Privacy groups have expressed concern that any Human Services Access Card could easily morph into a de facto Australia card and be used to house sensitive information.

Human Services Minister Joe Hockey has dismissed such claims, saying the card will only have information on it which is approved by the holder.

A spokesperson for the Department of Human Services said if other departments are interested in adding features to the Access Card then they would have to "come up with their own budget and plans".

"There are no plans on our end [and] it's not in our basic model," the spokesperson said, adding the smartcard would "not necessarily" allow integration with eCensus.

The Australian Privacy Foundation (AFP) has already expressed its disapproval of changing the Census from an anonymous "snapshot" to a "movie that is capable of being associated with the person the data relates to".