"With our own internal ID management infrastructure, we looked at our current environment and frankly we have various systems, like cargo; and each of the systems all [require] the same things like provisioning and audit trails," Harrison said, adding they are all disparate.

"Someone even had to remember 45 different logins within the organization for applications like HR, cargo, and finances," he said. "Our strategy is to simplify all that and we want federated ID capability. The data source in Customs may be a security system as the first point of entry so if you want security clearance you need some ID."

Harrison believes the federated ID capability will allow Customs' systems to accept other IDs stored at other departments, like the Federal Police or Immigration.

"When you come in and sign on, the system will source that information wherever it is found," he said. "You will then be given access to different types of information [and] we don't have to have all the data in one place. We can make it simpler and more streamlined. It may be one sign-on, that's the theory."

Although the architecture is in place, Harrison said the issue of federated identity is complicated for Customs because cargo management not only has to take account of a range of internal systems, but others as well such as those from the Bureau of Statistics, Taxation Office, and Quarantine at the back end.