After failing to get its original enabling Access Card legislation through the Senate in March, Government has committed to redrafting the bill to take into account concerns from both sides of the chamber.
Senators rejected the first bill, saying it lacked detail, particularly around the specific privacy and data security measures that would be put in place to ensure protection of citizens’ private information.
Government has promised a better consultative process with both the public and parliamentarians.
Senator Ellison was appointed to the Human Services portfolio in early March, taking over from Ian Campbell, who had resigned after getting caught in by political crossfire over his having once met with disgraced former Western Australian Premier Brian Burke.
Having had a month to get acclimatised to the portfolio, Senator Ellison last week again started the process of selling the Access Card.
Talking to ABC Radio in Brisbane, Senator Ellison did not stray from the familiar message the Government has pushed for the past year. But he acknowledged there remained public nervousness about the smartcard project, with the Access Card being simply an ID card in the eyes of critics.
“It's not an Australia Card, and I want to make that very clear; we've said that in the legislation,” the Minister said. “This can only be required for accessing Government services.”
“I think it's a great initiative. It will crackdown on welfare fraud. It will make it easier to deal with the Commonwealth Government in accessing benefits. And it will provide greater security for the individuals' identity and to guard against identity theft.”
Senator Ellison said the privacy protections on the card were adequate. “In relation to the privacy aspect, we have the technology to quarantine the areas of information such as Medicare information being kept separately and apart from Centrelink information, which will be kept apart from Veterans Affairs information (etc).”
Once the Access Card was passed by the parliament, Government would embark on a “very significant” communications campaign to make sure the public understands how the implementation of the card will be carried out, Senator Ellison said.
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