Trusting digital ID in practice: Accreditation, liability and real‑world controls

Focusing on the Digital ID (Accreditation) Rules 2024, this session gives security, risk and privacy leaders a practical roadmap to becoming – or safely partnering with – an accredited Digital ID provider under Australia’s new legislated framework. We will walk step-by-step through the accreditation lifecycle, from application and assurance assessment through to ongoing compliance monitoring, highlighting where real-world programs most often stumble and how to design controls that satisfy both auditors and architects.

Using live examples and anonymised case studies, the talk will unpack the distinct roles and responsibilities of the ACCC as Digital ID Regulator and the OAIC as privacy regulator, clarifying who enforces what, how dual-regulator oversight works in practice, and what this means for incident response, investigations and enforcement risk. We will translate dense legal and standards language – including the Digital ID Act 2024, Accreditation Rules and related Data Standards – into concrete, testable requirements for identity service providers, attribute providers, exchanges and relying parties that need to prove compliance to boards, regulators and customers.

Attendees will leave with a reusable, control-by-control mapping that links accreditation obligations to familiar security and privacy frameworks, showing exactly which processes, technical controls and contract clauses to uplift to meet expectations around security, fraud management, privacy safeguards, consent and data minimisation when handling identity data. 

Whether you are building a Digital ID service, consuming Digital ID as a relying party, or advising on risk and governance, this session is designed to move you from "we’ve heard of the Act" to a concrete implementation and assurance plan that aligns with the AISA CyberCon themes on Cyber Law / Regulation and Compliance.