Australian children to be given identity numbers

A programme in which every school child in Australia would be given an identity number so their academic progress could be tracked through their school life is expected to be announced by the federal government.

It is understood the number, to be known as a ''unique student identifier'', will be annexed to the My School program, which publishes the performance of individual schools on the internet.



The number would allow the performance of individual students in each of the core subjects to be monitored for the duration of their school life so their progress could be measured.

A senior source said strict privacy provisions would restrict its use to those who needed the information, such as parents. Protections would be built in to stop third parties being able to identify students.