The Turnbull Government is edging closer to the launch of a digital ID system for Australians. But Angus Taylor, Assistant Minister for Digital Transformation, insists it will be a voluntary opt-in system.

“We’ve been working with key stakeholders, including government, industry and privacy advocates over the past 12 months to draft this framework,” Taylor said in a media statement released late last week.

“It includes robust rules for accrediting identity providers and standards to prove an identity.

“It lays out privacy, security, risk and fraud management requirements, as well as standards for usability and accessibility.”

Taylor said the framework would sit alongside technology being built by the increasingly powerful Digital Transformation Agency DTA) and dubbed the Govpass platform, which would allow individuals and businesses to choose a secure system to prove their identity online.

Govpass is already being tested on the Australian Taxation Office’s new online tax file number application service, and will be tested on a broader number of users and services by mid-2018 when it reaches public beta, Taylor said.