the department of internal affairs Statement Of Intent 2010–13

New Zealand’s approach to identity is trusted and well led

 

What we seek to achieve

We seek to ensure that New Zealand’s approach to identity is trusted and well led so that people can easily access their identity information. This is fundamental to an open and democratic society. It enables people to record and use their identity information to access other State sector services and entitlements, as well as fully participate in their communities.

Through this work, we aim to ensure that New Zealand’s identity information for life events such as births, deaths and marriages, is both protected and accessible. We seek to ensure that individuals, the State sector and, when appropriate, the private sector are confident about conducting their business openly and freely due in part to a single authoritative source for records of identity, and the timely and accurate provision of identity products and services.

While a key part of our activity is providing essential services to the public, we also play an important role in promoting trust and respect in government by ensuring the integrity of our identity information and products, such as the New Zealand passport, is maintained. Providing trusted identity information is of particular significance for the State sector because it provides the foundation from which quality services can be provided to people. In future we will also seek to reduce the risk of identity crime, and support more efficient State and private sector activities by providing a higher level of assurance regarding the identity of people conducting online transactions. In doing so, our work in this area also supports our other outcome, ‘Improved State sector performance and better service experience’.

The three intermediate outcomes that support New Zealand’s approach to identity being trusted and well led are:

• Good governance of identity for New Zealand
• Accessible identity services enable efficient connections between people and the State sector
• Identity information is secure and protects people from fraud.

Specifically, we seek to:

• contribute to social cohesion, establish identity and help people to trace their lineage
• facilitate economic prosperity through the integrity of our identity information and the reduction of identity fraud
• enable people to efficiently access their entitlements from the State sector
• provide a strong basis for State sector planning and research that strengthen investment decisions by government.

What we will do to achieve this

The Department’s key contributions to achieving this outcome are outlined below.

Provide high quality identity information

As kaitiaki (guardian) of New Zealand’s core identity information, we provide access to civic information that is valuable to individuals and the State sector because of its quality, form and management. We will increasingly use the Department’s common ICT capability to deliver high quality identity information management services to people and government, primarily through expansion of igovt services and the Data Validation Service (DVS).

The igovt Identity Verification Service was launched to the public sector in November 2009 and is a way for people to verify their identity to government agencies online and in real time to a high level of confidence using an igovt ID. This provides the online equivalent for an individual to validate identity without the requirement to produce an identity document. It is expected that by the end of 2010/11 thousands of people will have igovt IDs enabling them to access this online service at their convenience.

The DVS is a new electronic system for State sector agencies to check whether key identity documents (for example, birth certificates) presented by the public are consistent with records held by the Department. This was launched in January 2010 and will help combat identity fraud in New Zealand. It will also reduce regulatory compliance costs should it be expanded to include usage by the private sector (for example, financial institutions).[2]

Provide secure and reliable identity products and services

We provide day-to-day services and products that are essential to the public – from issuing New Zealand passports and travel documents to registering and providing certification of births, deaths, marriages, and civil unions. We aim to provide secure and reliable products that are delivered in a manner that meets or exceeds customer expectations. Among other initiatives, the Department will continue to invest in passport issuance systems and processes to ensure we manage the increased volumes expected in 2010/11, due to 2005 legislative changes. This will also ensure New Zealand passport holders remain eligible for numerous visa waiver programmes and enable us to maintain our reputation for high standards of integrity. This reputation gives New Zealand passport holders visa-free access to more than 50 countries worldwide, including the United States. New Zealand is one of only 34 countries that are members of the United States visa-waiver programme.

Provide leadership in identity information management

We will provide consistent leadership in all aspects of identity information management. We do this primarily through the Identity Common Capability Programme, which coordinates identity assurance activity across government and includes the igovt Identity Verification Service and DVS initiatives mentioned above. In 2010, we will also lead a Public Awareness Strategy for Protecting New Zealanders in conjunction with other government agencies.

We will also continue to promote the Evidence of Identity (EOI) standard, which provides good practice guidance on establishing an individual’s identity. The status level of the EOI standard is likely to be upgraded, by the e-GiF Management Committee, to ‘Recommended Practice’ in 2010/11 and will help ensure that a person’s identity is established consistently across the State sector.

The Department will fulfil its purpose of building a respected nation by continuing to strengthen New Zealand’s international relationships and reputation through its role in identity management. Our international engagement in this area includes participation in several Australasian and international forums as well as providing support and advice to other nations. For example, in 2010/11 we will provide resources to assist the Vanuatu Government to implement a new passport system. These international relationships enable us to keep pace with standards and good practice, share knowledge, and have an influencing role in other jurisdictions.

