An independent audit into the government's digital interface myGov has recommended a revamp through a five-year plan in conjunction with the states and territories along with ongoing funding.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A five-member expert panel led by former Telstra boss David Thodey has come up with 10 recommendations on how to improve myGov which is run by Services Australia and used by 1.4 million people a day to access 15 government services such as Centrelink and Medicare. About 60 per cent of users access it from their mobile phones.
The audit reveals two major improvements were made during the audit period including transitioning to a new platform and delivering the myGov app in December.
However, the audit, released by Government Services Minister Bill Shorten on Tuesday, found that developing the platform was hampered by agencies pursuing their own agendas within government.
The audit found that the people in need of the most support, including welfare recipients and those in crisis, often had the greatest challenge accessing government digital services.
Ahead of the May budget, the Albanese government is providing a temporary $200 million boost for a two-year "Enhanced myGov" program, on top of $38 million a year in ongoing funding.
Mr Shorten said he hoped that myGov could become a place where people would not have to remember all their passwords with multiple government accounts.
He said the report could be a challenge for governments to view the digital economy as ongoing instead of one-off projects.
"But it's clear that this report makes it very, very, very black and white, that we need to rethink the way citizens deal with government," Mr Shorten said.
"[The report] says at its heart that citizens control their data. We got all these smartphones. We should have one door into government and government needs to sort out the back office."
The report recommended ongoing annual funding as well as providing a development fund to include new services.
"Now, our key message is ongoing investment, so it isn't a project that comes to an end. It's about like infrastructure, you've got to keep funding it over the long term," Mr Thodey said.
Mr Shorten said the government would carefully consider the report in its cabinet processes.
Shadow Minister for Government Services Paul Fletcher, urged the Albanese government to learn the lessons of the report.
Mr Fletcher said the government effectively abolished the Digital Transformation Agency, and axed more than 1000 specialist tech jobs from Services Australia.
"These decisions do not bode well for how Mr Shorten will progress the recommendations set down in the audit," Mr Fletcher said.
