Victorian government asks Optus to cover cost of new licences

Victorians whose personal details were stolen in the Optus hack will be able to replace their driver’s licence online after the state government asked the telco to pay for the new documentation.

The Department of Transport confirmed on Tuesday evening that Victorians affected by the data breach, and who had been contacted by Optus, would be able to replace their licences through the VicRoads website.

Drivers caught up in the Optus hack can now update their licences without proving fraud has been committed.

“We will request Optus repays the cost of the new licences to the Victorian government,” a department spokesperson said.

An Optus spokesman said it was working with the state to support customers affected by the hack.

The approach differs from NSW, where affected people will need to pay $29 to replace their licence before being reimbursed by Optus.

Victorians caught up in the data breach can also contact VicRoads to have their driver’s licence record “flagged” to prevent any unauthorised changes or access to individual information through state and national licence databases.

Affected Optus customers had previously been unable to change their driver’s licence number online because of a VicRoads policy that requires evidence that a fraud has happened, not that it could happen.

Drivers had been told by VicRoads that if an organisation such as Optus informed them of a breach that “may have exposed [their] licence details, but no fraud has taken place, VicRoads will NOT be able to change a driver’s licence number”.

People are usually required to provide documented proof of fraud, such as a Commonwealth Victims Certificate, court extract or police request, while VicRoads will also accept a company letterhead from the service provider confirming the fraud, among other forms of verification.

Rebecca Love, who is among the millions caught up in the hack, said she was frustrated to find the licensing agency’s approach to identity theft was “reactive” as she worked to renew various identification documents earlier on Tuesday.

State Roads Minister Ben Carroll has come under pressure to change a VicRoads policy to allow licence number changes following the Optus cyberattack.Credit: Darrian Traynor

“There is anger at Optus, but then there is also anger at systems and institutions that make it more difficult when these things occur to protect yourself,” Love said.

The government’s move came after the Greens demanded state Roads Minister Ben Carroll make an immediate change to the VicRoads policy.

“We ask that you urgently look into this matter to find a solution that serves to proactively protect the driver’s licence details of those who may be at risk of fraud,” Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said in a letter seen by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Premier Daniel Andrews vowed earlier on Tuesday to look into delays with new documents being issued.

Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has refused to resign over the hack.

“Let me look into those sorts of delays and see whether there’s something that can be done, but this is principally a matter for the federal government,” Andrews said.

“If we can do something to support those people ... it’s a small thing but it may make a significant difference.”

Cybersecurity experts have found almost all the stolen identity document numbers in the Optus hack are from driver’s licences, as opposed to other documents, based on a sample of 10,000 customers’ details the hacker released online on Tuesday.

The breach, impacting up to 9.8 million Optus customers, has potentially led to the theft of 3.6 million licence numbers, according to an unverified post published on a hacking forum on Friday.

Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said the company had been working behind the scenes with licensing authorities to “see what we can do to reissue licences in the case where they believe that that’s necessary”.

“We’re communicating with every customer individually about which specific fields of theirs may have been accessed,” she told ABC radio on Tuesday.

NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello said on Tuesday night that Optus would contact customers to confirm if they had to apply for a replacement licence and then they could seek reimbursement from the company after applying for the replacement.

“Reimbursement advice will be issued by Optus to customers in coming days,” he said.

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