Pillar: Community
Lead directorate: CMTEDD
Overview
This program is based on the principle that you should only have to prove who you are to government once and be able to access all services relevant to you. Four pilot services have been delivered so far including:
- Rental Bond Help that offers eligible people interest-free financial assistance to enter the private rental market.
- Transfer My Infringement, for people to transfer their infringement notice to the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offence.
- ACT Diversity Register that supports diverse representation on government boards and committees by promoting membership, training and networking opportunities.
- My Family Service, a central place for people to tell their story once, update it and share it with services they access.
The ACT Digital Program, funded in the 2019/20 Budget, will change the way people apply for Working With Vulnerable People registrations (WWVP), and services, and comply with the changing screening requirements of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
By the end of 2019 there were 14,000 people who had registered for a Digital Account, increasing by an average of 30 people per day. This was occurring even though the ACT Digital Account is not being actively promoted.
Benefits
In 2020 the new National Disability Insurance Scheme Worker Screening system will be integrated with the Working With Vulnerable People registration process. People will be able to renew their Working With Vulnerable People registration, and provide consent for a criminal history check faster through the convenience of their mobile device. Face to face and phone services will still be available and should also provide faster results.
In future years the ACT Digital program could deliver improvements such as the ability to:
- prove eligibility for concessions once - such as pensioner, veterans, seniors’ card, student - and have concessions applied automatically for all connected services.
- advise of changes to circumstances once - such as change of address, sale of a car, registration of a dog -– and have this update all systems that rely on currency of information.
- purchase and use the new integrated light rail and bus tickets from your ACT Digital Account, receiving automatic concession pricing, SMS-style messages or notifications if the rail or bus is running late, or if you need to top up payments.
- receive your rates and land tax notifications, with concessions automatically applied, and choose to pay, set for payment or make payment arrangements through your ACT Digital Account. This would reduce the need to send out paper notifications and reminders through the post.
- have a digital Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) registration, available to present to any employer or official via your mobile device. WWVP/National Disability Insurance Scheme would be the first of many registrations, licences and permits that will move to digital formats, as we co-design with community and industry groups on how we transition to digital drivers’ licences.
- have a single place to manage vehicles, with automatic notifications, concessions automatically applied, and choose to pay, set for payment or make payment arrangements through your ACT Digital Account. This would also reduce the need to send out paper notifications and reminders. This would be easier as payments would be a one touch experience.
These services will be designed end-to-end. This requires us to consider legislative, policy, process and people considerations in addition to technical ones. The ACT Digital Account demonstrates the inclusive, progressive and connected path we are providing for Canberra.
Status update
Date | Update |
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May 2021 | The Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) Scheme actively seeks to protect vulnerable people in the ACT by reducing the risk of harm or neglect. Implementation of a number of reforms to the WWVP Scheme from November 2020 was undertaken in partnership with Access Canberra and the Community Services Directorate. The WWVP system provides:
NDIS worker screening was released as part of the WWVP scheme on 1 February 2021. Commencement was delayed nationally from 2020 as a result of the operational impacts of COVID-19 on jurisdictions. The concept design for a whole of government integrated capability for concessions has been finalised. It provides the foundation for a member of the ACT community to prove their eligibility for a concession once and have it apply automatically to all relevant services. This means that where a person has a recognised and current concession status, the ACT Government will remove the burden for them to prove this every time they access a service. |