The issue of how authorities would confiscate digital picture cards is preventing the statewide implementation of the plastic card equivalent in NSW, with work presently underway to finalise a solution.
Following the successful rollout of the digital driver’s licence, the NSW government began testing digital photo cards in and around the Sydney suburb of Penrith in February 2021.
The study was later expanded to include an additional 60 postcodes in August 2021, bringing the total number of suburbs in Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains to more than 200.
Customer service and digital government minister Victor Dominello stated at the time that the postcodes were picked based on the amount of picture card holders in certain areas.
But no new postcodes have been added to the experiment in the months afterwards, despite the government’s ambition to supply a growing number of permits and credentials online.
Digital picture cards were supposed to be accessible to residents in 2017, along with boat and recreational fishing licences.
Service NSW intends to add more credentials to its app in the future years, outlining plans for a digital wallet and digital identity centre in November.
In the future, the wallet is expected to carry both government and private sector credentials, such as trade licences.
The government set aside $8.9 million in December to begin construction on the digital wallet, with at least some of the money going toward a commercial credential exchange.