The Australian ePassport
The next generation of Australian passport—the 'ePassport'—was introduced on 24 October 2005.
The ePassport is very similar to the previous Australian passport, differing only in having an embedded microchip in the centre page and a gold international ePassport symbol on the front cover.
The chip embedded in the centre pages stores your digitised photograph, name, gender, date of birth, nationality, passport number, and the passport expiry date. This is the same information that appears on the printed information page of every passport.
Facial recognition technology is being introduced to coincide with the release of the ePassport. This technology will be used to improve identity verification and reduce identity-related fraud.
The ePassport offers several important advantages over the previous Australian Passport. It:
- provides greater protection against fraudulent misuse and tampering
- reduces the risk of identity fraud, currently estimated to cost the Australian economy more than $1 billion each year
- enhances the protection of Australia's border through speedy and secure verification of incoming Australian passport holders.
The introduction of the ePassport will not affect the validity of your current passport and you will not have to get a new passport until the one you already have expires.
All full validity Australian passports issued after 24 October 2005 will be ePassports. Other travel documents such as the Document of Identity, United Nations Convention Travel Document, Certificate of Identity and Emergency Passport will not contain a chip.
Australia is a leader in the development of biometric passport technology, and is one of the first countries to introduce an ePassport.
Data and Privacy Protection
Strict guidelines control how the department uses the information you supply with a passport application. The Privacy Act 1988 prohibits government officers from collecting, using or disclosing your information except in the performance of their duties. It obliges the department to take all reasonable steps to protect your information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. The Commonwealth Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner has been involved in the development of the Australian ePassport to ensure that your personal information is held and used in keeping with the privacy principles.
The data on the chip will be PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) protected, guaranteeing that it was put there by an authorised entity and has not been altered since. The chip's digital signature meets the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a specialised agency of the United Nations.
Basic Access Control (BAC) prevents the chip from being accessed until the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) on the data page has been read. BAC and PKI make the Australian ePassport the most secure Australian passport ever.
The chip, and the equipment which reads it, have been manufactured to standards set by the ICAO. Australia is a council member of ICAO and has played a prominent role in the development of the ICAO standards for ePassports. ICAO standards are available from the ICAO.
Travelling to the USA
- Australian passports issued up to 23 October 2005 have a Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) and a digitised photo on the data page, both of which meet the current US requirements to maintain Australia's status in the US Visa Waiver Program. The ePassport will meet new US requirements to be introduced on 26 October 2006.
- The Australian ePassport has been tested extensively at Los Angeles International Airport and has met all US requirements. Australia has received initial US Department of Homeland Security Certification for the Australian ePassport.
Border Control
- The ePassport will assist in helping border officials verify the identity of the holder, allowing for quicker passenger processing.
- Self service facilities, known as "SmartGate kiosks" will be installed progressively at Australian International airports.
- Other countries are planning to introduce ePassport processing at their borders. In the meantime, these countries will process ePassport holders in the same way as holders of a conventional passport.
Additional information
- The US Visa Waiver Program
- Australian Customs Service SmartGate Service
- Australian Passports website
- The Visa Waiver Program
- High-quality images of the ePassport
Glossary
Basic Access Control (BAC)
Information in the chip is locked until the ePassport is read by swiping its information page across a special scanner.
Machine Readable Zone (MRZ)
The MRZ consists of personal details printed on the bottom of the data page of the ePassport, that can be read by swiping the page over a scanner. The MRZ is used to unlock the information contained in the embedded chip.
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
A technology used to confirm that the information in your ePassport chip was put there by the Australian Government, that it is complete and has not been changed.
Facial Recognition Technology
Facial recognition technology uses measurements of the face to match an image against a 'gallery' of existing images. It is much more accurate than manual matching as a means of confirming identity. Electronic matching allows a facial image to be matched against a database containing millions of images. Electronic matching also allows a facial image to be matched against a watch list of images of known terrorists and other transnational criminals.