1.3.2 Identity

Objective

This component aims to identify people entering Australia and maintain that foundation identity for use in the Australian community.

Description

The department is often the first agency to come into contact with people seeking to come to Australia, either under the migration program or for a visit. As such, it is important that the department accurately identifies these people and maintains a consolidated identity record for both interaction within the Australian community and to correctly identify repeat clients.

The department’s identity management strategy is multi-layered and involves work on an international, national and whole-of-agency level. The strategy aims to introduce progressively more robust identity management practices, coupled with the measured deployment of a supporting biometric capability.

Performance

New identity management strategic plan

During 2007–08, the department began to implement the vision articulated in Identity Matters: the Strategic Plan for Identity Management in DIAC 2007–2010. The plan articulates the vision for the effective identification of people entering Australia and the maintaining of that identity for use in the community as those who start out as immigration clients interact with other agencies during the course of their settlement or temporary stay. The strategy is aimed at enhancing the way the department assesses client identity through:

• the collection of better and more robust biographical details
• strengthened document examination capability and database checks to ensure a client’s credentials are genuine
• the collection of biometrics to anchor client identity in certain programs and caseloads.

Table 50: Identity—performance information

Measures	Results
	May 2005 to June 2008
Quality
Percentage of national identity verification referrals finalised within service standards	90%
	2007–08
Quantity
Number of consolidated identity information records stored	15.4 million
Number of national identity verification referrals	793

The strategy is an integral component of the Systems for People program and contributes to the client-focused approach being implemented in the department. During the year, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) conducted a performance audit into the department’s management of the introduction of biometric technologies. The ANAO found the department’s planning processes to be sound.

Biometrics and identity management

The implementation of biometrics and identity management is guided by the identity management strategic plan and supports a number of international, national and whole-of-government measures, such as the joint Biometrics for Border Control initiatives involving the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Customs and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

The department has been collecting and storing personal identifiers and developing the capability to use the technology to better identify clients, for example, unlawful non-citizens and recidivist illegal foreign fishers.

During the year, biometric and identity management technologies were rolled out to support onshore immigration detention centre operations and the detention of illegal foreign fishers. Biometric capability was also provided to support identity verification for clients presenting for citizenship tests during 2007–08. As part of this process, clients’ identities are recorded using the Australian Government Gold Standard Enrolment Framework.

A total of 59 221 tests were undertaken in 2007–08. The deployment to all 13 citizenship test sites at state and territory offices is now complete, with both fixed and mobile solutions in place. There are also mobile solutions in place at 35 Medicare and Centrelink offices in regional Australia.

One of the key deliverables under the strategic plan is a suite of identity service tools, including the Identity Services Repository (ISR). The repository has grown from 650 000 facial images and nine million travel document records at the end of 2006–07 to over one million facial images and 16.3 million travel document records by the end of June 2008. The collection of details and capture of digital scans of identity documents, other than passports, began in October 2007, and since then almost 135 000 document scans have been recorded. The number of ISR users has increased from 420 at the start of the period to 1630.

International identity management initiatives

Australia continued to be actively involved in international identity management initiatives.

The department contributed to the Four Countries Conference (4CC) Sub-Group on Biometrics and Technology. The development of a systematic data sharing program, building on the outcomes of a series of successful trials, has been substantially progressed. The resulting Protocol for High Value Data Sharing, which allows for 4CC countries to assist each other with biometric matching of high value cases on a case-by-case basis, was endorsed at the Washington meeting in June 2007 and will be operational from January 2009. At the Washington meeting in June 2007, the lead for the projects under the Sub-Group on Biometrics and Technology was transferred to Australia.

The department continued to chair the Intergovernmental Committee on Migration, Asylum and Refugees Technology Working Group, an information forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences, including those related to identity management through the implementation of technical and, in particular, biometric solutions.

Document examination

Checking clients’ proof-of-identity and travel documents is an important feature of the department’s identity management strategy. The department’s document examiners perform the valuable functions of examining and providing opinions on potentially fraudulent documents as well as building a document examination capability within the department and in the region.

The department’s Global Document Examination Network (GDEN) includes staff based in Australia and overseas. During 2007–08, the network provided a three day course on document examination skills in Australia to 334 participants comprising officers from the department, other government agencies and overseas airline staff. Basic document examination training was also provided to 957 participants from the department and other agencies.

Document examination training was also conducted by the GDEN in 18 overseas countries over 38 weeks. Three days of training in document examination skills was provided to 525 officers from foreign government immigration and border agencies, while another 1297 officers received basic documentation examination training. In addition, 101 officers were provided with training in the use and maintenance of document examination laboratory equipment.

The GDEN was involved in a number of key initiatives to build on border management strategies, as follows:

• A searchable repository of bulletins and alerts on fraudulent and new series travel documents detected both onshore and offshore is now available on the department’s IMtel system. The repository, called Document Examination Alert Notices, had more than 1300 records at the end of June 2008.
• An electronic case management system, DocX, has been established since 1 January 2008 to register all cases for document examination units onshore and offshore.
• In the first half of 2008, 21 departmental staff across Australia were enrolled in the Diploma of Forensic Document Examination at the Canberra Institute of Technology. The course is an accredited formal qualification which provides a thorough understanding of technical and scientific skills involving the application of forensic document examination techniques in the workplace and the operation of forensic document examination equipment. The department also sponsored the enrolment of six document examiners from the Philippines, Indonesia and the People’s Republic of China.
• The department hosted a delegation of Malaysian immigration officers to Australia in June 2008 to visit the department’s document examination laboratories and external organisations involved in the production of security documents. This visit expanded their document examination expertise and demonstrated how forensic document examination assists the department’s operational and visa program areas.
• The department’s document examiners participated in the capacity-building initiatives during 2007–08, providing document examination training to officers from Afghanistan, Cambodia, Cook Islands, East Timor, Federated State of Micronesia, Fiji, Indonesia, Jordan, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Pakistan, Palu, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

Document Verification Service

The department participates in the whole-of-government initiative underway to improve identity security and combat crimes related to identity theft. The Document Verification Service (DVS), conceived as part of the Australian Government’s National Identity Security Strategy, aims to develop and deliver a consistent approach to identity security across federal, state and territory agencies. It improves the ability of agencies to verify whether documents issued by another agency are likely to be genuine documents according to that agency’s records of the document issue date and details.