Our provision of authoritative identity information will also continue to support effective and efficient border processes in New Zealand that facilitate participation in the global community. To do this, we will work with New Zealand border sector agencies, particularly through the Border Sector Governance Group programme of work. This programme also contributes towards improving State sector performance and providing better service experience, and is described more fully in the next outcome section.

Our outputs and activities

In addition to the above contributions, we will continue to deliver the following services:

• Stewardship of identity including Evidence of Identity Standard
• Provision of authorised access to identity information
• Birth, death, marriage and civil union registration and services
• Citizenship services
• Passport services
• Collaboration with New Zealand and international agencies
• Audit, risk management and investigations
• Identity policy advice.

The services are funded through the following outputs:

Vote	Outputs
Internal Affairs	Identity services Internal Affairs policy advice

Further detail of the Department’s outputs can be found in the Information Supporting the Estimates for 2010/11.

How we will measure success

The main measures and standards to assess our progress towards achieving the impacts and outcomes are identified below. The impact measures seek to describe the intended effect of our specific activities. The outcome measures describe what we seek to achieve at a high level. The standards described for the outcomes are intended as a general guide and cannot be solely attributable to the Department’s work. The results are subject to a wide range of influences and will be carefully analysed to inform decision making on our future interventions.

Outcome measure	Context and desired standard
Number of countries allowing visa free access to New Zealand passport holders	2009/10: 50+ The extent to which New Zealand’s approach to identity is trusted and well led is demonstrated in the acceptance of our passport. The international recognition of the New Zealand passport through membership in visa waiver programmes is the result of our identity information management (systems, processes and integrity of information). This measure is a proxy for assessing progress towards our outcome. Over the medium to long term, we seek to maintain or improve on the latest results identified above. Source: DIA data
Satisfaction level for relevant service grouping	2007/08: 72% This measure comes from an all-of-government national survey (biennial). The survey provides a general perspective on how New Zealanders feel about accessing services at a very high level. It provides a proxy of assessing progress towards our intermediate outcome of ensuring accessible identity services enable efficient connections between people and the State sector. We seek to achieve the following results over the medium term: 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 At least: 72% Not measured At least: 74% Source: Kiwis Count Survey
Number of agencies or organisations using Data Validation Service (DVS)	This is a new measure. The DVS is a new electronic system that enables State and private sector agencies to check whether personal identity information presented is consistent with that held by the Department. This measure will provide a proxy for our intermediate outcomes of ‘Good governance of identity for New Zealand’ and ‘Identity information is secure and protects people from fraud’. We seek to achieve the following results over the medium term: 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 At least: 8 At least: 12 At least: 16 Source: DIA data

Impact measure	Context and desired standard
Number of complaints about the Department on privacy breaches that are referred to the Director of the Office of the Privacy Commission.	2008/09: 0 Complaints to the Director of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner indicate a serious breach of privacy. This measure provides evidence that our desired impact of protecting identity information is being achieved. In the coming years, we will seek to ensure that no complaints are referred to the Director. Source: Office of the Privacy Commissioner Annual Report
Number of Data Validation Service (DVS) transactions by: State sector private sector	This is a new measure. The DVS enables other agencies to check whether personal identity information presented is consistent with that held by the Department. The DVS will be extended to the private sector in 2010/11 (dependent on planned legislative changes). This measure will provide an indication of our progress towards our desired impact that the State and private sector use identity information to support activities. We seek to achieve the following results over the medium term: 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 At least: At least: At least: State sector 375,000 830,000 900,000 private sector 75,000 150,000 200,000 Source: DIA data
Number of igovt IDs issued Number of large service providers using: igovt logon service igovt Identity Verification Service (IVS)	These are new measures. The igovt services will enable individuals to securely verify themselves online to government agencies, reducing the need for face-to-face interactions to access services or products and increase the security of online transactions. The igovt IVS enables online verification of the identity of a person, based on identity information held by the Department. These measures will contribute towards demonstrating the Department’s impact on enabling people to securely verify and authenticate identity online. For these new services, we seek to achieve the following results over the medium term: 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 Number of large service providers* using: At least: At least: At least: igovt logon service: 10 20 50 igovt IVS: 2 5 10 Number of igovt IDs issued At least: At least: At least: 2,000 10,000 100,000 (*Large service providers are those where the user base is greater than 10,000.) Source: DIA data
Percentage of incident reports relating to issuance of passport on fraudulent grounds or fraudulent use of a passport	2008/09: 0.035% This measure provides an indication of the Department’s contribution towards ensuring identity fraud for registration and product issuance is contained. Over the medium to long term, we will seek to maintain or improve on the previous year’s results identified above. Source: DIA data

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