Foreign Minister Julie Bishop¹ says Australians may soon be able to travel without their passports in a world-leading initiative.

澳大利亚外交部部长朱莉·毕晓普表示，如果一个全球领先的项目成功实行，可能很快澳洲人民旅行时就无需携带护照了。

The traditional travel documents would be ditched for 'cloud passports' as part of the initiative, which was presented during a 'hackathon' in Canberra, according to the Canberra Times.

'We think it will go global,' Ms Bishop said of the idea of passport-less travel, which was presented to a number of leaders as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs' InnovationXchange project.

Ms Bishop acknowledged security standards would have to be met to store personal information in the cloud.

The meeting on Wednesday was also attended by Chris Vein², chief innovation officer for Global Information and Communications Technology Development with the World Bank, Australian Minister for International Development Steve Ciobo, and DFAT Secretary Peter Varghese.

A 'cloud passport' would work by storing the identity and biometric data of holders³ online so it could be checked digitally, which would eliminate the need to carry a physical copy.

It would also mean the risk of Australians losing or having their passports stolen would be significantly reduced, according to the newspaper.

Australiaand New Zealand are currently in discussions about trialing the world-first method.