"The other thing going on is the apparent merger of the smartcard infrastructure with existing banking systems. The banks have not yet generated a business case for smartcard use and maybe they are getting government subsidies for what would otherwise be a core government owned, highly sensitive and secure network.

"If you link all the dots together Australian banks are already fast and loose with their interpretations of privacy and information security."

Hockey announced Request for Tenders (RFT) for card suppliers will be announced soon. A systems integrator will also be needed to install hardware and software for the card customer system and card operation system. The government will also need several thousand digital cameras, printers and scanners. Hardware, software and services will be procured in four stages, with industry briefed on procurement processes by the end of this year.

Hockey said more than 30,000 cards will be issued between 2008 and 2010.