Kay Hull (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The measures in the Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery) Bill 2007 will strike the right balance between providing convenience to people in how they use their access card while protecting their privacy and minimising the opportunity for fraud to take place. It is estimated by the AFP that 50 per cent of fraud cases involve Medicare cards. The measures in this bill will substantially reduce fraudulent claims for benefits, will reduce claims based on inaccurate concession information and will prevent a person from using someone else’s card to claim an entitlement.

It is conservatively estimated that the new access card will save around $3 billion over 10 years in fraudulent payments made using the existing outdated Medicare card. I recall doing a report when I was on the economics committee titled Numbers on the run. We found that we had significantly more tax file numbers than we had people so, if we think there is not some sort of fraud taking place in many areas simply because there is not an ability to recognise or to store information about people, we are greatly mistaken.

Earlier this month in my electorate of Riverina, the Minister for Human Services, Senator Ian Campbell, announced that 19 Centrelink customers in the Riverina had payments cancelled or suspended following a crackdown on the cash economy activity. This detection of fraudulent activity in the Riverina alone is expected to save Australian taxpayers around $133,000. This operation was a two-day field operation initiated by Centrelink and conducted with the assistance of business owners in the Riverina harvesting industry. This access card will help prevent this type of fraud, which is happening not just in the Riverina but across all electorates.

Unlike the current arrangements, the new system will detect people trying to register under two identities. Fraudsters will be caught before they cost Australian taxpayers large and often unrecoverable amounts of money. The system will also respond to the concerns of hardworking Australians who are sick of people who are cheating the system and getting away with it. Apart from the clear benefits the card will provide in combating fraud, it will also play a significant role in streamlining the current cumbersome and time-consuming system for delivering health and social services benefits.

Around 580,000 people each year make a trip into a Centrelink office and join a queue only to find that they have to go home to find other documents, and they have to start again every time they want to apply for a new type of benefit. There are multiple registration points, with some people having to provide the same proof of identity information to the same agency if they want a different service. Each year, some 50,000 letters are sent to individuals who have incorrectly filled out their name and/or their address on their Medicare claim form. This new access card will mean that consumers will only need to register once for a service and, unlike the current system, will only need to notify participating agencies once of their change in circumstances, such as a change in address.

The services include those now provided by or through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs; Department of Human Services, including the Child Support Agency; CRS Australia; Medicare Australia; Centrelink, Australian Hearing Services; and Health Services Australia. This card will represent the most significant reduction in red tape, and that is something that the consumer is constantly asking for—no more cluttering up the wallets; you will have one card replacing up to 17 health and social services cards.

It is interesting to hear some of the debate that has taken place in the House. It honestly bewilders me at times. Many people entrust their life savings to internet banking. They have no problem in providing all of the information in their accounts, transferring money all over the world—transferring their money online through the internet—yet there seems to be some concern that somebody will have a photograph identity on a card, or information that is stored on the card that may not be protected, when we clearly know that many of the transactions that we do in our everyday lives are not protected. We flash our licence to every airport, staff member and airline operator when we get an e-ticket. We do not have any problems with handing over our licence, having our photograph viewed and date of birth and licence numbers noted, yet we are concerned about this card.

We provide a licence and licence number if we want a refund at a Myer store or any other store when we return consumer goods. We have no problems with putting forward our licence with a photograph to identify ourselves. We have a passport system that we have no problem with. I look at all of the subsequent legislation that will include the protection of information on this card and issues relating to an individual’s area of the chip, on which they can store voluntary information and transitional issues. All of this legislation will be put there to protect those people who hold this card.

Some concern has been expressed about the possibility that businesses would be able to demand the production of the card as a form of identity. The bill makes it an offence punishable by up to five years imprisonment, a $55,000 fine or both, for any person, and up to $275,000 for a company, who requires a cardholder to produce their card for any purpose other than for the provision of Commonwealth health or social service benefits or to verify concessional status. But I will go so far as to say—I will guarantee—that this card will be produced because people will want to produce it. They will find it an easy way to verify their bona fides. Rather than businesses seeking the card, I suspect that we, as consumers, will be willing to offer up this card on numerous occasions, as we do now with our drivers licence.

