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The Australian Government Information Management Office Archive

Better Services, Better Government

Key Objectives

Better Services, Better Government has six principal objectives.

Achieve greater efficiency and a return on investment

Investing in the development of effective e-government in Australia is vital. There are strong efficiency grounds for government improving policy development, program operations, service delivery and access to services. That will involve restructuring traditional processes, matching technology investments to these changes and managing projects to ensure an overall return on investment.

Ensure convenient access to government services and information

From the user's perspective, e-government should enable citizens and business to deal with government on a vast range of matters, any time of the day or night, without having to understand which part of government is providing the service they require.

People will no longer have to travel to join a queue at a government counter for the majority of services or wait for their phone calls to be answered. This will make accessing government services more convenient for people living in rural or isolated areas and people who, for a variety of reasons, find access to government offices in working hours difficult.

There are four key service channels for government services and information: online, over the counter, on the phone and by mail. The integrity of these channels will be maintained both within each channel and between channels enabling the integration of service delivery to ensure a consistent experience for the customer. The technology convergence in which telephony, computing and mass media communications are merging will represent a particular challenge. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that demand for online services will quickly surpass other service channels as a result of the huge convenience online service delivery offers.

Deliver services that are responsive to client needs

In this new era of e-government, outcomes for citizens, business and government itself are the drivers. Technology will not determine the service - rather, better information management and improved business processes will be the means used to tailor the delivery of government services to meet the needs and demands of citizens.

E-government makes it possible for an individual to access government information and services that are relevant to them through a single entry point. Whether starting a business or having a baby, individuals should receive targeted information about their entitlements, their responsibilities and sources of additional information. In short, this ability for u201D ensures government services are tailored and clustered to meet specific needs.

The key benefits of e-government for the business community are similar to those for individuals. These include:

• saves time and money;
• improves access to government;
• enhances convenience;
• facilitates dealing with government (eg. making payments or bidding for government tenders online); and
• makes available more integrated services.

The power of e-government to transform how government works is illustrated by the way it saves time and cuts red tape, particularly for small business, through streamlining processes.

Saving time

Take the case of a recent initiative of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). In the paper-based system for Business Activity Statements, the ATO needs to do extra work in around 20 per cent of cases. This entails re-keying, double-checking and where necessary contacting the taxpayer directly. Where the statement is lodged electronically, the extent of extra work drops dramatically, with errors in only 2 per cent of cases. Not only do online users get faster notification if there is a problem; in many cases they get this in real time online. This represents a significant saving in time for all concerned.

With e-government, there will be even greater access to federal government agencies, many of which effectively will be open for business 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. Small business owners or employees will no longer have to drive to a government office to fill in a form. They will be able to complete many more government administrative requirements online, whether it be filling in forms, accessing business assistance programs, carrying out a transaction or submitting tax returns.

Moreover, small business will also increasingly be able to win government business opportunities and to receive payments online. In this way, many of the efficiency gains from e-government will flow directly to the business bottom line.

Cutting red tape

The Business Entry Point is part of the federal government's commitment to make it easier for business to comply with government requirements. It does this by providing free online services and information for Australian business 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.

The website enables Australian businesses to carry out transactions for taxation compliance and license application more conveniently and simply online. A unique feature of this website is that it includes information and services from federal, state and territory government agencies, as well as some local councils. It is continuously being refined and progressively offering more transactions online in response to Australian business needs.

According to information recorded on the website:

• nearly one million applications for an Australian Business Number have been made online via the Business Entry Point;
• approximately 35 per cent of all ABN/GST applications are made online;
• around one million searches are conducted on the Australian Business Register each month;
• the Business Entry Point has provided over 30 million page impressions since early 2000; and
• more than 90 per cent of the traffic coming to the Business Entry Point relates to online transactions.
  www.business.gov.au

Getting people "on-line" rather than "in-line" has been a catchcry for those pushing for greater use of the Internet. What e-government will mean is if you prefer to operate online, you can avoid having to visit a government counter or wait for your phone call to be answered.

The Australian Government's main entry point www.australia.gov.au and the associated portals are an important early implementation of citizen and business-centric e-government.

Integrate related services

It is not uncommon for individuals or businesses to have to carry out several separate government transactions to achieve a single outcome. E-government will develop new, common infrastructures across agencies so that related services can be 'bundled' and presented as a single service at the point of delivery, even though several agencies are involved in the background.

This practical way of providing services will dramatically reduce red tape, for example by removing the need to fill in multiple forms requiring similar information.

