Not an Australian Government service
identity.org.au is not operated or endorsed by the Australian Government or any state or territory government. It is not the Australian Government Digital ID System (AGDIS), not myID, and not myGov. If you are looking for government digital identity, visit the government's own websites.
One connection exists and we disclose it: the foundation's predecessor company, DET-IO Pty Ltd, has received NSW Government business-grant funding (a Jobs for NSW Minimum Viable Product grant, disclosed in the Jobs for NSW Annual Report 2019–20 tabled in NSW Parliament), and a further NSW grant application is in progress at the time of writing. That is a funding relationship only — no government operates, controls, or endorses this service.
The steward is currently in the process of applying for accreditation under the Digital ID Act 2024 Accreditation Scheme, administered by the Digital ID Regulator (the ACCC). Accreditation has not been granted, no accreditation is claimed, and the Digital ID Accreditation Trustmark will only be displayed if and when accreditation is granted and a Trade Mark Licence Agreement is in place. Progress will be reported on this page.
What this service is
identity.org.au is two things at once, deliberately. It is an advocacy and education hub for privacy-preserving digital identity — publishing plain-English guidance, policy analysis and evergreen research explainers about how identity systems should treat people. It is also the public home of the planned Identity Wallet. The wallet and its web portal are planned for the January 2027 launch window; join the launch list for updates.
The two roles reinforce each other and share one constraint. The analysis we publish holds the service we operate to account — every principle argued in Insights is implemented, checkably, in the wallet. The wallet itself is open-source reference software, powered by a technology layer called VEID (Verifiable Electronic Identity): a complete, working implementation that anyone can inspect, run and build on.
Both roles sit under one steward. identity.org.au is operated — not owned for profit — by DETIO FOUNDATION LTD, an Australian not-for-profit public company limited by guarantee (ACN 699 651 771), whose constitution places the technology under a public-benefit lock: no dividends, no private capture of the IP, and winding-up provisions that pass everything to another public-benefit entity. This stewardship applies to the website and the wallet reference implementation; it does not make the Foundation the operator of VEID. VEID is decentralised protocol technology run by participating validators, which anyone may join subject to the network's rules. The education mission and the service are bound by the same document — see who runs it.
How it differs from government digital ID
| identity.org.au | Government digital ID | |
|---|---|---|
| Operated by | A not-for-profit foundation, under a public constitution | Government agencies, under legislation |
| Code | Fully open source — anyone can inspect it | Generally not public |
| Accreditation | None claimed. The design aligns with the principles of data minimisation and consent-based sharing, but alignment is not accreditation | Operates within a legislated accreditation scheme |
| Where your identity lives | Encrypted, anchored to a decentralised network — no single central database | Government-operated systems |
| Who can use verification results | Services on the VirtEngine network, with your per-request consent | Accredited relying parties |
Why we lead with this
Trust in an identity system starts with knowing exactly who runs it. Blurring the line between community infrastructure and government services would be a form of deception — so every page of this site carries the distinction, and we make no claims of government status, endorsement or accreditation anywhere.
What we do claim, you can verify: the code is public, the foundation's constitution is a public document, and the patent is on the public register.