Services Australia takes charge of government ICT

New ministry takes on whole of government IT, ICT procurement

New administrative arrangements formally transfer responsibility for whole-of-government IT from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet — which has been the home of the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) — to the new ‘Services Australia’.

Services Australia, a successor to the Department of Human Services, is now responsible for whole of government service delivery policy, whole of government information and communications technology, and ICT procurement policy and services.

It’s also charged with the “design, development, delivery, co-ordination and monitoring of government services, social security, child support, students, families, aged care and health programmes (excluding Health provider compliance) and Australian Hearing Services,” states the order made today by the governor-general.

Stuart Robert will oversee the new department as minister for government services.

“A new Services Australia agency will be established, along the lines of Services NSW, to drive greater efficiencies and integration of Government service delivery and making best use of technology and digital applications,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement released earlier this week outlining his new ministry.

“A key focus for all of my ministers and their departments will be lifting performance on government service delivery,” the statement said.

“This will include congestion busting on regulatory and bureaucratic roadblocks, making better use of technology and better integrating service delivery across portfolios. The goal is to make it easier to deal with and access the government services Australians rely on.”

Robert’s predecessor — former human services and digital transformation minister Michael Keenan, who quiet ahead of the federal election — in November 2018 released a digital transformation strategy for the government.

That strategy envisages all government services being available through online channels by 2025.

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