Western Australia updates digital identity strategy for unified public service access

Western Australian (WA) Government agencies have jointly published an update regarding the state’s Digital Strategy Roadmap, which includes the introduction of digital identities for people and businesses.

The document includes updates regarding each of the four strategic priorities of the Digital Strategy, under the headings; ‘better services,’ ‘informed decisions,’ ‘safe and secure,’ and ‘digitally inclusive.’ The updated strategy also introduces a fifth priority: ‘supporting digital foundations.’

We break down each of them down below.

Better services

The WA Government released an extensive list of services it intends to improve as part of the strategy.

These include the WA.gov.au digital platform for the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and a cross-sector service delivery reform program called ServiceWA for the Department of Finance, Department of Transport, and Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

“We are also developing a whole of government self-service portal to provide easy access to

online services,” the report reads. “To personalise and make these experiences more seamless, we are introducing digital identities for individuals and businesses to access services using a single set of safe and secure credentials.”

The WA whole of government digital identity service is being developed with the Office of Digital Government, Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and Department of Transport.”

Western Australian agencies are expected to begin using the digital identity service by the end of the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

Also, an Environment Online platform to enable the government to submit, monitor and review environmental submissions and approvals, a Customer Identity and Management Platform (CIAM), and a Utility of the Future infrastructure, among others.

Data sharing and security

Sections titled ‘informed decision’ and ‘safe and secure’ include the government’s recently established data sharing and analytics function, which describes a high-level framework to allow data sharing between agencies, and an update of the government’s Information Classification Policy.

This is scheduled for implementation by agencies by mid-2025 and should provide them with tools to ‘communicate the sensitivity of the information they manage to ensure the right protections are in place to keep it safe.’

Digital inclusivity

The WA Blueprint, currently under development, will be designed to improve digital inclusion outcomes by addressing key barriers of connectivity, affordability, skills, and design.

The document will build on key findings from a consultation on the WA Blueprint that were published in the Digital Inclusion in WA What We Heard Report in November 2021.

Now, The Office of Digital Government said it will be working with agencies, industry, community services, and WA communities to finalize the Blueprint and develop a related program of initiatives.

Supporting Digital Foundations

The latest entry in the Digital Strategy Roadmap, the ‘Supporting Digital Foundations’ section includes the creation of a centralized financial management information system (FMIS) as well as a Human Resources Management Information System (HRMIS) that will replace WA Health’s legacy human resources/payroll system.

Additionally, the updated strategy mentions a Digital Foundations Program to improve workforce productivity, and a Core Business Systems Program to introduce simplified finance, human resources, and records management footprint.

The same section also spearheads the 1Finance Project, designed to deliver a contemporary cloud-based finance system, and a One Document Management System (oneDMS).

“The projects in this Roadmap are dynamic and will require flexibility to ensure they continue to address the needs of Western Australians,” the updated strategy reads.

“For this reason, the Roadmap will be updated twice a year and will focus primarily on deliverables over the coming year, while longer-term project plans and dates are subject to change over time based on learnings and evolving circumstances.”

Article Topics

access management  |  Australia  |  data protection  |  data sharing  |  digital government  |  digital identity  |  digital inclusion  |  government services  |  privacy