ConnectID®, an initiative of Australian Payments Plus (AP+), has announced a partnership with Hold Access to accelerate the development of a digital wallet (WUNA) to be included within the trusted ConnectID network.

The partnership is designed to empower First Nations people and those who are digitally excluded, to overcome digital accessibility barriers through improved identity verification. 

WUNA, which means to make informed choices independently, rebuilds the freedom of Indigenous identity for purpose.

Using WUNA, First Nations people can have better control over their personal information, making it easier to store and hold their documents online and access essential services such as healthcare, government services, employment, education, and banking. Businesses will also have easier ways to meet their compliance and regulatory needs. 

“Access to digital services is necessary in a nation like Australia considering our significant remote and regional population. For those living in these communities or those without the means to access digital documentation, identity verification can be a major barrier to these important and often critical services,” said Andrew Black, Managing Director at ConnectID. 

Black continued, “We’re also quickly realising the potential Digital ID technology can have on other digitally excluded communities, such as under-served regional populations, refugees and those experiencing homelessness, in safely and securely verifying their identity.” 

Having recently launched with the backing of major industry partners, including CBA and NAB, ConnectID is an identity solution that makes it easier for people to verify who they are, using organisations they already trust. 

Jason-Urranndulla Davis is a Kalkadoon and Waanyi man of the Kalkadoon and Waanyi Nations of Northwest Queensland and the Gulf Country who founded Hold Access after experiencing firsthand the impact of digital identity. 

Davis said, “When many people in some First Nations communities do not have an email or electronic documentation, the move to online services creates an incredible barrier and expands inequalities,”

“For First Nations people, there is a clear digital gap in being able to access opportunities and assistance that needs to be overcome with culturally inclusive Diji (digital) agency.” he said

“The continuity of cultural identity for First Nations people is extremely important. It shouldn’t be something that can be left at the doorstep, it should be able to travel with you,” Davis concluded. 

Together ConnectID and Hold Access will accelerate deployment of WUNA to solve the issue of digital exclusion and help bridge the digital gap for First Nations people.