The bill also makes it an offence punishable by a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment, a $13,200 fine or both, for a person to make a copy of or divulge a card owner’s photograph, signature or card number unless it is for the limited purposes of the legislation or with the owner’s consent. That fine climbs to up to $62,000 for a company that commits this offence. I still wonder and question why there is a big issue about this card when we do not seem to have the same problem with our photo identification on our drivers licence, where the photograph is taken at an RTA outlet and is put on your drivers licence. Nobody seems to be at all concerned that there is access to that photograph.

Smartcard technology offers Australians greater privacy because it allows a user to display less information on the face of their card. The face of the access card will contain less information than a drivers licence. This means that more information can be kept out of the immediate view of any unauthorised person. The card will feature a digital photograph, a preferred name, a card number and a signature. Each user will have the option of including their date of birth on the card if they want that added benefit.

People who currently hold veterans gold cards will be entitled to new gold access cards. They will be the only Australians to be given the option of gold coloured access cards. This option is in recognition of the respect Australia has for its veterans and its war widows and widowers. The new gold access card will replace the current veterans gold card. The government will also legislate to ensure that it will be illegal for a pub, a bank or other body to force someone to produce this card as a form of identity.

The basic information on the card, such as the holder’s name and address, will be secured, but the photograph will use biometric technology that measures and analyses the physical characteristics of each Australian. The technology measures features, such as the distance between your pupils, to prevent anyone else from using your card. It is virtually impossible for two people to share the same biometric facial characteristics. In this way, the government can prevent someone from fraudulently using another person’s card or attempting to register more than once. It is a massive protection factor.

Today I had passport photographs done for the very same reason—but I do not worry about that. We hand our passports over, we allow ourselves to be photographed while we are walking through terminals, and everyone measures the distance between our eyes and the width of our forehead; but we do not seem to have a concern about that. When I look at this legislation I cannot understand why people are crying wolf.

Recently, in one of my local papers, there was a vox pop. I am interested in these vox pops because they gave an indication of what the general community is feeling. They ask about five different people their views on an issue, and it is very rare for agreement to occur among the five people. The question that was asked in my local paper was: ‘Do you support the idea of an access card?’ Without exception, everyone who was asked supported it. One person said, ‘It’s a good idea because it makes everything easier and safer.’ Another man said, ‘I’m happy with the way the system is at the moment but, if it comes in, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.’ Another consumer said: ‘Yes, I do support it. I went to Tasmania and you need ID to do anything there, and it works well. Anything to make things safer is a good move.’ Another gentleman said, ‘Yes, because there are a lot of con men out there.’ A woman said: ‘Look, I’ve got no problems with it. I think the only ones who would complain about it are the ones with something to hide.’

That is exactly my point. If you have nothing to hide or to fear then you would have no problems with an access card or an identification card for health benefits, pharmaceuticals or any benefit that the government is going to pay. I think that is what we as taxpayers of Australia should be insisting upon. It is hard enough to work on a day-to-day basis and pay your taxes without having to recognise that, at any given time, somebody is defrauding the system. It is incumbent upon us to try to make this system as secure and safe as possible. If that is not the intention of good government then I do not know what good government should be doing.

I really support the minister with respect to this access card. I think it is sensible and it is clearly a reasonable thing to do. I do not see the average consumer being concerned about this at all. There will always be some problems from civil libertarians, with their fear of big brother and somebody staring over their shoulder and knowing their information; but, as I have said, many of these people will unhesitatingly hand over a passport with a photograph, their mother’s maiden name and their place of birth—a host of information. We unquestioningly present our passports to every Customs officer and we present them in order to open bank accounts. We have no concern about handing over that kind of information, even though people could track you down right back through your past, whether or not you want them to. I absolutely support this bill.

Debate interrupted.

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