Queensland passes facial biometrics bill

In time for the Commonwealth Games, Queensland has become the first Australian state or territory to introduce legislation allowing police access to shared biometric face matching services.

The new identity and biometric capability amendment has been passed to strengthen security measures for the Games and beyond.

It will support Operation Sentinel — the security operation for the Games — by allowing he comparison of images with immigration and citizenship records held by Australian Government agencies and enable the rapid identification of people.

The new legislation comes on the back of a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreement between the federal government and all states and territories to allow law enforcement agencies in all jurisdictions to share access to passport, visa, citizenship and driver’s licence images.

“This is a vital investigative tool that will allow police to stay one step ahead of terrorists and criminals involved in identity fraud,” Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan said.

“Image matching services will also help identify disaster victims. Queensland and other jurisdictions already share identity information on a manual and ad hoc basis, but the identity matching services will make it simpler and faster for law enforcement and security agencies to share information.”

He called on the federal government and all other states and territories to pass their own legislation enabling the capability before the Games begin on 4 April.

“This system will have robust privacy safeguards and be implemented in consultation with the Australian Privacy Commissioner and it will be audited by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.”

Follow us and share on Twitter and Facebook