Chapter 3.3 Delivering digital services and engaging with the Community

The ACT Government Digital Strategy articulates a vision of the Territory as a leading digital city that embraces revolutionary and innovative technology, with an ACTPS that is fully engaged with digital service delivery. It allows the ACT Government to engage with citizens and staff, business and academia, to stand behind a common vision to capitalise on the opportunities of the digital age.

This section provides a snapshot of some initiatives being delivered in this area.

Access to government information and data

By making effective use of data, the ACTPS is making more informed decisions and delivering more tailored services for the Canberra community.

Developing the capability of employees in data analytics and data management provides significant opportunities to strengthen our performance as a service. Data analytics has the potential to help identify new perspectives on complex problems and improve outcomes.

During 2018-19, the Office of the Chief Digital Officer (OCDO) in CMTEDD established the ACT Data Analytics Centre (formerly known as the Centre of Data Excellence). The Centre consists of a team of data experts, an ACT-wide scalable data analytics platform and associated governance arrangements. The purpose of the Centre is to enable better services and policies by using data more effectively. The centre also embarked on nine Data Analytics Projects aimed at enhancing practice, discovering new insights, and building analytical and visualisation capabilities within the ACTPS.

SNAPSHOT: GovHack 2018

The Office of the Chief Digital Officer coordinated the whole of Government sponsorship of GovHack 2018 – Australia’s largest community hackathon, which focuses on using government open data to solve real-world problems.

Ten challenges were set for the local competition, held over the weekend of 7-9 September 2018. Canberra was well represented, with a total of ten local teams, covering 12 different projects, receiving national recognition. The ACTPS representatives were runners up to Queensland in the Best State/Territory Participation category.

Open Access

The Freedom of Information Act 2016, which commenced on 1 January 2018, introduced an open access regime that ensures regular disclosure of certain categories of government information.

Public access to government information ensures greater transparency and strengthens democratic government. Information sharing better enables the community to contribute to policy formulation, assist government regulation, participate in program administration, provide evidence to support decision making and evaluate service delivery performance.

The ACT Open Access Information website was launched in early 2019 which provides a convenient, central place from which the community can search for agencies’ functional information, policies, information about government grants and other categories of open access information released under the Freedom of Information Act 2016. The site also provides links to other important sources of government information such as legislation, the ACT Budget, open data and historical government archives.

During the reporting year, Directorates were required to monitor the number of decisions to publish open access information, the number of decisions not to publish open access information, and the number of decisions not to publish a description of open access information withheld. This information is collected and reported in individual Directorate annual reports.

View the ACT Open Access Information website.

Digital transformation

The ACTPS has been working to meet the government’s objective to establish Canberra as a fearlessly digital city that has embraced revolutionary and innovative technology to grow and diversify our economy, connect our people, accelerate our learning, and nurture our culture and community.

The Office of the Chief Digital Officer (OCDO) within CMTEDD is responsible for setting the digital strategic direction across the ACT Government. The OCDO has been working with Directorates to deliver and enhance a range of digital platforms.

ACT Digital (formerly known as iConnect) is a capability that allows people to prove who they are to the government once and be able to access a range of services applicable to them. During 2018-19, more than 7,400 people created a digital account to access these services, including the following two services released in the reporting year:

Snapshot Robotic Process Automation: Processing Working with Vulnerable People Applications

The Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011 commenced on 8 November 2012 and requires those who work or volunteer with vulnerable people to have a background check and be registered. When it was designed, the scheme anticipated 40,000 Canberrans would register. Today, there are over 120,000 registrations. The significant increase in applications led to extended processing times, increasing potential risk to the most vulnerable and delaying workforce participation for people in key service and support roles.

Access Canberra’s solution was to employ Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and machine learning as a solution to the number of simple, repetitive tasks in the application process. The software, or “bot”, named Raider, has become an integral part of the team, freeing people to be redeployed and trained in higher value tasks, where their skills and expertise can best be utilised. Thanks to Raider and the team, the average processing time has been significantly reduced. The bot does in 5 minutes what team members previously completed in 17 minutes. In four weeks, the bot learnt the tasks of five people.

By automating a manual process of working between multiple business systems, Access Canberra has been able to provide an economic benefit to Canberra citizens, improve the application experience for individuals and protect vulnerable members of the community. Internally, team members have been upskilled and morale has been lifted by the removal of a significant backlog of work. In this project, Access Canberra demonstrated that if you trust people and prepare them for change, they’ll positively engage with the change process.

During 2018-19, CMTEDD delivered the following digital services to give staff and customers the option of dealing with the ACT Government online:

The Security and Emergency Management Branch in JACS commenced Project Bluesky to make the storage and retention of CCTV data more efficient by using data centres.

Housing ACT is driving a $2.134 million business transformation program to deliver a modern digital service platform for its clients. Work to deliver the program began in 2018-19. Through this program, Housing ACT has launched its first digital client service, Rental Bond Help.

In May 2019, the ACT Health Directorate delivered the Digital Health Strategy 2019-2029, which sets out key strategic priorities and objectives to guide the development of future health services across the public healthcare system in the ACT. The Directorate is also investing in a range of important strategies to operationalise these objectives and support reform priorities.

Snapshot: ACT Health Mobile App

As part of the Digital Health Strategy 2019–2029, ACT Health launched a new ACT Health mobile app. The app provides real-time waiting times for emergency departments and Walk-in Centres across the ACT.

The app enables members of the public to find location details, travel directions and average waiting times to help them make an informed decision about the best location to visit. The app also allows users to learn more about what to expect during and after a stay in hospital. The app can be accessed on the Google Play store or the Apple App store.  

