It’s a familiar situation for anyone that’s ever been to a concert or festival. You’ve waited in line for ages, you’ve got your ticket in hand, the adrenaline is running high, and you’re denied entry because you forgot your ID at home.
Well, there’ll soon be an app for that. As News Corp reports, plastic driver’s licenses are set to be a thing of the past with the NSW government the first to take the step into bringing identification into the digital age.
At a conference this morning, NSW Minister of Finance and Services Dominic Perrottet, is expected to announce a range of digital licences to debut next year, starting with recreational fishing, responsible service of alcohol, and responsible conduct of gambling licences.
“This technology will allow our citizens to display, apply, update and renew their licences using their smartphone, with real time information also available,” Mr Perrottet reportedly told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Last year, NSW Premier Mike Baird made a commitment to giving drivers the option of receiving digital licences if the Coalition won the election. NSW reportedly issues 23 million licences a year with 770 different types in circulation.
In September, Glenn King, the head of Service NSW, the Government organisation which handles new licences, said law enforcement bodies from other states needed to agree to adopting the new technology.
“If you take for example the Victorian police, they’re looking for the card. And while we want to enable this from a technology perspective in NSW in terms of both having it on the device (and) also the checking device the Victorian police may not,” he told The Australian.
A number of US states, including California and Delaware, are considering digital licences. However, rest assured the trusty plastic license will still be available for those who want them and digital licenses are still a while away, so remember to bring it with you next time.
