Bob Debus (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

For the election, I did, yes. It is not only individuals that commit these crimes. Organised groups are becoming increasingly involved. The 9-11 hijackers used fake social security numbers and false identities for their pilot training, and other terrorist networks have done the same to get employment overseas to finance their activities and ultimately to avoid detection.

The problem, then, is evidently widespread in the world and our laws need to be updated to reflect emerging problems, much like laws governing internet crime have been adapted. This week, therefore, model laws will be introduced which will include new offences for misusing identification to commit an offence or having equipment capable of creating false information. Those charges will help police in all jurisdictions to more effectively investigate and prosecute offences, because a specific offence will exist. All jurisdictions will be empowered to issue certificates to victims of identity crime to help them re-establish their credit histories. Victims will be able to get a court order to reclaim their identity after a prosecution for identity crime or even after they become aware that their identity has been stolen. That will help victims to recover their identities and again use facilities in banks and other financial institutions which had been denied to them by the crime committed against them.

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