A change to identity verification requirements made four weeks ago will mean most Canberrans who have been caught up in the Optus data breach will be spared from the greatest risk of their driver licences being used for fraud.
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But the ACT government believes there are hundreds of people who have provided their driver licence information to Optus since the start of September who will need to have new licences issued as soon as possible.
Optus will cover the $42.60 cost of reissuing an ACT driver licence and has committed to writing to the affected ACT customers by the end of the week who provided the telecommunications company with their driver licence number and card number since September 1.
Those Optus account holders will be told to seek a new driver licence from Access Canberra.
Business and Better Regulation Minister Tara Cheyne said she understood the nervousness in the community the data breach had caused but said the government believed the risk to most Canberrans was "very, very low".
Since September 1, the ACT has required both a person's driver licence number and the card number to satisfy an identity check with the Document Verification Service run by the federal Home Affairs Department.
The card number (printed vertically next to the licence holder's photograph) changes each time a card is issued, while the driver licence number (printed underneath the licence holder's date of birth) stays the same.
Ms Cheyne said the vast majority of people who provided their information to Optus before September 1 would have only provided the driver licence number.
By itself, this number would no longer be enough to complete an identity check and therefore does not need to be changed, she said.
The card number is immediately cancelled when a person applies for their new licence, even though there will be a delay before a new card is posted out to the licence holder.
Ms Cheyne said the ACT government had no further information on the total number of ACT residents affected by the data breach and said the issue raised serious questions about the nature of information companies held once identity checks were completed.
The government would continue to work with Optus to understand the full extent of the data breach, she said.
Ms Cheyne said the ACT was taking the same approach as NSW, but she understood Queensland and Victoria would be issuing new licence numbers because licences in those states had not yet introduced separate card numbers.
Access Canberra has established a specialised team to respond to ACT residents affected by the data breach, which can be contacted on 13 22 81.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
