Card Confusion and Mis-Identity

The main news today is the revelation from the Sydney Daily Telegraph of the scope of the rorting and the degree of fraud and identity fakery going on with the current Australian Medicare card.

To quote the article:

"A STAGGERING 500,000 Medicare cards have been lost or stolen in the past 12 months, with some being used to create fake identities and make fraudulent benefit claims.

In a bid to tackle identity fraud, Human Services Minister Joe Hockey called for a photo of the holder to be included on Medicare cards, which currently only contain a person's name and Medicare number.

Criminals are using the lost or stolen cards to set up fake identities, open bank accounts and claim Medicare benefits and prescription medicine subsidies that they are not entitled to."

What is clear here is that the system simply lacks the robustness required, and to be made fit for purpose (i.e. to prevent fraud and to permit accurate identification of individuals) a large investment will be required.

Recently a UK expert suggested that the total cost of identifying each citizen reliably with appropriate biometrics is of the order of $250 per individual. Even if it is just 1/2 this we are talking billions of dollars and with the loss rates of the Medicare card - huge ongoing replacement and renewal costs.

One hopes the business case for taking on this expenditure is sound - and that all the parts of government involved in identification schemes (Health, Human Services, Attorney General and Immigration) are co-ordinating their activity to minimise waste and to preserve privacy.

David