With New South Wales and South Australia already having embraced digital driver’s licence technology, it’s a bit of a race for the rest of Australia to catch up with the technology. Queensland is the next state to make the switch, with the Queensland Transport and Main Roads department looking to introduce a digital ID App this year.
A trial of the new app-based ID has been delayed from late 2019 to early 2020, with residents on Queensland’s Fraser Coast selected to try out the service first. Those living in Maryborough and Hervey Bay you can register now if you are interested in join in the trial commencing in the coming weeks/ months.
At launch, you will be able to load either a Queensland Drivers Licence, Photo ID (age verification card) and Marine Licence. The App will also be able to house your vehicle registration details and “other” online government services into the future. It is even possible that this may be compatible with the new Federal Online ID to be able to be used for those services as well.
For those who don’t want to make the switch to a digital licence, TMR have stated there are no plans to remove the Physical Licences at this stage. As a Queensland resident, I’d love to have both, this would give me the option of what ID I wanted to use, especially for interstate and international travel.
However for those who do want to travel, it’s not all bad news, the Queensland app will be the first in Australia based on the international ISO standard, as such it will be recognised in 18 nations including the UK, France and the USA. Exactly how individual police officers and public officials respond to them will likely be varied for many years.
The roll out across the state is expected to be completed by the end of 2020. So Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory….. who’s next?
When the police ask to see your license, you just show them your phone? You do not need to hand it to them?
That’s how it works in NSW at least.
Considering that the change away from the poorly laminated video library card style licences only happened in the last 10 years in Queensland, this is, for them, quite progressive. I’m pretty sure that I got one of the last old old style ones from a police station in Weipa in late 2011 or 2012.