The Coalition says it will spend $50 million in an effort to sort out the government's much maligned myGov web portal if it wins the election.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Prime Minister has also confirmed that his pet project the Digital Transformation Office will be taking the lead in trying to reinvent the service, as revealed by Fairfax in January.
Malcolm Turnbull said the DTO would "partner" with other departments who used the gateway, like the ATO, Centrelink and Medicare in an effort to improve the user experience of myGov.
He promised to revamp the hated log-in protocols with a new system allowing users to choose their own unique username, starting with their email address and "the overall sign-in experience will be simplified and improved".
Users will be able to sign in to participating agencies directly without having to first go through myGov and better usability and design of the portal has been promised, especially on phones and tablets.
The myGov site was launched in 2013 and is used by several million Australians as a portal to access their Centrelink, Medicare, Child Support, Department of Veteran Affairs, e-health, and DisabilityCare accounts.
Does myGov need a reboot? Tell us ps@canberratimes.com.au
But serious problems have emerged with the security and operability of the site, with users complaining of being locked out of their accounts, outages and other glitches.
A storm of criticism was aimed in mid-2015 at the myTax portal, linked to the myGov system, for its performance at the end of the 2014-2015 financial year as millions of taxpayers tried to finish their tax returns.
In July that year, the DTO's high-profile boss Paul Shetler warned the Australian government was failing in its online service delivery effort and that it was "not good enough in the age of Uber and Airbnb".
Now Mr Turnbull is vowing to leave the glitches in the past and make it easier for online users of government services to manage their information.
"We will build on our 'tell us once' policy by providing Australians with greater control of their personal information," he said.
"At present, providing, updating and accessing personal information stored by government is often complex, repetitive and can lead to errors.
"This commitment means that the public will only need to update their details once and that information will be shared with all Australian government agencies, and with linked private sector services.
"Users will have complete control over which agencies and linked services they share personal information with.
"This will enable someone who has moved house to update their address or contact details with government and have that information shared with the private sector services of their choice, such as their bank or insurance company."
The Coalition also says it will make agencies and departments accountable for their progress on the "Digital Transformation" project
"The Coalition will deliver a digital transformation roadmap for government services by November 2016," Mr Turnbull said.
"The Digital Transformation Office will work with government agencies to publish agency level roadmaps.
"The Digital Transformation Office will also identify the highest value services and prioritise them for digital transformation.
"Examples include childcare attendance and registration, incoming and outgoing passenger cards, and support services for job seekers and employers.
"Roadmaps will include clear milestones, including delivery timelines and key performance indicators such as cost per transaction, user satisfaction and completion rates."
