AU drivers licenses are issued by each state, but same as the US they can be used as a national ID. And yep, they all have unique designs as well. However there is a baseline for the information they have to have on them, which is: Address, date of birth, first/middle/last name, card number, and license number.
The issue here is the license number is the one used for most verification, and that one is static. The card number changes every time the card is re-issued.
A friend of mine recently moved from WA to NSW. If you move state, you have to apply for a new license within three to six months depending on the state. So he got a NSW license, it's a trivial process to convert your license thankfully.
He came back to WA to visit for a while, and tried to go clubbing. One bouncer read the post code from the address (like a ZIP code, only 4 digits instead) as his birth year because he had no clue what he was looking at... NSW post codes start at 2000, so you can see how this mistake could come up. WA post codes start with 6000 so there's no possible confusion there, until we reach the year 6000 at least!
Of course, the Date of Birth is still clearly labeled on every states driver licenses so this bouncer may also have been a bit daft.
Ah, the shared information is actually a low, though it was not set until the Real ID Act of 2005, which has required: full name, date of birth, gender, photograph, address, signature, and the license number.
The issue here is the license number is the one used for most verification, and that one is static. The card number changes every time the card is re-issued.
Examples of them are here: https://www.mygovid.gov.au/verifying-your-drivers-licence
A funny anecdote along the same lines:
A friend of mine recently moved from WA to NSW. If you move state, you have to apply for a new license within three to six months depending on the state. So he got a NSW license, it's a trivial process to convert your license thankfully.
He came back to WA to visit for a while, and tried to go clubbing. One bouncer read the post code from the address (like a ZIP code, only 4 digits instead) as his birth year because he had no clue what he was looking at... NSW post codes start at 2000, so you can see how this mistake could come up. WA post codes start with 6000 so there's no possible confusion there, until we reach the year 6000 at least!
Of course, the Date of Birth is still clearly labeled on every states driver licenses so this bouncer may also have been a bit daft.