Example of a beta version of the new NSW digital driver’s license.

Today Secure Logic announced TrustGrid, a new blockchain-based platform that’s behind New South Wales’ ongoing rollout of digital driver’s licenses, and a variety of other potential applications. Tweet this

The Secure Logic Group, or more simply, Secure Logic, is a “Managed Information Security Services Provider” based in the southeastern Australian state of New South Wales (NSW).

Today they’ve announced TrustGrid, a new platform that’s helping to power a new digital driver’s license in NSW using blockchain to offer a “secure, decentralised and immutable ledger of transactions.”

If all goes according to plan, by the end of 2019, every driver in NSW should be eligible to opt-in to the new digital driver’s license, which can be used to get into local bars and clubs, and conveniently, for police checks as well.


Initial testing of the digital licenses started in November 2017, with a 1,400 person trial in Dubbo that has been doing quite well, according to Victor Dominello, NSW’s Minister for Finance, Services and Property.

Here’s what he had to say about digital licenses and the Dubbo trial:

“Smartphones have become de facto wallets and we’re using cutting-edge technology so that drivers can use a digital licence in everyday scenarios. The Dubbo trial was a big success and drivers gave it the thumbs up.”

The first metro trial, announced this August, covers Sydney’s Eastern Beaches including the suburbs of Bondi, Bondi Junction, Bronte, Clovelly, Coogee, Randwick, and Waverley. When that trial kicks off in November, another 140,000 Australians will be eligible for the new digital driver’s license.

Legislation for the statewide rollout — the Road Transport and Other Legislation Amendment (Digital Driver Licences and Photo Cards) Act 2018 [PDF] — passed in May.


Digital licenses aren’t without their detractors, but proponents argue that “additional levels of identity security and increased protection against identity fraud” (plus the ability to update the license in real time while not having to carry a physical license) will win over NSW drivers in the end.

“[TrustGrid will] help put a stop to sophisticated fraudsters who can conjure up fake identities with relative ease. Too often licence details are only checked superficially and this can now be replaced with cryptographic mechanisms.”


Meanwhile, all this tech isn’t just for driver’s licenses. As ZD Net reports, Devaraj says, “driver’s licences are the tip of the iceberg,” expecting the platform will also transform birth (and death) certificates, property titles, motor registration, and more.

“The era of standing in line to file government paperwork is coming to an end, as is our reliance on physical identification cards to establish your identity or proof of age with law enforcement or at licensed venues. These are mistake prone, time-consuming, expensive, and impractical ways to offer services.”

If you’re feeling a bit nostalgic about all this digitization, here’s some good news. Drivers who opt-in to the digital license will still get a physical card, they just won’t have to carry it around.