A budget paper circulated by Australia’s treasurer and minister for finance said that the country will be pledging AUD 700,000 (around USD 521,000) to the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) for “delivering Australia’s digital future” using blockchain for government payments.
According to the DTA, another AUD 92.4 million (USD 68.8 million) is allocated for digital identity, a project called Govpass. The 2018–19 Budget will invest in key platforms and technology to improve people’s experience of government services online, including digital identity and blockchain.
The project will see a collaboration between three Commonwealth agencies with the following roles:
the Digital Transformation Agency has oversight of the system, developing a set of rules called the Trusted Digital Identity Framework to accredit identity providers
the Australian Taxation Office will be the Commonwealth’s identity provider to verify people are who they say they are
the Department of Human Services will operate the exchange — a technology gateway between accredited identity providers and the services people use.
The DTA says that this project will be pilot tested by over 500,000 people through eight high-volume government service agencies over 2019.
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