One highly integrated service, which involves not only state and federal governments but also the business sector, is the Australian JobSearch service and the Job Network.

Finding a job

Australian JobSearch (AJS) provides a better way for job seekers to search for a job and for employers to publicise job vacancies. It aims to give all job seekers the best possible access to the largest choice of jobs.

The national vacancy database contains:

• every job listed with every Job Network service around the country;
• jobs advertised in some national newspapers;
• jobs listed in the Australian Public Service gazette;
• jobs lodged directly by employers using the advertise a job service; and
• jobs from RCSA (Recruitment and Consulting Services Association).

Australian JobSearch also:

• helps users find Job Network Service and New Apprenticeships Centres;
• has a listing of work for the dole projects and seasonal work available around the country; and
• provides links to the 'Harvest Trail', 'SkillSearch' and 'Job Outlook' sub-sites.

JobSearch currently has more than 50 000 vacancies, and is one of Australia's leading employment sites with more than 800 000 Internet page accesses and two million touch screen page accesses per day.

www.jobsearch.gov.au

The fishOnline website is another example of a newly developed integrated service. It provides quick access to fishing and related information such as weather reports and online licence applications.

fishOnline

The Trials of Innovative Government Regional Services (TIGERS), a program administered by the National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE), in partnership with the Government of Tasmania, has established an online one-stop-shop for recreational fishing. It allows quick access to information on fishing policy, boating, weather forecasts, safety regulations and the environment as well as providing an online application facility for fishing licenses.

The fishOnline website demonstrates how the federal and state governments can collaborate to deliver integrated services for the benefit of the community. The fishOnline site is an effective model for future online integrated services.

TIGERS coordinated the development of fishOnline, with major contributions from the Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology, the Tasmanian Inland Fisheries Service, the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industry, Water and the Environment, and Marine and Safety Tasmania.

www.fishOnline.tas.gov.au

An example of how more fully integrated services could be of benefit to the community is a coordinated government service following the birth of a child. Under e-government, a well-integrated service outcome will mean that families need not complete multiple forms required by different agencies, such as registration of birth, Medicare notification and application for family entitlements. Moreover, there are also internal efficiencies to government that flow from this process.

Improved integration of related services, policies and programs are core objectives of e-government. Priorities for action will be determined by making detailed assessments of typical customer needs, as well as the benefits for citizens and government itself.

Build user trust and confidence

Increasingly more government services are available and being used online. The convenience of online transactions is driving demand for more of these types of services. Trust and confidence in undertaking transactions online must underpin the continued uptake of these services. The foundations were laid during the just-completed Government Online phase, with its emphasis on privacy, security and authentication.

E-government will take this further by ensuring that government transactions with individuals provide the appropriate level of authentication - that is, confidence in the identity of the other party to an online transaction - as part of an overarching framework, similar to the framework already developed for business. This will encourage users to deal electronically with government by minimising the risk of unauthorised access to their information.

Enhance closer citizen engagement

Government agencies can use the Internet to improve the transparency of government deliberative processes and to provide the opportunity for wider engagement with the public including through online policy information, feedback and consultation.

As people become used to more readily finding government information and conducting government transactions online, they will expect a higher level and quality of engagement with government. Agencies can capitalise on the tremendous opportunity offered by the Internet to improve their reach when interacting with the community, and when consulting on new policies.

There can be benefits to government policy and programs through public and external stakeholders taking a closer interest in its operations and policy development. Both can be strengthened by early and regular feedback from the community. The transparency of and confidence in government will be strengthened as it becomes clear that citizens' views are taken into account in decision-making processes.

Making it easier for customers and the community

Through Centrelink's Customer Services Online Project, customers are able, for the first time, to update their family income estimate via either the Family Assistance Office (FAO) or Centrelink website. Under phase 1 of the project, Centrelink delivered a service to allow customers to:

• prepare their revised family income estimate online via either the Centrelink or Family Assistance Office websites; and
• send their estimate to the Family Assistance Office via Centrelink's Secure Internet Messaging Service.

Phase 2 of the project has already delivered the family assistance estimator - a new service, accessible via either the Centrelink or FAO website, to allow potential customers to see what family assistance they may be entitled to and existing customers to perform 'what if' exercises. This phase also covers the implementation of the following additional online functionality for customers:

• family income estimate update online - an enhanced service to allow the customer to view their existing family income estimate, change their estimate and see how the change affects their rate of payment;
• payment details - a new service to allow customers to see what Centrelink and/or Family Assistance Office payments they have received; and
• e-mail address update - a new service to allow customers from all segments with access to the Internet to update their e-mail address.