The Internal Affairs Department, which handles passports, says it’s discussed the idea “at a conceptual level” with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
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Australian and New Zealand citizens could soon travel between the two countries without carrying a physical passport – instead, utilising a “cloud passport” which stores essential information on government servers and can be accessed by border agencies electronically.
“Australia prides itself on having one of the most secure passports in the world, but by embracing and harnessing new technologies, we might be able to do better”. Under a cloud-based system, a traveller’s biometrics data and identity would be stored digitally, allowing people to freely travel without the risk of a passport getting lost or being stolen while overseas.
New Zealand and Australia are now in discussions about trialling cloud passports.
It would reduce the 38,000-odd passports that are registered as lost or stolen each year, the department said.
Bishop admitted there were security hurdles to cross before the idea could be implemented, especially related to storing citizens’ biometric data in the cloud.
Ms Bishop says the idea came out of her department’s “ideas challenge” which is part of an innovation push. InnovationXchange is a brainchild of the minister, dreamed up to disrupt the traditional ways bureaucrats distribute the aid budget, which the Coalition has severely cut since coming to office.
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Bishop said the cloud passport was the winning idea, with the panel of judges thinking that “it will go global”.
