West Australia drivers will be handed a new-look licence card with beefed-up security measures designed to prevent identity theft
November 17, 2011
West Australia drivers renewing their licences from next week will be handed a new-look card with beefed-up security measures designed to prevent identity theft.
Transport Minister Troy Buswell says the new features will make forgery more difficult. The changes were implemented in September in line with the National Identity Security Strategy and National Gold Standard Framework.
Buswell says drivers will not be charged any more for the new licence cards. They will be issued to new drivers and current drivers at licence renewal from next week.
“Some of the security features include a barcode, a watermark, unique serial number for each licence, printing over a clear panel and the date of birth embossed under the photo – features that are difficult for criminals to replicate,” Buswell says.
He says work has also started on the introduction of facial recognition and the implementation of a document verification system. Buswell says facial recognition will make it very difficult for people to obtain fraudulent licences.
“While we already have excellent measures in place to prevent identity crimes, we will keep striving to further improve our systems in order to keep a step ahead of any developments in identity fraud,” he says.