Technology and COVID-19: How the Australian Government is delivering vital services during the pandemic

Mobilising technology to support Australians has taken on a new level of complexity and importance as we fight COVID-19. As Australians have turned to their Government, we’ve had to step up to ensure services are delivered. Whether it is financial payments to people who find themselves out of work, new communications tools to get information on coronavirus, or a technology solution to assist health professionals to contain the virus.

Whilst many Australians rightfully expect these things to ‘just happen,’ I just wanted to give a rap to the dedicated and hardworking Digital Transformation Agency and Services Australia staff who are delivering for Australians right now.

The Department of Health turned to the DTA to build and manage the COVIDSafe health app. Entrusting the DTA to build this app showed a great deal of respect and acknowledgement for the transformational technical capabilities inherent in the DTA—which also rapidly transformed Australia.gov.au into a pandemic information website and developed the Australian Government WhatsApp Channel.

The COVIDSafe health app will help our frontline health workers stop the spread of the coronavirus in our community. The app is the product of close collaboration across the Australian Government including with the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Department of Health, and of course industry partners like the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre. This app will save lives and livelihoods. As the Prime Minister has said this app is a critical element of the road back to normality. Australians are already adopting this app at rates exceeding expectations with over a million registrations achieved on the day of its launch. It will make a difference and it would not exist without the exceptional work done by the DTA.

Like the DTA, Services Australia has also stepped up to deliver during the pandemic. Many Australians have never needed financial assistance from the government before, let alone ever needed to contact Centrelink.

When the National Cabinet imposed significant restrictions in the interest of our health—literally overnight—we saw many Australians lose their job. This tragedy unfolded before our eyes the very next day with images of queues outside Centrelink Service Centres and unprecedented demand for myGov.

Faced with these challenges, Services Australia has stepped up to deliver for these Australians.

As the Prime Minister has said, more JobSeeker claims have been processed in the five weeks since 23 March than Services Australia did last year. This is just extraordinary.

To deliver for Australians who needed support, Services Australia scaled up operations (with a mix of both new recruits and secondments from across the APS) and drastically ramped up online operations. myGov capacity has exponentially increased from 6,000 concurrent users to 300,000 concurrent users. For an authenticated online platform, myGov now has the largest capacity in Australia.

Australians can now obtain a CRN and apply for JobSeeker all online through myGov, something successive governments have been trying to deliver for years. Services Australia has delivered this in just four weeks.

The cooperation and dedication from the Prime Minister and Ministers has also ensured a whole of government approach to this whole of nation crisis.

While we have accomplished much, the road out will be long—but we will not stop in our collective efforts to meet expectations as we continue to build the trust of all Australians.

Thank you to everyone for their passion and dedication in what you have achieved for Australians so far and for what we will do together into the future.