SA driver licences going digital from October

The South Australian Government has announced it will roll out technology to allow driver’s licences to go digital from October.

Available to anyone in South Australia with a learner’s permit, provisional, full, or heavy vehicle licence, the new feature is optional and is accessible through the mySA GOV smartphone application.

Fingerprint, PIN protection and one-time barcodes that refresh every 30 seconds are some of the security measures being utilised to stop fake licences from being used.

The strategy has already been implemented for several other permits in South Australia, including proof of age cards, boat licences and vehicle registrations.

As the app displays the licences in real-time, expired or suspended permits will be displayed with a large orange or red bar at the bottom to indicate the status, and also won’t show a barcode as suspended or expired licences cannot be validated.

There’s also a ‘shake to animate’ feature that helps to indicate the licence is not a photo or screenshot, and allows the permit to be used where mobile phone coverage is not available.

In order to use a digital licence, users will need to sign up for a mySA GOV account and verify their identity before the new strategy goes live next month.

The announcement follows a similar move by Transport for New South Wales (NSW), who recently announced a digital licence trial for residents of Dubbo from November, with a state-wide rollout planned for 2019.

Not only does South Australia pip New South Wales in the race to digitise licences, it will also be available to all from launch – not just those situated in a particular town.

MORE: Dubbo to trial digital driver licence tech
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