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2006 e-Government Strategy, Responsive Government: A New Service Agenda

2. The vision for 2010

Australia will maintain its position as a leader in e-government, demonstrating how effective use of technology transforms government into a more efficient and client‑oriented sector of the economy.

Through effective use of technology, the government will improve its structures and processes. Online, electronic and voice-based services will be fully integrated into government service delivery. Electronic delivery will underpin all other delivery channels, ensuring a consistent base to all activities and providing consistent service no matter how government is approached.

2.1 Meeting users’ needs

Government will be regarded as approachable. Government information services will be easy to understand and locate and interacting with government will be quick and straightforward. It will be easy for people to pinpoint the service or information they need, regardless of how and where they initially approach government: every door will be the right door when approaching government. Regardless of which door is chosen, at most only one onwards referral will be needed.

People will be able to choose from a range of service delivery modes, but will prefer the added convenience and functionality of online, electronic and voice-based channels, which they will use frequently. The government will continue to ensure that people with a disability can access government information and services with ease.

Authentication and personal or business information will need to be provided only once through a simplified government sign-on, to access government information and services and for ongoing interactions, transactions and updates. This will be a single sign-on, except where circumstances require otherwise.

It will be possible to group diverse transactions and complete them at the same time, without navigating the underlying structure and complexity of government. People will be able to interact with many areas of government without needing to understand exactly which agencies deliver which services.

Privacy and security rights will be paramount in all service delivery channels offered by government, and will underpin the implementation of this strategy. People will manage the integrity of and access to their own personal details. Anyone unable to do this will be able to nominate agents to manage personal details on their behalf.

The government will increasingly manage its programs and relations with stakeholders electronically, providing organisations and businesses with the same benefits and options of interacting electronically with the Australian Government as citizens will experience – both Australian citizens and those of other countries who need to interact with the Australian Government.

Connected service delivery will amalgamate the requirements of government. This integration, combined with online and electronic service delivery, over time will reduce the cost of interacting with government and in particular will reduce the paper burden on citizens, businesses and organisations, including community organisations.

In each year from 2006 to 2010, in support of program outcomes, the government will send ten per cent fewer letters – either paper or electronic – to citizens. By 2010, the government will have halved the number of forms that must be filled in. The nature of forms will also change. Rather than numerous static forms, either electronic or paper, dynamic forms will be available from a single entry point where users can automatically enter required details already held by other government agencies, complete their details electronically, and trace the resulting actions online.

2.2 Connected service delivery

Connected government will become a reality and will drive reform of government business processes.

Government will present a consistent and unified face regardless of whether approaches are made in person, over the telephone, using the Internet or any other form of technology. This consistency will address the common frustration associated with trying to understand government structures to find the right agency. The government will match private sector best practice for electronic interactions. This consistency will extend to non-government entities delivering government services. For example, the burden for business will be reduced by increasingly embedding government processes in the natural systems being used by the business community.

The government will use the opportunities presented by connected government and technology to improve its business processes. It will reform poorly designed and redundant processes and reduce duplication by standardising similar processes across agencies and, where possible, combine those processes. Agencies will operate in a collaborative, connected manner, rather than in isolation from each other.

The considerable benefits from a more connected approach include more agile service delivery and the ability to quickly redeploy services to different sites, including temporary locations. For example, Centrelink can deploy family applications into Medicare Australia shopfronts thanks to the modular design of its systems.

Government’s ability to respond to emergencies will also be enhanced. All the parties that need to respond to an emergency situation will be linked and operating under a common framework. For example, the Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Human Services, and Foreign Affairs departments could share the same information models and emergency information systems.

Connected government using new technology also offers new ways to think about policy and delivery. Recent whole of government policies such as Australians Working Together and Welfare to Work reflect the opportunities provided by information and service connectivity. They illustrate how government can provide a seamless service to people progressing through different stages of initiatives that cross several agencies. As connected government expands and a whole of government approach to systems is adopted, more opportunities like these will arise.

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2.3 Value for money

A more connected approach to service delivery means more efficient government. Greater use of online, electronic and voice-based service delivery will reduce costs. For example:

• less double handling and fewer errors in initial transactions mean less work down the track to identify and make corrections
• more informed users require less assistance and can be served more quickly
• systems where people maintain their own personal details reduce this direct cost for taxpayers as well as reducing the costs associated with using out‑of‑date information.

In addition to these service delivery cost reductions, the government’s overall use of information technology will be much more efficient. More targeted and strategic investments in technology will see less duplication and more common underlying business processes across different government agencies. Processes will be simpler and more integrated. Projects will be better managed, with reduced cost and time overruns.

Connected government will provide public sector infrastructure better able to deal with outages and disruptions. Much of the necessary infrastructure to ensure business continuity will be a natural by-product of the planning required for connected government. Common standards and extensive connections across government agencies will support shared processing capability and multiple delivery pathways for dealing with outages. Connected government will also enable processing loads to be shared across agencies, reducing the need for redundant capacity to manage peaks.

Connected government will provide greater opportunities for agencies to share and re‑use technology, reducing overall infrastructure costs. Electronic delivery also serves the government’s environmental objectives by helping to reduce paper and energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

2.4 Public sector capability

The public sector will have the necessary capabilities to deliver on this vision. From 2006, capabilities will be assessed and any gaps or deficiencies addressed, in areas such as public sector ICT skills and recruitment, ICT business practices, ICT procurement processes, knowledge management, project management and delivery, and in accountability and legislative arrangements as they relate to supporting online and electronic service delivery.

Contact for information on this page: estrategy@finance.gov.au

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