The NSW government is expected to have integrated COVID-19 digital vaccination certificates into the venue check-in function of its Service NSW app by October 18, and available publicly across the state.
Digital Minister Victor Dominello said on Sunday that Service NSW begun a short-run pilot of the new service at selected venues across Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Wagga Wagga and Lismore and said he expected the service would get a state-wide release from Monday October 18.
Mr Dominello said that while there were different ways to display a vaccination certificate already, given that there are 6 million Service NSW app users, it made sense to integrate it into check-ins just to smooth the process of entry into venues.
It is understood that the NSW Customer Service department has had access to Australian Immunisation Register data since September 28. The service integration work and internal testing had been done over the past week or so, and the now the trial in regional centres was scheduled for a week.
Up to 500 customers, to be selected by the businesses involved, will participate in the pilot across Tamworth, Port Macquarie, Wagga Wagga and Lismore. The app simply allows a user to check-in and display proof of vaccination status through a single process.
“There are already three ways to download your vaccination passport so this is about making life easier for the people and business of NSW as we safely open back up,” Mr Dominello said.
“In a week of being granted access to the Australian Immunisation Register information we have already begun successfully testing internally ahead of this regional pilot but we also need to ensure we have the right checks and balances in place.”
The ServiceNSW app includes a number of security measures to help businesses with checking and validating customers’ vaccination status, including a NSW Waratah logo hologram and rotating QR codes, similar to the digital driver licence.
Mr Dominello said integrating the vaccine certificate onto the ServiceNSW app is optional – it’s up to the customer.
Customers can also use the Express Plus Medicare app, the digital wallet on their phone or a paper certificate from Services Australia to prove their vaccination status.
To integrate a COVID-19 digital vaccination certificate with the ServiceNSW app, Mr Dominellos said customers would need a federal MyGov account with Medicare linked and the Express Plus Medicare app.
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