NSW motorists won't be fined if their phones aren't charged under digital licence plan

Drivers will not be slapped with fines if their smartphone has no charge when their identity is being checked under a NSW government plan to digitise licences.

The state government announced on Wednesday that it would be rolling out digital driver's licences by the end of 2018, with the first batch – the responsible service of alcohol (RSA), the responsible conduct of gambling (RSG) and recreational fishing licences – being digitised in mid-2016.

While there were fears among the community that some people would be fined if their battery went flat, the state government said this would not be the case.

"Motorists and others will not be fined if their phone battery is simply flat," a Service NSW spokesman said. "The current design involves responsible authorities having the ability to verify the fact that you hold a valid licence in the case where your battery is flat.

"Digital driver's licences are three years away, due to be delivered at the end of 2018.

"In that time specific agency policies will be reviewed and updated as part of the project where required."

The government said it hoped to save money from the scheme.

"Over time the digital licence program will lead to cost savings across government…," a spokesperson for Service NSW said.

"The full extent of savings will be understood once adoption rates are known."

The initial wide scale roll out of the digital licences will cost around $23 million in capital expenditure and approximately $5 million in operational expenditure, a spokesperson from Services NSW confirmed on Thursday.

Chair of the Australian Privacy Foundation, Dr Roger Clarke, voiced his concerns about the privacy issues the digital licence system might expose. "How much information will be available? What exactly will be on the phone? Will it be all of your licence? Will it simply be a picture of your licence? We don't actually know how much information will be hosted in the system," he said.

Dr Clarke also said he was worried not enough research had been done into digital licences, which are in the process of being rolled out in select US states like Iowa and Delaware.

"The one fundamental thing we need is a safety evaluation of the proposed system, but that information has not been made public. We need an analysis of the potential weaknesses of these systems so they don't end up biting people in the backside," Dr Clarke said.