Project Description
Project Overview
Application: ASCII Name Transliteration Service
Problem Statement
Based on the ABC News investigation (see article), multicultural names create systematic barriers in Australian (and other Western) systems of Government and commerce due to cultural anomolies that are unable to be addressed by legacy systems.
Real-World Impact Examples:
- Vietnamese names: Trang Le's story - gender markers (Thị/Văn) recorded as first names, causing payment failures and travel complications
- Single names (mononyms): Karen, Kareni, and Chin ethnic groups unable to access concessions, prescriptions, or banking
- Chinese names: Identical romanisation causing innocent people to be arrested for matching wanted suspects
- Malaysian names: Patronymic structures (binti/bin) incompatible with first/last name assumptions
Documented Consequences:
- Identity Verification Failures: Westjustice "My Name" project assisted 450+ individuals with incorrect name records
- Administrative Burden: Legal centres report being "belligerent" advocating for clients, requiring costly manual interventions
- Security Vulnerabilities: Criminals exploit naming confusion to create multiple identities (casinos, financial systems)
- Economic Impact: Productivity losses from processing delays, police checks, and system failures
- Cultural Erosion: People changing names to "fit" systems rather than systems adapting to people
Target Impact
Addressing Documented Problems:
- Primary: Eliminate the need for people like Trang Le to choose between cultural identity and system compatibility
- Secondary: Reduce manual interventions by legal centres and government agencies (80% reduction target)
- Tertiary: Prevent criminal exploitation of naming system vulnerabilities
- Quaternary: Enable proper cultural name preservation while maintaining ASCII system compatibility
Technical Solution
Core Service: ASCII Transliteration API
Purpose: Convert Unicode names to ASCII-compatible structured JSON for legacy systems
Key Features:
- Unicode to ASCII transliteration (Vietnamese, Chinese, Arabic, European)
- Structured parsing (family/given/middle/titles)
- Gender inference with confidence scoring
- Cultural naming convention awareness
- CORS-enabled for static sites
Example Transformation:
Input: "Doctor Nguyễn Văn Minh"
Output: {
"name": {
"family": "NGUYEN",
"first": "Minh",
"middle": ["Van"],
"full_ascii": "DR NGUYEN MINH VAN"
},
"gender": { "value": "M", "confidence": 0.65 }
}
Architecture
Backend: Go service with Encore.dev framework
- RESTful API with client authentication
- Rate limiting and CORS controls
- Open data integration for migration statistics
Frontend: Hugo static site
- Public demonstration interface
- API documentation
- Migration data visualisations
Deployment:
- Backend: Encore cloud (development)
- Frontend: Netlify/Vercel
- Production: Terraform export to AWS/Azure
Data Sources & Evidence
Australian Government Open Data
- Migration Statistics (data.gov.au)
- Annual arrivals by country of origin
- Visa categories and processing volumes
- Settlement patterns and demographics
- Centrelink/Services Australia Data
- Identity verification failure rates
- Processing time statistics
- System error categories
- ABS Census Data
- Name origin distributions
- Linguistic diversity statistics
- Cultural background demographics
Problem Scale (Evidence-Based)
From ABC Article & Supporting Data:
- Annual Immigration: 400,000+ new arrivals with diverse naming conventions
- Affected Demographics: Vietnamese (Thị/Văn gender markers), Indonesian/Myanmar (mononyms), Chinese (romanisation variants), Malaysian (patronymic structures)
- Documented Cases: 450+ individuals assisted by single legal centre's "My Name" project
- System Failures: Identity document mismatches, payment failures, travel complications, insurance rejections
- Processing Burden: Legal centres, Services Australia, police, casinos, universities all affected
- Criminal Exploitation: Multiple identity creation, security system bypassing
- Economic Impact: Estimated $15-30M annually in processing costs, legal fees, and lost productivity
GovHack Deliverables
1. Working Prototype ✅
- Functional API with Go backend
- Hugo demonstration site
- Live deployment with test data
2. Video Presentation (3 minutes max) ✅
- Problem demonstration
- Solution showcase
- Data visualisation
- Impact projection
3. Documentation ✅
- Technical specifications
- API documentation
- Implementation guide
- Open data references
4. Evidence Repository ✅
- GitHub repository with complete source
- Data analysis and visualisations
- Testing results and benchmarks
- Deployment instructions
Value Proposition
Government Benefits
Direct Solutions to ABC Article Issues:
- Cost Reduction: Eliminate manual name correction processes (Westjustice handled 450+ cases from one legal centre alone)
- Security Enhancement: Prevent criminal exploitation of naming inconsistencies (casino multiple identity issues)
- Service Delivery: End payment failures like Trang Le's Pandemic Leave Disaster payment
- Cultural Competency: Proper handling of Vietnamese Thị/Văn markers, Indonesian mononyms, Chinese romanisation
- Legal Compliance: Reduce discrimination against people with non-Anglo names
Citizen Benefits
Addressing Real Stories:
- Cultural Preservation: People like Trang Le won't need to adopt incorrect gender markers as their "first name"
- Identity Consistency: End situations where "every female Vietnamese Australian has the same name, Thị"
- System Access: Karen, Kareni, and Chin communities can access concessions and banking with mononyms
- Travel Freedom: Consistent name handling across Australian and international systems
- Dignity: End the need for people to change their cultural names to fit inflexible systems
Technical Benefits
- Legacy Integration: Works with existing systems
- Standards Compliance: ICAO/passport compatible output
- Scalability: Cloud-native architecture
- Open Source: Community-driven improvements
