Important Note: This is an individual’s personal opinion only.
“To ease another’s heartache is to forget one’s own” Abraham Lincoln
Over the centuries, Governments have attempted to compartmentalise people’s needs into various categories and address them one by one. We used to have people visiting Government buildings to access services. Even today, if I need medical check-up, I need to physically go to a health clinic or hospital. If my son needs education, I need to drop him at school. So, departments are structured to provide service for every category – education, health, taxation, jobs etc etc.
But, things have largely changed in the last twenty years. The shop fronts/service delivery centres and access points have slowly disappeared or consolidated. Call centres then took over physical delivery centres. These are now being automated as well towards a more modern digital experience centres with blended human and automated interactions. The face of the departments has changed.
But, what has not changed? The compartmentalisation of public service delivery has remained stable throughout. Just count the number of .gov.au websites ? Thousands indeed. Go to Google Play store and count number of Australian Government Apps, it is several. A citizen needs to tell every one of these agencies about their situation and register with them again and again. I still receive a letter addressed to someone not living in my address from an agency. I presume they would have interfaced with other departments through other ways.
So, it is stating the obvious - many of us know. Joe, the citizen, looks to the government as one entity, particularly in the modern digital age. We have attempted many ways to achieve this singular government face over the years. We have used a bottom up approach - if we build some platforms then all agencies can get on board over time. We have attempted to build some central websites. We have even attempted proxy facades, such as identity portals, to shield all the complexity beneath. In my view, none of these have been transformative. Citizen expectation remain un-fulfilled, yet.
If only we try a different tact - and look at this from a top-down sense, I think we might be more successful. Consolidation of core capabilities. Single service delivery arm. One Compliance/enforcement capability. Unified Technology arm. Single Support Services capability. We could leave policy and law for each of the categories as is- It could be left to current arrangements.
We have been successful in this business consolidation exercises over the years. Department of Human Services is a good story. Disparate services around Medicare and Centrelink are now delivered under one roof. Yes, still challenges exist but we have come a long way. Shared Services concept has been too narrow and restricted to Technology, which has not transformed citizen experience. We need to broaden the consolidation to the service delivery level.
We need to go extra mile and consolidate across the whole of government. Single Service Delivery arm and Tech arm would be a great approach to integrate and provide a single digital face of the government.
By consolidating service delivery into a single operating model and capability, all services will come under one roof. Government will have a single phone line. Single website. A team of cross skilled public servants, supported by latest automation and Artificial Intelligence technologies, will be able to address client queries and provision of services. Reimagining Government Service Delivery and operating model will be possible. We would have a clean slate and clean architecture from where we can deliver the best world-class citizen service.
None of the suggestions come without challenges. We need to address legal, privacy and security challenges and ensure ideas are sound and ensure community acceptance. We will need over-arching legislation to make this happen.
Consolidation of core capabilities will take us a long way in the path to Digital Business Transformation. Various levels of consolidation are possible and options need to be considered. I am recommending to the APS review committee to look at a singular face for public service delivery. I am recommending that options in this space are considered, modelled and optimum pathways identified. This will make Australia a Leader in service delivery for the digital age.
Important Note: This is an individual’s personal opinion only.