Lost and Stolen Passports - in the Australia Post Black Hole of ID Theft and Oblivion

I was thinking - there are a LOT of complaints on the Australia Post Facebook page about peoples passports going missing and getting stolen / disappearing, while transiting the Australia Post system.


This is pretty typical:

Michelle Alcorn‎ Australia Post

May 9 at 9:06pm ·

Thank you Australia Post for losing my passport when I sent it via registered post to an embassy for a travel visa.

There has been absolutely no attempt by AP to find my lost passport, and to add insult to injury....

I was charged a "lost passport fee" of $108 when I had to apply for a new passport.

Furthermore, I have been informed by the Passport Office that AP "forgot" to ask me to complete a declaration on how my passport was lost.

So my application was incomplete when AP sent it.

Absolute incompetence at every level, and I get to pay for the privilege!

Customers beware: registered post is useless! They can only tell you when it left and is delivered, nothing in between except "in transit".

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Looking further afield - I came across this:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/NATIONAL/Hundreds-of-lost-passport-forms-found/2006/06/22/1150845304897.html

Hundreds of lost passport forms found

June 2006

More than 600 passport applications lost by Australia Post have been recovered at one of its mail facilities.

The 615 passport applications, submitted on June 9 this year at post offices in Sydney and on the NSW Central Coast, were found around 2pm (AEST) Thursday within a Sydney Australia Post facility, the company's spokeswoman Judy Goldman said.
"We are delighted we now have a happy ending to this concerning matter," Ms Goldman said in a statement.

"It's not yet clear how this situation occurred, and we are very sorry for any undue alarm, but the most important thing is the applications have been found."

The applications had been personally delivered to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) where they will be urgently processed, she said.

"Naturally, a comprehensive investigation will now occur to correct any necessary processes and prevent a recurrence," Ms Goldman said.

Australia Post would deliver the processed passports free of charge to customers via courier as soon as they are available, she said.

Personal details written on the applications had not been made public as the applications were found within an Australia Post building.

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This title sounds like the 1940's G-Man radio show.... but the subject is disturbing.

http://www.ombudsman.gov.au/media-releases/show/122

June 2010

Identity fraudsters dealt another blow

Improvements to data collection and analysis will help lift a veil of mystery surrounding the loss each year of several hundred Australian passports sent through the mail and lead to a stronger, more robust passport system, according to acting Commonwealth and Postal Industry Ombudsman Mr Ron Brent.

Releasing the findings of his investigation into passports lost in the mail, Mr Brent today said that the vast majority of passports sent through the post reached their destination.

‘But it is the security and financial implications related to their loss—the risk of identity theft, and the costs involved in replacing a passport and rearranging travel plans—rather than the number that go missing, that demand we take the issue seriously,’ he said.

The Ombudsman investigation, which included the examination of relevant Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Australia Post policies and procedures, public and other information, found that:

• while DFAT records how many Australian passports are reported as lost or stolen each year, it does not distinguish between different types of loss (except for those sent through the post)

• Australia Post does not treat lost passport complaints separately to complaints about other lost items, which are primarily grouped by postcode.

‘I accept DFAT’s view that individual passport security is ultimately a matter for the passport holder, just as the choice of postal services used by foreign diplomatic missions issuing visas to Australian passport holders is a matter for the government concerned.

‘However, it would be invaluable if DFAT extended its role in educating the public about general passport security to include advice about postal services,’ the acting Ombudsman said. ‘For example, in DFAT’s experience, significantly fewer passports are lost in the post when sent by registered mail.’

Mr Brent said that Australia Post could also assist in improving passport security.

‘In not tracking lost items by content as well as postcode, Australia Post is missing an opportunity to identify spikes in passport-related complaints that could provide police with investigative leads,’ he said.

In addition to addressing this opportunity, Mr Brent recommended that Australia Post:

• employ a consistent definition of ‘passport’ in all of its documents to help avoid confusion and prevent inconsistent outcomes

• redraft in plain English all information about how to send passports through the post, including any compensation payable if a passport is lost

• ensure that sufficient information about the different postal services is publicly available, including on products such as envelopes and satchels.

The acting Ombudsman welcomed commitments from both agencies to act on his recommendations.

Download the report: 08|2010 — Australia Post and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passports lost in the mail, June 2010

Media contact: Fiona Skivington, Director Public Affairs 0408 861 803
Date of release: 9 June 2010

This shit has been going on for decades.

I struggle to get my mind around the issues of one arsehole stealing a passport and selling it - and ALL of the expensive complications that ID theft makes, for the person who's passport it was - and how so much theft goes on at Australia Post.

Then we get the organised groups into stealing passports etc.. 

It gets up my case on how SLACK and LAZY the security is.

Then we have and the totally inept management - and these peoples total failure in terms of rectifying the problems and accountability....

And it's not a once off issue, it's happening hundreds of times a year, every year and these go back for who knows how long....

One of the seeming beacons of illumination with the management of Australia Post is that when they create a serious problem, especially an institutionalised "beginning to end" problem, it's no ones responsibility and it's guaranteed to never get fixed.



A simple hint - get rid of the liabilities.