Question regarding the objectives and public trust surrounding the ServiceWA app's digital wallet expansion, referencing transparency concerns and past use for vaccination status segregation. The Minister's answer focuses on security, international standards, user choice and fraud mitigation.

AnsweredQoN 359Legislative Assembly
Asked
18 June 2025
Portfolio
Science and Innovation

QuestionView source ↗

ServiceWA app
359. Hon Philip Scott to
the Minister for Science and Innovation:
I refer to the
tender process for a "Provision of a digital wallet and verifiable
credentials solution", tender ID number 577007, which details that the
Department of the Premier and Cabinet has a requirement for an ISO/IEC 18013-5/7
compliant digital wallet solution to integrate with the ServiceWA app. In light
of the Auditor General's comments this week, the publicly available information
on IT projects is patchy, inconsistent and not transparent.
(1) Can the minister provide the Council with the
government's objectives for this digital wallet solution?
(2) Furthermore, given the government's use of the
ServiceWA app to segregate Western Australians based on their vaccination
status, how can the WA public trust this government with a further expansion of
the act?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable
member for some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) The digital wallet will be built
to internationally recognised standards, which means credentials stored in the
wallet can be securely issued, held and verified across jurisdictions both
within and outside of Western Australia. The objective of this initiative is to
simplify access to government services, and enhanced privacy and control by
allowing users to choose what personal information they want to disclose, and
to mitigate fraud risk through the acceptance of digital credentials, reducing
the need to copy and store physical credentials. The extent to which an
individual wishes to use the ServiceWA app is entirely their own choice.

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