The Access Card or Health and social services access card was a proposed Australian Government non-compulsory electronic identity card. Prime Minister of Australia John Howard announced the introduction of the scheme on 26 April 2006. Under the scheme, the card would be required for personal identification by an Australian citizen or permanent resident wishing to access benefits or services administered by the Department of Human Services, Department of Veterans Affairs or (from 2010) the universal Medicare. The scheme was to be phased in over two years, beginning in 2008, but the newly elected Labor Rudd Government terminated the project in November 2007.
Scope
It was proposed that the Access Card would be required for identification purposes in accessing government benefits or services, such as: Welfare benefits administered by Centrelink, including: unemployment, disability, veterans, and study allowances. The Health Care Card and Seniors Health Card. Medicare subsidised health care, both bulk-billing and claim back. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), which provides subsidised medications. Child Support Agency Australia services. CRS Australia vocational rehabilitation.
Card description
The Access Card was to have been a smartcard. Smartcard technology differs from ordinary magnetic strip cards in that the card contains a microchip rather than a simple magnetic strip. This means that instead of the card containing a number that relates to a record in a database, the data (usually encrypted) is actually stored on the card.
The Card was intended to have a photograph, the usual name of the holder – it did not have to be the legal name – the signature, the expiry date and the ID Number all visible on the front or rear of the Card. The chip was expected to include legal name, address, date of birth, details of children or other dependants, digitised photo, signature, card number, expiry date, gender, concession status and the cardholder's Personal Identification Number (PIN). Additional personal information could also be added at the will of the card holder. Such information may have included next of kin, organ donor status or drug allergies and also, according to Joe Hockey the former responsible government minister, shopping lists and perhaps MP3s. This extra information was to be secured with the user's PIN, so only those who needed it had access to it.
Parliamentary process
An exposure draft of the proposed Bill was published on 13 December 2006 allowing for a four-week period during which public submissions could be made. Some minor changes resulted.
The Bill to implement the first stage of the scheme was the Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery) Bill 2007 which was tabled in the Senate. A Senate Inquiry started on 8 February 2007, run by the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration. The Committee called for submissions and heard testimony, then wrote a report all within six weeks.
The Report was delivered on 15 March 2007 and was scathing of the Bill in the form presented, demanding it be withdrawn and key provisions be re-thought. It also strongly recommended that the oversight and privacy provisions not await a later unseen Bill but be included in one package. The Minister, Senator Chris Ellison, withdrew the Bill to implement the Committees recommendations. A notable feature was that the Majority Report was written by Liberal Senators Mason, Fifield and Watson, recognised by some commentators as a striking case of Senatorial independence.
Other reactions
Objections
One of the criticisms of the Access Card proposal was that the requirement for the card to be produced to access welfare and medical services made the card, in effect, compulsory. It was suggested that this was another attempt establish an Australia Card. On the other hand, Department of Human Services Secretary, Patricia Scott, told a Senate committee on 16 February 2007 that the wrongful detention of Cornelia Rau – who was held by immigration authorities for 10 months, despite being a legal resident – would not have occurred if the Access Card was running.