Covid safe check in procedures

The Services Victoria checkin app was changed to handle the inclusion of vax status.
You need the latest version to show this.
It mentions this on the SV site that gives instructions on the process.

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Latest release takes me to my check-in page, Iā€™ve been going in circles for a few daysšŸ˜†

Well if your app version is the latest, then perhaps the name you use to check in doesnā€™t match exactly to what is on the details on the certificate from Medicare.
Just another thought.

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One would think technology is meant to make things go smoother, but many are reporting both on this blog and elsewhere that it is either time consuming or not straight forward to merge data from a state and Cā€™th apps.

As for me, I have a dumb phone and have found that checking into a store using the ServiceNSW virus check in card in addition to waving my myGov vax certificate to the doormen/women to be easy as pie.

I will not even bother ServiceNSW to ask if they plan to upload oneā€™s vax status onto the card.

What I would like to know, is if anyone can explain what difference is there if any between the vax status certificate obtained through myGov and the promised intā€™l version that will be tethered to oneā€™s passport?

Visuals of each appear quite different.

and

and the international one is explicitly linked to the bearers passport. The QR code is a validation mechanism.

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I was reading about this earlier, the difference is the QR code which will be used internationally to read the data when travelling. The government is in the process of educating countries around the world how it works. I assume it will be useful for immigration officers especially from non-English speaking countries, just scan an code not manually read and retype.

Many thanks. To reduce confusion, now would be the time to ditch the myGov (domestic) version and just have one certificate, surely.

I would like to know if anyone has managed to scan that QR image off that International vax status certificate. Displayed on your phone screen. It looks to be seriously into QR version 25 and above 1k+ encoding.

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I printed a copy to see what my aging MotoG6+ would do with it. Neither native camera nor a QR app recognise it as a QR. Did not try to extract it on the screen though.

From SmartTraveler (hot linked)

It [the QR] includes all the informationā€¦Some authorities may accept the QR code on its own, but some may not. Carry a printout of the PDF version in case you need it.

Could be dense encoding in a modified standard the ICAO (?) developed with governments that is enough different from a standard QR to provide better security so ā€˜weā€™ and ā€˜the bad peopleā€™ cannot crack the ā€˜validatingā€™ unless one is with/has the border security ā€˜kitā€™. A country accepting a printout (as a backup) seems pragmatic since technology fails and all ports donā€™t have the latest technology.

At the end of the day it is an Australian document that any other government may or may not choose to accept.

Well whatever the QR code is it will have to be produced to IATA and ICAO standards, and that means ISO 18004, and that is nothing new.

So the QR code is real, even if the contents are not decodable by your average phone app.

But is it just that the alignment and tracking squares are too small for a typical phone camera to resolve unless the certificate is in printed form at full size?.
Mine canā€™t.

Yesterday was a slow day so in the anticipation of interstate travel I decided to add 2 additional state ā€˜serviceā€™ apps to my mobile and link my vax status. The latter was trivial but the former reinforces Australia is less of a country than it is 6 states and 2 territories sharing a continent (and an island).

Each app does mostly the same thing differently, and doing each is an atomic experience unrelated to another. How hard should it have been for some early leadership to develop an app acceptable to each of the states and territories? At worst an agreement on establishing bona fides for ā€˜who I amā€™ so it only needed to be entered once; state specific issues could have been accommodated by a state tick box to this or that set of additional things.

Each state also has its own QR code set but most mobiles have good GPS to locate and the border areas and non-GPS enabled phones could try each, or require user input. A few apps developers got some work doing the same thing, hopefully in ā€˜their state or territoryā€™ possibly making similar errors or having their own eureka moment(s).

We get what we vote for, and when there is a lack of leadership, lots of not-invented-here, and many things are policy-in-the-winds responses to yesterday, often in knee jerk fashion, it rarely comes out well even if ā€˜weā€™ survive it. We are indeed a lucky country to have survived and even prospered for as long as we have.

This has been apparent since federation but can go unnoticed for a while to most people. COVID has shown the problem very clearly but as usual nothing will be done about it.

Any time I mention there is no logic (and many problems) with having so many different policies, organisations and laws I am told ā€œwell itā€™s historicalā€. That explains how we got here it doesnā€™t justify not even attempting a solution.

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Does diversity deliver greater resilience? There is strength in unity, and vulnerability in like thinking.

I can see many failings, including the Covid check in app as an example, are all good reason to rationalise.

Iā€™m not sure Iā€™d rush to rationalise on the basis of the current standards the greater community reindorses regularly. The flaws in how we govern at the most senior level of government are all too evident. There are sufficient examples from the responses to Covid that demonstrate itā€™s shortcomings. The ultimate failure of the COVIDSafe app being but one related to the current topic.

On a lighter side, Canberra would no longer need to exist, there being no reason to seek middle ground between our two largest cities. Alice Springs is indisputable as the most centrally favoured. :wink:

In this case I see no reason. Do you have any reason why this might be so in this case?

The relationship between diversity and resilience is established in life sciences. Unlike the evolutionary situation where variety in the genome may greatly improve the longevity of the species under a changing environment I see no way the legal system of NSW will fail due to exterior forces and even less chance that if it did the legal system of Victoria would survive and then move in and replace it.

Unless your explanation avoids this kind of analogy I think it is a bust.

I donā€™t have an answer either way.

Is there evidence a more unified approach would deliver better outcomes, for some things, or in all things?

If NZ is one example of difference and the UK another of how to tackle Covid there are examples from each of good and poor decisions, including the public face of apps and reporting. We might also compare Singapore a single minded state with the USA a state with many parts. The second also somewhat afflicted by a personality disorder that divides rather than unifies.

The natural world is actually the greatest source of challenges faced, outside our own mindsets. Covid is the most immediate.

Whether there is a single legal frame work is unlikely to be of consequence.

As to a single legal framework, itā€™s the quality of the laws, law makers and law administrators that makes a difference, IMHO. Modern history shows just how readily such things can be manipulated.

Iā€™m suggesting the analogy relates more to the DNA of our political society and how it flows and ebbs. Our mindset, collective or individual will determine how this all turns out.

Covid raises challenges. A single national approach and app would have been the go as well as streamlining other solutions. This assumes the decision making is always sound. Hopefully before the next time that is resolved. As to redesigning our system of leadership. Iā€™ve an open mind.

Unfortunately, there is the constitution which proves sets out the powers invested in the Commonwealth and state governments. In reality, Australia became a Commonwealth of states for financial/economic reasons, rather than for rational reasons one would expect. We are left with the legacy that our forbearers agreed to.

Equally unfortunately there has not been a competent chair of the meeting either. A chair who cannot achieve an outcome is what he is, not a leader.

It is also useful to have enough foresight to call the meeting before the attendees have all gone their own ways. That is another aspect of leadership.

edit: Iā€™ll add good government always works within the rules set for it but does not routinely hide behind those rules to defend itself. When/if it is a good government it rarely needs defending.

I believe that the information referred to, with the photo, is collected by and only available to the relevant Dept of Health for use to trace Covid contacts, It is not available to staff at venues.

Weā€™ve had family from interstate visiting Qld post Xmas. For the younger adult it was their third state app to lock and load. A similar question was asked as to why the same but different?

For the older, less smart phone capable user it took several attempts to sort out installing the Qld App. Although the user had installed and been using the NSW App for many months prior. Some of us find less reason to add or change our devices. The second need adding a vaccination certificate requires one to access MyGov. Possibly best done before travelling using the secret login written on a note at home.

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LastPass or similar app works well for having logins to hand.

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