Third time lucky the hope for fix to licence system

The licence details of millions of NSW drivers are held on an ageing system.

NSW Transport is on its third go at replacing a decades-old system too many people are accessing and has failed to learn from its past attempts, according to a scathing auditor-general report.

The report into the Driver Vehicle System released on Tuesday revealed $36 million has been spent trying to prepare a business case to replace the program which manages 6.2 million driver licences and more than seven million vehicle registrations.

It recommended Transport for NSW develop a clear strategy and business case to replace the 33-year-old system that supports more than $5 billion in government revenue annually.

The system has been extended significantly since its inception in 1991 and the department has not taken a strategic approach to managing its growth.

“The lack of a strategy to underpin the purpose and development of (the system) has resulted in it including some services which have little or no connection to transport,” auditor-general Margaret Crawford’s report reads.

Transport has also been slow to reduce the risk of sensitive personal information being misused.

While there is a clear framework to control access, in conjunction with Service NSW, Transport has been slow to develop automatic monitoring of access, a key recommendation of a May 2021 investigation from the Independent Commission Against Corruption after a Service NSW staffer agreed to alter records, the report said.

The home addresses for most of NSW’s adult population, as well as sensitive health information and biometric data in photographs, are held on the system.

Its age, evolution and large number of users are exacerbating the already inherent cyber security risks and Transport will not meet its December 2025 targeted cybersecurity level unless the system is modernised, Ms Crawford reported.

Transport for NSW said it had accepted all recommendations.

“We know that the age and set up of (the system) DRIVES – which comprises more than 200 different components – will make it harder to maintain and upgrade into the future, which is why work has already commenced to design and deliver a new platform,” a spokesman said.

“A substantial amount of work has already been completed around the proposed scope of the new system as well as detailed service design blueprints, which will reduce costs of future stages of the program.”

A business case is being developed.

NSW is not the only state to face issues with an ageing system.

Queensland Transport Minister Bart Mellish announced earlier in February $8 million would go to exploring replacement options for its 30-year-old transport registration and integrated licensing system.

It came after bungles including the incorrect issuing of double demerit points for camera-detected offences and young drivers being prematurely upgraded from provisional to open licences despite not being old enough or having served the required period.