The "Interpreting Privacy Principles" research project is supported by an ARC Discovery grant 2006-2009 to a research team based at the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, UNSW Faculty of Law. |
The proposed
national ID card system research project (2006–2007)
This project aimed to encourage research
and analysis about the proposal announced by the previous
Australian government on 26 April 2006 for what appeared
to be a national ID card system. It has been variously
referred to as an "Access Card", a "Smart
Card", and a number of other names.
The Australian government's $1 billion+ plan to introduce an
'access and benefits smart card' in the period 2006-2010 was one of
the most significant developments in the relationship between
information technology, law and policy in Australia at the time. In early 2007 it was reputed to be the biggest IT project opportunity for IT service providers anywhere. The Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre's focus on 'the public interest in networked
transactions' means that this proposal had to be one of our primary
areas of research.
The Centre's researchers released a series
of research papers on various aspects of the proposal.
These commenced with the examination below of the extent
to which this proposal is in fact a proposal for a national
ID card and system — and a conclusion which gave
us the title of the project.
(The characterisation of the proposal has been controversial
from its inception, but on the basis of our comparative
research into other national ID card system proposals,
and given discretionary legislative power in the proposed
Bill in 2007 to change the official name at any
time, and an apparent absence of watertight limitations
on use, it remains appropriate to discuss it under the
generic description of a proposed national ID card system.)
We contributed research and argument to other investigations
of the government's proposals, including those of the
Senate and the Taskforce headed by Prof. Fels, and we
were willing to assist any enquiries that the Federal
Privacy Commissioner might have made. The Centre's researchers
also contributed where appropriate to public debate on
this issue.
Postscript: Following the 2007
Federal Election and subsequent change of government,
the project will not proceed further.
Project publications and submissions
The documents below have been generated as part of this project.
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, 'Function
Creep - Defined and Still Dangerous: Submission on the Revised ID Card
Bill', Submission to the Department of Human Services on the Exposure Draft, 27 August
2007 [PDF]
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, 'The Naked
Exposure Draft: ‘Is that an ID card you have in your pocket’?, Presentation to the ‘Access Card’ Seminar, Canberra 21 June
07
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, 'Submission #5:
The ‘Doctor’s Area’ of the ID Card – The Crippling
Complexity and Cost of “Voluntary” Medical and Emergency
Information', Submission to the Consumer and Privacy Taskforce,
22 March 2007
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, 'The
Australian Government's Submission is seriously misleading to the Senate',
Supplementary submission to the Inquiry Into the Human Services
(Enhanced Service Delivery) Bill 2007, 2 March 2007
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, 'Submission
to the Inquiry into the Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery)
Bill 2007' 25 February 2007
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, '"Access All Areas": Function Creep
Guaranteed in Australia's ID Card Bill (No. 1)' , Computer Law and
Security Report Vol 23, 25 February 2007 (accepted) at http://ssrn.com/abstract=966710
and UNSW Faculty of Law Research Series http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UNSWLRS/2007/11.html
(also attached
to submission of 25 February, above)
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, 'Australia’s proposed ID Card: Still quacking like a duck',
UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2007-1, Computer Law & Security
Report, Vol. 23, 2007
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, Submission 4 to the Consumer and Privacy Taskforce:
Shortcomings of the Taskforce’s first Report, 23 November 2006 [PDF] (covering letter for the above)
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, 'Australian ID Taskforce
Report: A sheep in wolf’s clothing', 11 November 2006 [PDF]
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, Submission 3 to the Consumer and Privacy Taskforce:
'Significant shortcomings in Discussion
Paper 1', 21 June 2006 [PDF]
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, 'Quacking like
a duck: The national ID Card proposal (2006) compared with the Australia
Card (1986-87)', 12 June 2006 (see also the revised version of 11
November, below)
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, Submission 2 to the Consumer and Privacy Taskforce: 'Framing the terms of debate', 12 June 2006 [PDF]
-
Prof Graham Greenleaf, Submission 1 to the Consumer and Privacy Taskforce: 'Openness of enquiry ', 12 June 2006 [PDF]
The Project is also developing an initial list of media references
to the proposal, which may be updated from time to time.
Proposed legislation and related inquiries
Report of Senate Committee 15 March 2007
'Identity Cards and the Access Card', Report by Parliamentary Library 13 March 2007
Hansard transcript of Senate Committee hearings:
(See also 2008 Senate Hansard, noted in the section below.)
Submissions to the Senate Committee
Senate inquiry, and related media release. Announced 8 Feb, deadline 28 February 2007. See above for report.
Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery) Bill 2007 [PDF] 5 February 2007
Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill
Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee hearing, Hansard of 16 February 2007 [PDF] from p1.
Office of Access Card Summary of responses to Exposure Draft (compiled into one document)
Exposure Draft of Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery) Bill (available 13 December 2006)
and some of the 120 submissions (12 January 2007)
Other websites about the proposed national ID system
Government
Non-government
Other
Events
Depending on whether the project appeared to be progressing, the project was investigating hosting a Symposium in Sydney in 2007, following the forum in November 2006 at PIAC. This Symposium did not go ahead, after the effective abandonment of the project some time in mid-2007, and its rejection by the new government in December 2007.
Prof Graham Greenleaf <graham [at] austlii.edu.au>
David Vaile < d.vaile [at] unsw.edu.au>
ipp/id_card/Research
Projects » Privacy » Proposed national ID card
Privacy Project - proposed national ID card system/ 'Access Card' - Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre
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