Rex Patrick (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] My question is to the Minister for Government Services. In the three weeks since I highlighted the impending utilisation of vaccination certificates and the fact that the government's solution is easily forged, we've had the Western Australian and Queensland governments announce that access to their states will rely on vaccination status and we've had employers announce that vaccination will become compulsory. In the same time, the vaccination program has delivered over 4.4 million doses, and it adds almost 290,000 doses a day. The value in proof of vaccination is climbing. The problem is getting bigger. The system is flawed, relying on a solution that could possibly undermine attempts to stop the virus spreading. Can the minister explain what the solution to this mess is?

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Government Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

First of all, I would totally reject the assertions from Senator Patrick. That is simply not the case. Let me explain why. The national plan our government has developed and agreed to is our pathway to living with this virus. That is our goal—to live with this virus, not to live in fear of it. The government—and in fact all ministers in this place—are working in our various areas with states and territories, including on this matter, and we are looking for a pathway forward. Vaccination is clearly the key to keeping Australians safe and to getting our lives back in a COVID world. Medicare's longstanding and reliable system underpins the Australian Immunisation Register, otherwise called AIR, which plays a central role today in recording COVID-19 vaccinations. The AIR was established in 1996 and has a longstanding and very trusted reputation and history. Many parents are familiar with its record keeping and proof of childhood immunisations. It's only logical that this database is used to capture COVID-19 vaccinations in a secure, reliable and trusted way. Privacy and security considerations are of course among the top priorities for any digital solution the government develops, and this digital certificate is absolutely no exception. Contemporary cybersecurity is in place to protect people's personal information, and COVID-19 digital certificates do have features to safeguard against fraudulent activity, consistent with all other official government documents such as birth certificates and citizenship certificates. We are, however, continually evolving our security technology to meet contemporary and emerging threats, and we are very confident in the robust monitoring and fraud detection mechanisms in place to protect Medicare details. Since mandating the recording of COVID-19 vaccinations on the AIR, the Commonwealth has further boosted proof-of-vaccination certificate security measures, and the government continues to do so. (Time expired)

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Patrick, a supplementary question?

Rex Patrick (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] Respectfully, Minister, we don't have a system where someone can present easily to a cinema or airline operator and do so with the confidence required for the verification. We need to have a simple solution. What is the schedule to get a robust working solution? When are we going to see a solution—a forge-proof solution that is easy to use—that can be deployed?

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Government Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Patrick. As I said in response to the first question, the federal government, including Services Australia, continues to work on evolving these certificates for a variety of purposes. The digital vaccination certificate is now available through myGov. The Commonwealth has provided Australians with a quick and reliable way to access their proof of COVID-19 vaccination when they need it, including in response to public health settings imposed by states and territories, where proof of vaccination may be required. More than 2.5 million people have now accessed their digital vaccination certificate. It has been and will continue to be an individual's responsibility to provide proof of vaccination, should it be required by states and territories. The Commonwealth and state and territory governments are currently in consideration of a number of options for how to progress and evolve the proof of vaccination and possibly how it could be integrated into state and territory— (Time expired)