Some Sydneysiders Are Now Eligible for a Digital Drivers Licence

These days, a simple flash of your smartphone can let you pay for stuff without tapping your debit card, see a gig without a hard-copy ticket and even split dinner bills without carrying around a heap of cash. For residents in the eastern Sydney suburbs of Bondi, Bondi Junction, Bronte, Clovelly, Coogee, Randwick and Waverley, it can now also double as your drivers licence.

Announced early in 2018 after legislation supporting the move passed through State Parliament, a Sydney trial of digital licences is currently underway. A voluntary scheme involving drivers in postcodes 2022, 2024, 2026, 2031 and 2034, it's the first step towards allowing all NSW residents to leave the old drivers licence card at home — if the trial is successful, that is.

According to a statement released by the NSW Government, those willing to participate will have to register for a MyServiceNSW account and install the Service NSW mobile app. They'll then need to opt-in for the trial, which will allow them to manage and renew their licence via the app, and show it as proof of identity and age at police roadside checks, bars and clubs. The digital licence can only be used in the suburbs listed above during the trial period, and those taking part will still need to carry their plastic card.

If the trial is successful, the digital system will roll out across the state sometime in 2019. This means that any NSW driver would be able to access a digital version of their licence via the Service NSW app on their phone, and it would be accepted everywhere in the state, completely eliminating the need to carry the original card. It will be an opt-in service, and all drivers will still be issued with a card regardless.

To curb the circulation of fake IDs and identify fraud, the government's statement says it is using "comprehensive security measures to protect your information and identity at all times, similar to those used for internet banking" on its digital driver licence website. The details are vague, but users will need to set up a Service NSW app PIN to access their digital licence — and to access it offline as well.

Plans for the switch to digital were first announced back in 2016, which was followed by a successful trial of the digital licences in Dubbo and subsequent legislation being entered into Parliament earlier this year. A similar system was rolled out in South Australia in late 2017.

Updated: May 28, 2019.