Anthony Albanese says ‘Optus should pay’ for new passports for data breach victims

Push comes day after states suggest telco will pick up multi-million dollar tab for replacing driver’s licences of affected customers

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The federal government has demanded Optus pay for new passports for customers caught up in the telco’s data breach, as the prime minister flagged an overhaul of laws relating to how companies collect personal information.

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, has written to Optus raising concerns about criminals exploiting data harvested in the cyber hack, saying there was “no justification” for victims or taxpayers to foot the bill for replacing compromised documents.