Phil Goldie, Senior Vice President & Managing Director ANZ, Okta - Byline
These days, many Australians leave the house with lighter pockets. With just a few taps, they can use their phone to take public transport, pay for purchases and even board a flight. In a world powered by digital experiences, it only makes sense people expect this to extend to government interactions.
More and more, Australians expect their government to provide services online like other businesses do: with an easy, convenient and seamless experience. The key to making this happen? Digital identity.
As we’ve seen in the past few years, offering services online is not only critical to enable widespread access – such as those isolating or in remote areas – but also for less than the cost of a phone call or in-person appointment. However, in a time when data breaches and cybercrime are rife, access to government services must protect Australians’ valuable personal data and sensitive information.
Digital identity unlocks this potential. We need to prove our identity repeatedly to access a range of government services, each with different access points and logins. A single government digital identity will make access to these services much easier. Along with the ease of using a single login, digital identity minimises the risk for data compromise, identity theft and fraud.
Getting this ‘right’, however, can be easier said than done, with siloed data and limitations that prevent the sharing of data between agencies, states and third-parties posing challenges.
In the Creating a Seamless Citizen Experience: The Future of Digital Identity in Government, report by Intermedium, it is clear that digital identity will be one of the key drivers to the success of digital government in the future.
From priority to reality
Digital identity has been a Federal Government priority for close to a decade. The new Labor government reiterated this again with the myGov User Audit 15, which found faster adoption of digital identity was critical to improving government services, making them safer and more secure. It also recommends urgent change to to support interoperability across Australian jurisdictions, a major blocker to digital identity.
The latest federal Budget brings this into focus. The Albanese Government committed $135.3 million to give MyGov ‘certainty and stability’ and a further $26.9 million to sustain and develop the next stage of the Digital ID program, an investment which centres safe and secure digital experiences for Australians.
This goes beyond federal; change is happening at all levels of government. Many states are now moving towards a single identity. The Andrews Government announced digital drivers licences are on the way for Victorians, with a trial that will then roll out across the state in 2024. The will make Victoria the fourth state to adopt digital drivers licences, following NSW, South Australia and Queensland.
What comes next, however, is making this all a reality. Change of this size and complexity comes with challenges. Along with jurisdictional constraints, the public sector must comply with evolving security legislation and stands, including the Essential Eight, SOCI Act and Privacy Act, which will likely be reformed following this year’s review. Government also faces the same roadblocks as large private sector organisations when it comes to large-scale transformations, burdened by siloed, legacy systems that are yet to move to the cloud.
Crafting an effective experience
What does this digital future look like? Look to those leading the way – like NSW. The state is heads and shoulders above other jurisdictions when it comes to digital maturity. Identity is central to this success.
NSW was the first to pilot digital driver's licences via its Service NSW app, which has 8.7 million accounts and 80% uptake among the state’s residents. In comparison, only 35% in Western Australia use the state’s app and the federal MyGov app has a ways to go, satisfying only 45% of users.
There’s more on the way for digital identity in NSW too. A trial is currently underway for a NSW Digital ID set to give residents more control over their online privacy, building on the Service NSW app. People will only need to verify their identity once then can use it with government agencies and private businesses, such as to prove they’re over 18 without sharing other personal information, like when buying alcohol online. These steps go a long way in creating a seamless experience to make life easier for citizens – and the uptake shows it works.
Looking to the cloud
How can the government make this broad-scale transformation a reality? By adopting cloud citizen identity platforms. These allow a single user to link their identity to multiple services and agencies at scale. Leaning on this tried and tested technology reduces the burden on agencies to start from scratch, so they can focus on improving the user experience – a core element. By making them mobile-first, accessible and easy-to-use, Australians can readily adopt these tools and see the benefits.
Speed-to-market is critical to minimise ongoing risk, like data privacy and fraud, while meeting Australians’ expectations. A key advantage of cloud-based solutions is that once they’ve been adopted by one part of the government, they can be quickly reused across many – applying these learnings as long as there are no jurisdictional limitations.
Digital identity is at the heart of successful digital government. With investment, change and reforms already underway, the pace of change will only hasten; Australia’s governments must be serious about increasing their digital services at speed. Doing so means delivering high-quality experiences for the country well into the future.
