Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has written to Optus to confirm if the Australian telecommunications giant will pay for victims of the data breach to replace their passports if they wish to apply for one.
“There is no justification for these Australians – or for taxpayers on their behalf – to bear the cost of obtaining a new passport,” she said.
“I therefore seek your earliest confirmation that Optus will cover the passport application fees of any customers affected by this breach whose passport information was disclosed and who choose to replace their currently valid passport.”
A new 10 year passport costs for anyone over 16 costs $308, while a five year passport is $155.
You can expect to fork out an extra $225 for priority processing.
Health Minister Mark Butler told the ABC said earlier the government was considering fast-tracking passport replacements.
The Australian Passport Office was reportedly receiving about 15,000 passport applications a day, even before the hack, from Aussies whose documents had expired.
