Qld digital licence: Less than 10 per cent of drivers have signed up to app that cost $53 million

A change to Queensland driving licences that provides a “quicker, more efficient” way to get into licensed venues has only been taken up by 10 per cent of Queenslanders so far, despite its hefty $53m development price tag.

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Less than 10 per cent of Queenslanders registered to drive have signed up for the digital licence app, which cost taxpayers $53 million to develop.

Data obtained by The Sunday Mail revealed only 320,000 Queenslanders had signed up via the app as of last week.

That equates to about eight per cent out of the four million drivers that have a licence, according to the Department of Transport 2022-23 Annual Report.

The low numbers has sparked calls from one of the city’s top restaurant and bar owners for more people to get the digital licence to help expedite queues at venues and avoid being denied entry.

It also comes as the Minister for Transport and Main Roads Bart Mellish confirmed the state government was planning a series of advertising campaigns targeting different age groups to roll out in the coming months.

Transport Minister and Main Roads Minister Bart Mellish. Picture: Patrick Woods

The app was launched statewide on November 1 but had a bumpy start with 15,000 signing up on the first day despite many being hit with an “unexpected error” message.

Just like a physical licence, the digital licence can be used for legal entry into pubs, clubs, restaurants, applying for rentals and buying properties. But overseas there may be restrictions and it is important to check with local authorities.

Brisbane restaurateur and owner of the Gresham Bar Andrew Baturo said he hoped more people signed up to the app because it made it more efficient when people were waiting in lines.

“It’s a bit more seamless,” Mr Baturo said.

“It’s quicker, it’s more efficient, we’re in the business of getting people into our venues not having them stand outside waiting.”

Gresham Bar owner Andrew Baturo (right) said he hoped more people would sign up to the app as it made it more efficient when people were waiting in lines. Picture: Adam Smith

“There’s nothing worse than standing in a line to get into place that hasn’t gotten busy yet.

“If it’s busy because it’s a bottleneck at the entry point, it creates frustration.”

Mr Baturo said it was quicker because sometimes with IDs you have to input numbers or spell the surname, but with the digital license, there was no issue with it. But he said the government needed to do more to raise awareness.

“I think they’ve got to keep a rolling awareness campaign going on. I think that you can have that initial hit, but then people forget about it, or forget that it’s available,” he said.
“So we would like to see the awareness continuing. And we’d certainly like to see more people using their electronic digital licences.”

Mr Baturo said he hoped the older generations also adopted the digital license because they were often the group that would forget their license but if they had it on their phone it would help ease the problem.

Just 10 per cent of registered drivers in Queensland have signed up for a digital licence. Picture: Supplied

Mr Mellish said TMR took a deliberately cautious approach rolling out the app given the complexities of delivering the digital license.

“This enabled TMR to monitor the app, to ensure Queenslanders had a seamless experience downloading and using the app.

“A series of advertising campaigns will roll out over coming months, targeting different user groups and cohorts.

“We expect the number of digital licence holders will continue to grow steadily, as more people realise how convenient it is.”

A TMR spokesman said while there were minor glitches in the first few days, Queenslanders have enjoyed it seamless.

“Over 100,000 businesses have already downloaded the Verifier app,” he said.
“We will continue to work closely with businesses and organisations across Queensland to incorporate the digital licence into their business practices.”