What is the Credential Protection Register?

In response to the Optus data breach, the Department of Home Affairs worked with document issuers to develop a solution to prevent compromised identity documents from verifying via the Document Verification Service (DVS).

The solution has involved the establishment of a Credential Protection Register in which compromised document identification numbers can be loaded on to the register at the direction of the relevant document issuer. 

This has been done in an effort to help protect Australians who have had their identity document compromised as part of a data breach and documents will only be added at the direction of a document issuer. So far, document types that have been added to the register include:

• Australian Driver’s Licence
• Australian Passport
• New Zealand Passport

While the documents themselves are valid for driving/travel purposes, they will be blocked for identity verification purposes, such as for the use of verifying a Certsy credential.

If you suspect you cannot verify a Certsy credential due to being placed on the Credential Protection Register, please consult the following articles to assess your options:

• I can’t verify my Australian Driver’s Licence
• I can’t verify my Right to Work in Australia