Digitising Government records

Digitisation supports the commitment by the ACTPS to reducing paper waste and red tape.

During the reporting year, CMTEDD commenced implementation of an Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS). Approximately $2.1 million was appropriated for the
2019-20 financial year for this initiative in the 2018-19 Budget. This initiative is a key enabler of the transition to digital record keeping across the ACTPS. The EDRMS project team has initially focused on implementing the system to those Directorates moving into the new Civic and Dickson office blocks to support Activity Based Work in 2020.

The Territory Records Office (TRO) has engaged in driving the transition of recordkeeping from paper to digital form. The provision of authentic, reliable, accessible and authoritative digital records of government activity is vital to support the ACTPS in its efficient administration, informed decision-making, accountability and community memory. The TRO, in partnership with Shared Services, is leading the widespread implementation of digital records solutions in the ACTPS.

Human Resources Information Management System

During the reporting year, further work was completed in planning for the Human Resources Information System (HRIMS). The HRIMS will deliver an ICT solution that will optimise Payroll Services' integration with effective Human Capital Management within the ACTPS. This will increase efficiency, improve service delivery and create a more strategic approach to managing human capital within the ACTPS. The HRIMS will replace the current system, Chris21 Employee Self Service System.

During 2019-20 the HRIMS project will focus on the design, build and implementation phases of the program. The 2019-20 Budget has appropriated approximately $4.3 million for the HRIMS project.  This work is being overseen by the HRIMS Steering Committee who will have ongoing responsibility for the strategic direction of this significant program. The HRIMS will be implemented in a phased approach over three releases, commencing in the third quarter of 2020 and concluding in the first quarter 2021.

Engaging the community

The ACTPS has been working to collaborate and engage with the community on policies and projects.

YourSay Community Conversations

The Communications and Engagement Division in CMTEDD has supported directorates to use the YourSay Community Conversations (YourSay) website as the place for online consultations with the community.

In 2018-19, there were more than 100,000 visitors to YourSay, and the YourSay e-newsletter had more than 6,500 subscribers. Some significant engagements included:

Snapshot: YourSay: Citizens’ Jury on Compulsory Third Party Insurance

The ACT Government successfully used the YourSay Community Conversation in informing the public about improving the Territory’s Compulsory Third Party (CTP) scheme. The government chose to use a citizens’ jury process to consider with the community and other key stakeholders how to improve the scheme so it reflects the priorities of Canberrans.

Feedback received was given to the citizens’ jury to help inform their deliberations on priority areas for the reformed scheme. The jury – made up of a representative group of Canberrans – met over three weekends to analyse, research and consider submissions from experts, consider feedback from the community, and deliberate about what the objectives of a new scheme should be and choose a new motor accident insurance model. The final report on the chosen model was presented to Chief Minister Andrew Barr MLA on 27 March 2018.

On 19 March 2019, the Chief Minister introduced the Motor Accident Injuries Bill 2019 in the Legislative Assembly - it was successfully passed with some amendments on 16 May 2019.

YourSay Community Panel

During the reporting year, the Communications and Engagement Division has also been working to design, build and deliver a new digital platform to engage with Canberrans. The YourSay Community Panel, due to be launched on 1 July 2019, is a place for Canberrans to share views and opinions through surveys and other research activities.

Panel membership makes it easy and convenient for members to have their say on any device, anywhere and at a time that suits them. Any ACT resident over the age of 16 is eligible to join, including ACT Government employees.

The Panel gives government the ability to recruit participants for focus groups and workshops to gain a deeper understanding from the community.

Feedback sought through research activities will help shape the policies, programs and services that make Canberra a great place to live and work.

The Panel is supported by an online platform with industry-leading security and data segmentation capabilities. The Panel allows government to seek the views and opinions of a representative group of the community on a broad range of topics, as well as evaluate programs, services and communications campaigns. To thank members for their time, they are placed in a monthly prize draw to win e-gift vouchers.

Data security and privacy is one of the most important considerations of the project with advice sought from Shared Services ICT Security and privacy experts within the Government Solicitor’s Office as well as an independent Privacy Impact Assessment by Clayton Utz.

Qualified market researchers within CMTEDD will lead the development of the research program to seek the views of the community on a range of topics. Crucial to the Panel’s success will be the ability to share the results so that members understand how their views were used to inform decision-making and the improvement of programs and services for the benefit of all Canberrans.

During the 2019-20 reporting year, the team will roll out a targeted marketing and communication campaign to encourage people from a range of age groups and backgrounds to join the panel. For more information, please visit https://www.yoursay.act.gov.au.

Customer Relationship Management System

The ACT Government has been trialling a Whole of Government Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, as part of a suite of initiatives aimed at improving engagement across government.

The CRM supports coordination of common stakeholder relationships in the ACT Government, particularly where relationships cross over several projects and initiatives and are long term in nature. This includes the government’s ongoing relationship with community councils, resident action groups, community service providers, peak bodies, industry representative groups, and major employers.

The CRM, Consultation Manager, gives business areas across government free access to a database where they can store information about their formal engagements with stakeholder organisations. Business areas are able to run reports and see what other government engagements are involving their stakeholders.

For stakeholders, the CRM is intended to minimise duplication of their engagements with the ACT Government, to ensure their contributions and conversations are shared across government as appropriate.

Managed by the Communications and Engagement Division in CMTEDD, the CRM is being trialled on a limited use basis. The directorates and agencies in the trial are: