Finance Minister Katy Gallagher announced the new funding on Monday as the Australian government prepares to pass the amended Digital ID Bill in the lower house this week.

The 2024-2025 funding will be used to run pilots with the private sector and develop infrastructure, regulation and security. Businesses will be able to participate in the scheme within two years of the bill's passage, according to trade publication Innovation Australia.

The bulk of the funding, AU$156 million (US$103.3 million), will be spent by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) over two years to upgrade the myGovID platform to allow users to securely access government services on behalf of a business using a digital ID. myGOVID will also be rebranded as myID to avoid confusion with the myGov platform.

Another AU$23.4 million (US$15.5 million) will be spent to upgrade the encryption of the myGov and myGovID platforms.

Other agencies included in the budget are the Australian Treasury charged with establishing data standards for the digital ID scheme, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation which will perform digital ID security assessments. Services Australia will act as the system's administrator for the scheme and upgrade its identity exchange which enables transactions across the digital ID system while ensuring personal information is not visible to service providers.

According to the Digital ID Bill, Services Australia will also serve regulatory functions. Other regulators of the digital ID scheme include the Australian Information Commissioner and the Department of Finance which were also included in this year's budget.