The Albanese Government's Credential Protection Register has blocked over 500,000 attempts to use stolen credentials, protecting Australians personal data from being stolen and misused by cyber criminals.
Established in October 2022 following the Optus data breach, the Register stops criminals from using stolen identity credentials, to prevent identity theft.
This in turn disrupts black market sales of stolen personal documents and illegal activities that rely on those stolen credentials including scams, money laundering and fraud.
While criminals are stopped from inflicting more harm, the credentials on the Register can still be used for their primary purpose. For example, if an Australian passport is stolen in a data breach and is put on the Register, it can still be used by the legitimate owner for overseas travel but cannot be used by criminals to open bank accounts or conduct other fraudulent activities.
The Albanese Government committed over $14 million in the 2023 24 MYEFO and 2024-25 Budget to enhance the Register. This includes the development of new mobile and web capabilities to allow individuals to add their credentials to the Register to control when and how they are used. The mobile application will notify individuals in real time if someone is using their identity without their consent.
These changes will give Australians full control of when and how their identity credentials are being used and allow them to disrupt illegal use of their identity.
