Australian Age Assurance Trial
Good Shepherd Lutheran College, Darwin. Part of the Australian Government 6.5 million dollar Age Assurance Technology Trial.
Good Shepherd Lutheran College, Darwin, NT | April 2025
At a Glance
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| Trial | Australian Age Assurance Technology Trial (AATT) |
| Trial Operator | Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) / KJR Consulting |
| Venue | Good Shepherd Lutheran College, Darwin, NT |
| Date | 15-16 April 2025 |
| Participants | 40+ students, plus school staff and AATT evaluators |
| AATT Result | All criteria rated GREEN |
| Final Report | Australian Government 10-volume AATT Final Report (August 2025) |
40+ Students Verified
100% AATT Criteria Rated GREEN
Zero Government IDs Needed by Students
Background
In 2024, the Australian Government launched the AATT, one of the world’s most comprehensive independent evaluations of age assurance technology. The trial, overseen by ACCS and technically evaluated by KJR Consulting, brought together approximately 60 solutions from across the global identity and age verification sector. ShareRing was selected as one of the participating providers, contributing its self-sovereign identity approach to age verification.
The Trial at Good Shepherd
Good Shepherd Lutheran College is a K-12 school in Darwin, NT. ShareRing team members travelled to the school to run a live age verification deployment across two days of the Future Tech Quest event. The core challenge was that students under 18 typically don’t carry government-issued photo ID. ShareRing's solution was a first-of-its-kind 3rd-party verification workflow: school staff used a teacher-facing interface to verify each student’s identity against school records, issue a verified digital student credential to the student’s ShareRing Me app, and then the student could use that credential to prove their age to any ShareRing-integrated platform, all without a government ID.
How the School Verification Worked
- 💻 School staff sign in on a shared teacher device
- 🪪 Student presents their school ID card
- 📱 Student scans a QR code to receive their credential
- 🔒 Verified age credential is stored in the student’s vault
- ✅ Student uses the credential to access age-gated platforms
"We achieved 100% success in a live school trial. Students verified once, accessed approved platforms seamlessly, and shared no personal data with the platforms themselves."
James Aitken, Marketing Lead, ShareRing
Age Verification vs Age Estimation
| Aspect | Age Verification (ShareRing) | Facial Age Estimation |
|---|---|---|
| Accuracy | Cryptographically verified; 100% binding to school records | Probabilistic estimates; error rates 5-15% |
| Privacy | No personal data shared with platforms; self-sovereign control | Requires biometric capture and storage; third-party processing |
| Use Cases | Regulatory compliance, age-gated services, content platforms | Approximate filtering, user research, analytics |
| Reusability | One verification credential issued; reusable across platforms | Requires re-scanning for each platform |
| Works for Minors | Yes; no government ID required | Yes; but privacy concerns with facial data |
Official AATT Assessment
"Excellent privacy and decentralised control. Blockchain UX may challenge less technical users. Requires onboarding support for vulnerable populations. Strong security and identity binding across NFC and document sources."
Technology Readiness Level (TRL) Rating: 8