Digital Access Standard

Services covered by the Access Standard

The Access Standard is mandatory and applies from 1 January 2025 to informational and transactional digital services that are:

subject to the requirements of the Investment Oversight Framework (IOF)
new or replacement public facing.

Informational services provide users with information, such as reports, fact sheets or videos. They may include:
- government agency websites
- smart answers and virtual assistants
- e-learning
- publications
- online libraries
- databases and data warehouses.
Transactional services lead to a change in government-held records, typically involving an exchange of information, money, licences or goods.
Examples of transactional services include:
- logging in to a portal or platform
- submitting a claim
- registering a business
- updating contact details
- lodging a tax return
- subscribing to newsletters
- grant applications
- public consultation submissions.
Access points are the online entry points or ‘front doors’ where users go to find and interact with government digital services. Access points for digital services typically take the form of:
- informational websites
- web applications accessed from a web browser
- online portals or platforms
- mobile apps.
For more information on how ‘portals’ are defined, please refer to the Australian Government Architecture (AGA).

Implementation timeline

For new and replacement digital services for individuals suitable for myGov, the Access Standard came into effect on 1 January 2025.
For all other new and replacement public facing digital services for individuals as well those for businesses and providers, the Access Standard came into effect on 1 January 2026.

Next page

Meeting the Digital Access Standard