VicRoads wins CIO50 Customer Value Award 2025

VicRoads, Victoria's vehicle registration and driver licencing authority, has won the prestigious "Team of the Year – Customer Value" award at the CIO50 2025 Awards. The organisation achieved this recognition for delivering one of the first and most successful large-scale passkey deployments in the public sector.

The deployment enables nearly 5 million users to use passkeys, with over one million passkeys created in just three months and an estimated 15,000 days saved annually in login time while significantly improving security. These outcomes demonstrate the viability of large-scale passwordless authentication in government services.

Corbado served as the technology partner for this implementation, providing the passkey authentication platform that enabled VicRoads' transformation.

The implementation strategy focused on integrating passkey functionality with VicRoads' existing infrastructure rather than requiring a ground-up rebuild. The passkey solution integrated with VicRoads' existing Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) system, with no migration of user data or authentication methods required.

The implementation included technical guidance on browser compatibility, recovery flows and UX optimisations to address passkey-specific challenges. Pre-built, passkey-optimized components and SDKs accelerated the integration timeline and enabled a phased rollout approach.

A key architectural decision involved layering passkeys on top of VicRoads' current login system rather than replacing it. This approach preserved all existing users and enabled VicRoads to deploy passwordless authentication at scale within weeks rather than months, demonstrating that large organisations can adopt modern authentication technologies without disruptive migration projects.

The VicRoads passkey deployment achieved measurable outcomes across multiple dimensions. The following metrics were observed during the initial rollout period:

Passkey activation rates peaked at 80% on mobile devices (over 50% across all platforms) during the initial rollout. These adoption rates demonstrate significant user acceptance of the phishing-resistant, biometric authentication method.

Within seven weeks, 30% of all VicRoads logins were already occurring via passkeys instead of passwords or OTPs, with the proportion continuing to increase steadily over time.

In the first three months, VicRoads users created over one million passkeys, demonstrating the scale and reach of the deployment across the user base.

Analysis estimates that the transition to passwordless logins saves VicRoads users 15,000 days worth of time annually – time previously spent typing passwords, waiting for SMS codes or completing account recovery processes.

The implementation resulted in reductions in authentication-related support tickets and SMS one-time password costs. Fewer login issues and reduced support requests contributed to decreased IT support burden and messaging infrastructure expenses.

Passkeys provide inherent phishing resistance and eliminate shared secrets vulnerable to interception. The authentication method combines biometrics or device PINs with cryptographic security, addressing both security requirements and user experience considerations. User feedback indicated positive reception of the technology's ease of use without security compromises.

These outcomes demonstrate that security and usability can be simultaneously improved through modern authentication technologies. The elimination of passwords reduced user friction while strengthening account security, aligning with VicRoads' objectives for secure, frictionless digital services at scale.

The deployment serves as a case study for government agencies and enterprises evaluating modern authentication approaches. Key learnings include the viability of non-disruptive integration with existing systems, the importance of phased rollout strategies and the demonstrable user acceptance of biometric authentication when properly implemented.

VicRoads' award-winning deployment demonstrates that passwordless authentication can be successfully implemented at scale within complex organizational environments. The case study provides evidence that large user bases can transition to passkey-based authentication without operational disruption, achieving both security improvements and user experience gains.

The implementation validates several key principles for large-scale passkey adoption:

• Non-disruptive integration with existing authentication infrastructure is technically feasible
• User adoption rates can reach significant levels when implementation addresses usability considerations
• Operational benefits include reduced support costs and improved time efficiency
• Standards-based approaches enable interoperability and future flexibility

Organizations considering passkey implementation can leverage these learnings to inform their authentication modernisation strategies.