2022-09-27
The Victorian Greens have today written to VicRoads Minister Ben Carroll urging him to protect Victorians from scammers by allowing them to change their driver’s licence number.
Tasmanian and South Australian authorities have confirmed that people whose data has been compromised in the Optus leak will be able to get their licence number reissued, which significantly reduces the risk of false information being used to do things like apply for credit cards or loans.
Quotes attributable to Leader of the Victorian Greens, Samantha Ratnam MLC:
“I’m writing to the Minister today to urge him to close this licence loophole and extend the same protections to Victorians that people have in other states and territories.
“In South Australia and Tasmania, people are able to change their licence number and get peace of mind that in a couple of months they won’t be shocked by a fraudulent credit card statement or personal loan account.
“The Victorian Government must support VicRoads to immediately update their policy and protect Victorians from identity theft.
“Data breaches are not new, and government agencies must have the policies and resources in place to protect their citizens.
“Optus customers can’t be expected to foot the bill for this data leak disaster - the government should look to the telco to remedy their security failure.”