The first smartcards for Australian government staff will be issued in August 2007 following a request for tender from the lead agency in the project, Centrelink.
Just weeks would be needed for Centrelink's identity management rollout to be streamlined to handle a proposed mass introduction of smartcards to either citizens or public servants, according to a vendor involved in the project.
Welfare agency Centrelink has decided to make an internally developed smart card and ID authentication protocol freely available to external organisations.
The Department of Human Services has denied the Federal Labor government is investigating the introduction of a nationwide ID card scheme similar to the previous government's Access Card.
Smart card-based identity management for all Australian government staff has taken another step towards reality with the release of key framework documents.
How do four of Australia's largest government agencies protect their networks from attackers? To find out, ZDNet.com.au went to Canberra and spoke to the CIOs of Customs, Centrelink, Defence and the Australian Tax Office.
Can a national ID card protect Australians against terrorist attacks? And can citizens' details be protected by Public Key Infrastructure? We look at the types of hardware and software employed to combat terrorism, and how ports and other critical infrastructure are protected.
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