Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Identity Information Confirmation Bill — First Reading 
Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Identity Information Confirmation Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:667;Page:14621] 
KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National) 
: 
 Sat sri akaal Ross Robertson and Dr Ashraf Choudhary. Mr Deputy Speaker the members called everyone with their salaam but did not address me so I am extending the greetings now. 
I stand to support the first reading of the Identity Information Confirmation Bill. Dr Choudhary has just mentioned a few cases and I think they are very relevant in today’s world. In recent times we have seen many cases of fake identities. We need to stop the practice and I think this is the most important and appropriate time to pursue this bill. Under the present Privacy Act of 1993 Government agencies have access to match information about individuals and discover whether the information is accurate. But the private sector has limited access to such information. That sector is not able to confirm whether the information provided by its clients is correct. The protection of identity is very important in today’s age. 
The purpose of this bill is to help combat identity fraud. In this modern day and age this is a real problem. We regularly hear news of people being hounded for debts when those people have absolutely no idea of how the debts came about. Under this bill with the consent of individuals both private and public sector agencies will be able to check identity information held on Government databases such as the information held by the registry of passports and the Registrar-General of Births Deaths and Marriages. To combat the misuse of this facility the Identity Information Confirmation Bill will offer the use of the Data Validation Service to the public and private sector on a strictly need-to-know basis. Data validation will permit agencies to check whether the identity information produced by a customer is reliable and consistent with the information held by the Department of Internal Affairs through the citizenship register or any other register they have. 
This bill will also allow banks and other financial institutions to carry out more dependable assessments on customers who require loans. That will extend the application and compliance of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act of 2009. 
On the other hand the Government is fully aware of privacy concerns. The consent of the customer is paramount; the customer is not compelled to consent to that background check. Personal information is protected and the Data Validation Service will only confirm the accuracy of a person’s information. It will not reveal any other personal information. 
This bill also protects privacy in other ways. The Privacy Commissioner will have the authority to compel the department to provide a report to her on the operation of the service. This is to monitor the consistency of the information delivered to various agencies as they will need to demonstrate a genuine need for this service. Those organisations will also be listed on the department’s website. 
The Identity Information Confirmation Bill has introduced a solution for our modern times. The National-led Government has assessed this problem and has acted promptly. This bill will help in the prevention of crime particularly of identity-related crime and will also ensure that public agencies can use and if necessary record criminal identity information. To protect the privacy of personal information any agency using this service will need to enter into this agreement with the chief executive of the Department of Internal Affairs or the Registrar-General of Births Deaths and Marriages or both. Private agencies will have limited ability to check whether the identity provided to them is correct. I commend this bill to the House.