The Albanese government is rolling out new standards for government digital services with the aim of improving the digital experience for all Australians. The current spread of these services across various agency websites, portals, and applications may make it difficult for users to find and access the support and services they need. They aim to streamline this process, making it simple to use and highly efficient. The guidelines aim to tackle existing fragmentation and enhance the overall digital experience for users, ultimately making government operations more accessible and comprehensible.

Government agencies must follow three new standards starting on 1 January 2025. These standards aim to improve the online experience for individuals and businesses:

• Digital Inclusion Standard: The goal of this standard is to promote equal access to government digital services, with a particular emphasis on ensuring that those who need them the most are able to access them. The content integrates a wide range of thoughts and research in order to promote best practices at a government-wide level and encourage digital inclusion and accessibility. Minister for Finance, Senator Katy Gallagher, emphasised, “We want to ensure that all Australians, regardless of their tech skills, can easily access government services online without stress.” 
• Digital Access Standard: Australians can access the information and services they require more easily with this standard, as it minimises and repurposes the number of entry points to government, such as government websites and portals. The criteria establish how agencies can make well-informed decisions and minimise the repetition of access points to government digital services. As per the Digital Service Standard (DSS), “Simplification and consolidation of access points will significantly reduce user frustration and improve overall service efficiency.”
• Digital Performance Standard: This standard emphasises the importance of measuring, monitoring, and improving digital services based on people’s experience and satisfaction, which leads to the development of better, more user-centered services. The framework lays the groundwork for monitoring digital performance across government services and facilitates data-driven digital and ICT investment decisions. It demonstrates a commitment to evaluating and improving digital services to better meet users’ needs and ensure their satisfaction through the revised standards.

The broader Digital Experience Policy incorporates valuable insights from the myGov User Audit and the Data and Digital Government Strategy, making these new standards an important addition. Minister for Finance and the Australian Public Service, Senator Katy Gallagher, reiterated the government’s commitment to user-centric digital services, stating, “In the digital age, Australians are interacting more with government online, and they want to be able to do it in a way that suits them, that is safe and straightforward.”

The implementation of these standards from January 2025 will mark a major milestone in the effort to modernise and enhance the accessibility and effectiveness of Australian Government digital services.

Editors Publicspectrum

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