David Thodey to lead myGov audit

David Thodey will head a five-member expert panel tasked with "unlocking the potential" of a digital platform which is accessed more than one million times each day.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, former human rights commissioner Edward Santow, social epidemiologist Emily Bank and Uber's former head of global economic policy, Amit Singh, will also oversee the audit, which will start in the coming weeks and report by the end of the year.

Labor had promised to conduct a user audit of myGov if it won the federal election in May, arguing that while the portal was improving there were "blind spots and disappointments" - including system outages.

The then opposition had planned for a senior public servant, working at arms length from Services Australia and myGov, to conduct the review.

Now in government, it has opted instead for an independent panel of experts from the fields of technology, ethics, public health and government.

Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten indicated that Mr Thodey was well placed to lead the myGov audit after his work steering the independent review of the Australian Public Service in 2019.

"That review recommended three key principles for service delivery. Putting people at the centre of design, having a single access point to all government services and creating a seamless user experience. myGov is central to all three of these pillars," Mr Shorten said.

Mr Shorten said the audit would inform upgrades to the platform, which has more than 25 million accounts linked to it.

Mr Thodey, who is now the chairman of EFTPOS banking institution Xero, said the panel would consult with myGov users, states and territories, federal public servants and peak bodies before making its recommendations.

"This new audit will build on the independent review and complete the roadmap for myGov's role in realising that vision for government service delivery," he said.