital driver’s licence system integrated into the ServiceWA digital wallet, a State Digital Identity layer for government services, an upgrade to the WA Relationship Authorisation Manager that businesses use to interact with the state government, and associated infrastructure. Digital driver’s licences are expected to go live in 2027.
The system is designed to support selective disclosure, allowing users to share only the information required for a given transaction, such as proof of age or licence status, without presenting the full credential. The digital licence will be stored in the ServiceWA app, the government’s existing primary digital services platform. Officials said the initiative will reduce paperwork, speed up credential issuance and replacement, enable near real-time verification, and reduce the need for citizens to attend physical service centres.
“These changes are designed around how people live and work today,” said Dawson. “Having key credentials available digitally means less paperwork, fewer delays, and greater convenience.” Saffioti added: “We know most Western Australians carry their phone every day, so we’re making it easier to carry your driver’s licence with you too.”
The WA commitment follows Australia’s Digital ID Act 2024, which established the national framework for interoperable digital identity across government tiers. The WA State Digital Identity investment also aligns with Australia’s national myID rebrand and biometric framework expansion announced in November 2024, which established tiered identity levels now expected of state implementations.
Western Australia has engaged with national identity infrastructure before. Western Australia’s 2020 biometric data-sharing legislation enabled the state to contribute driver’s licence photos to the national facial recognition database. The digital licence initiative now extends that infrastructure into a mobile-first, privacy-preserving format aligned with global mobile ID standards.
Sources: Mirage News, So Perth, ServiceWA
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By Ji-seo Kim