After a successful pilot, the government decided to implement the DVS on a national basis. During 2007–08, the DVS became operational in the department for the verification of citizenship certificates and certified visas. In addition, to further enhance the integrity of DVS verification, 16 600 citizenship records were purified over the year.

A total of 5365 automatic verification transactions were processed through the DVS and a further 1628 manual verifications were managed by the DVS helpdesk. The extension of the DVS to include visa records is expected to be implemented in October 2008.

Whole-of-agency approach

The department’s identity management strategy aims to provide better support to decision makers and a sound legislative framework for enhanced identity management practices. Throughout 2007–08, a number of identity-related procedural advice manuals were released, with supporting training in identity management practices. The department also continued to purify its client records, extend and grow the ISR, assist with the investigations of complex identity cases and develop a comprehensive identity resolution capability.

Reduction of multiple client records

In 2007–08, the department developed a strategy and established a project to reduce the number of duplicate client records by implementing business rules to link multiple records. The first part of implementing that capability was carried out in 2007–08 as part of the Systems for People program.

The Systems for People program consolidated the client-related biographic data from the department’s many systems into a common centralised client data repository, the ‘Party Hub’. Through this project, manual linking of multiple records was also introduced. In 2008–09, the second part of the reduction of multiple client records will be implemented with automated linking of multiple records based on business rules around biographic data. This capability will also enable identification of the number of duplicate records and provide a baseline from which to report in future program years.

Identity verification and advice

For the last three years, the National Identity Verification and Advice (NIVA) function has been an essential operational component of the department’s identity management strategy. Its functions include:

• assisting operational staff in state and territory offices to deal with the identification of persons of immigration compliance interest
• coordinating a national approach to the investigation and identification of persons of immigration compliance interest where it is difficult to establish identity, with the priority being people in immigration detention
• ensuring cases involving complex and sensitive identity issues are identified as early as possible and handled in a consistent, systematic and expeditious manner.

The early-warning system was coordinated through a referral process set out in the procedural advice manual, Establishing identity in the field and in detention.

Cases where a client was unidentified or where the claim of Australian citizenship or permanent residence could not be verified were referred to the department’s national office through an escalation mechanism. The NIVA role included monitoring progress on identity investigations (‘information’ referrals) and conducting identity investigations of particularly complex cases (‘action’ referrals).

Of the 793 cases involving identity issues referred to national office since May 2005:

• 77 per cent (613) were referred for information only, while the remaining 23 per cent (180) were actively investigated by the officers at the national office
• 66 per cent of ‘information’ referrals were finalised in less than 3 months
• 51 per cent of ‘action’ referrals were finalised in less than 6 months
• 721 (91 per cent) cases were resolved.

In addition to managing a growing caseload, the national office:

• reviewed policies, procedures and tools designed to assist operational staff to establish identity in the field and in immigration detention, and ensured a consistent approach to identity investigation across the department
• continued to establish relationships with persons and agencies who provide expert advice on identity-related matters
• coordinated the department’s response to requests from law enforcement agencies for information regarding missing persons.

From 14 July 2008, the identity investigation function was devolved to the service delivery network with ongoing support from the Identity Resolution Centre (IRC) in national office.

Identity Resolution Centre

The foundations of a consolidated identity resolution capability were laid during 2007–08 with the deployment of two key biometric projects and the establishment of a help desk.

The aim of the IRC is to provide a multi-disciplinary capability that incorporates a finger scan, facial image and biographic data searching expertise. The IRC is currently providing a fingerprint scan and facial image assessment capability in cases where biometrics have been collected and match results need to be verified. Consolidated identity reports are then forwarded to decision makers to assist them in assessing the identity of clients.

The department is working with CrimTrac to ascertain the feasibility of storing and matching the department’s fingerprint scan data on the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

Forward planning is also underway to fully develop and staff the IRC to support the department’s evolving biometric capability and to assist decision makers when they are unable to resolve the identity issues of clients themselves. During 2007–08, the department undertook 2214 biometric enrolments of people in immigration detention and illegal foreign fishers, and identified 178 finger scan matches.

Airline Liaison Officer network

Airline Liaison Officers (ALOs) conduct document screening of many Australia-bound passengers at key international gateways. They provide advice to airlines and host governments on passenger documentation issues and, by their visible presence, deter the activities of those involved in people smuggling.

The ALO program is run flexibly, adapting to emerging issues as required. During 2007–08, the ALO network had up to 21 ALOs at 16 locations.

In 2007–08, the ALO network was involved in 143 interdictions of irregularly documented passengers attempting to travel to Australia, representing a 21 per cent decrease from the 180 interdictions in 2006–07. The reduction is consistent with improperly documented arrivals indicating a lower caseload in ALO ports. These statistics reflect the ongoing effectiveness of the ALO program in deterring and preventing irregular movement of people to Australia.

In cooperation with ALOs from other countries, Australian ALOs also helped interdict 448 persons from travelling to a variety of countries other than Australia in 2007–08.