The Australian Government is showing renewed interest in making use of "digital credentials issued by commercial providers such as financial institutions" to help improve the delivery of government services.In an "Update to the National Digital Economy Strategy" released by the Department of Communications, it set out a "framework… for moving towards acceptance by government agencies of trusted third-party credentials."It said that for "higher assurance transactions, such as applying for government benefits, credentials issued by financial institutions might be required."Few such credentials are commercially available from banks to the Centrelink clientele that might have a use for them.Efforts within the banking industry to develop a "trusted service manager" platform - that could be the basis of such credentials - have run out of puff in the past. Westpac pulled out of such an initiative in 2007.More recent incentives to develop these services, in the context of mobile payments, also do not appear to be getting very far.