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Major Digital Projects Report
Digital projects matter for Australians. This report provides a window into how these projects are performing – the systems they are improving, the data they are protecting, and the wider benefits they are delivering across all sectors of the economy.
It also outlines how reforms being led from the centre of government are ensuring every project has the best chance of success. While worthwhile, digital projects won’t always go smoothly, and these reforms are ensuring the public service is ready to meet the challenges they present.
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There are considerable benefits to a more inclusive Australia where everyone has the same opportunity to participate – both socially and economically.
The Strategy
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CEO foreword
Digital technologies underpin essential Australian Government services for people, businesses and communities. Ensuring the Australian Public Service (APS) successfully harnesses these technologies for public benefit sits at the heart of recent efforts to strengthen how major digital projects are designed and delivered.
Major digital projects provide enormous benefits – changing, improving and even saving the lives of Australians. Successful delivery can be challenging, with many of the projects in this report among the largest and most complex projects being delivered in our region. The case studies in this report highlight the transformative impact of several projects but, with 110 active projects, it’s just scratching the surface. Investment in digital transformation is intensifying as agencies work to meet the expectations of Australians for simple, secure and connected services. These services require digital projects that build and sustain world-class data and digital capabilities.
Continuously improving how the Australian Government designs and delivers its digital projects is at the core of the Digital Transformation Agency’s (DTA) role. This work matters – it is ensuring robust investment planning and oversight is in place to meet the challenges of delivering major digital projects successfully. Central to this work is an ongoing focus on creating the conditions projects need to succeed.
Transparency is one such condition and is a cornerstone of good governance which, in turn, fosters trust and accountability. For the public, transparency means having access to information that allows them to understand and engage with government decisions and initiatives.
This is the second public report on the delivery confidence of the Australian Government’s major digital projects. It outlines significant investments to enhance government services and how these projects aim to make the government fit for the digital age.
Chris Fechner
Chief Executive Officer
Digital Transformation Agency -
The Australian Government’s digital projects
This section introduces the 110 projects underway across the Australian Government. While these projects vary dramatically in scale, complexity and duration, they are all harnessing digital technologies to deliver world-class digital capabilities and services for Australians.
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Projects under central oversight
The processes described in the last section ensure the Australian Government can closely monitor and report on the performance of all its major digital projects.
This section sets out the projects now under central assurance oversight and changes since the last digital project data release in February 2024.
Central oversight now covers 110 active projects, up by 22, with an additional $6.7 billion in investment
Note: Since February 2024, 32 projects have left central oversight. Of these, 20 have closed, 10 now fall outside the scope for assurance oversight and one has been absorbed by an existing project. One project that was included as active in February 2024 closed prior to this report, however, continued to receive advice and assurance on closure activities, and was reported as active for this purpose.
Since the last report in 2024, 54 projects entered central oversight as part of the IOF, and 32 left. A further 56 projects that reported in 2024 continued under oversight this year.
The number of projects under assurance oversight will continue to change over time as new projects start, projects previously out of scope meet the criteria for inclusion following changes such as additional investment, and other projects close.
Since February 2024, of the 54 projects that have come under assurance oversight:
- 21 projects were previously funded, either during the 2023–24 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) or earlier, but only came under central oversight after the last report in February 2024
- 33 projects were newly funded in the 2024–25 Budget and are being delivered across 25 agencies.
Active projects by tier, budget and average duration
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Projects that left the portfolio
Digital projects are delivering enormous benefits for Australians - changing, improving and even saving lives. This section sets out recently completed and closed projects exploring how they performed and what benefits they delivered. It also reflects on how improvements to closure processes are ensuring that future projects systematically learn from past experience.
A range of projects across all investment tiers left the portfolio
Since February 2024, 25 projects have formally closed. These projects were delivered across 13 different agencies and had a combined value of $1.9 billion.
Projects that have closed Tier
Projects
Total budget
Median total budget
Average duration
1
Flagship digital investments
3
$1.1 billion
$150.9 million
3.8 years
2
Strategically significant digital investments
10
$631.4 million
$40.3 million
3.2 years
3
Significant digital investments
12
$219.7 million
$17.6 million
1.6 years
The average duration of closed projects was 2.5 years. Closed Tier 1 projects had a longer average duration than Tier 2 and Tier 3 projects. This longer average duration is mainly due to the inclusion of a closed 7-year Tier 1 project to improve weather and climate data.
Delivering benefits for Australians
The projects that closed since February 2024 have delivered significant benefits in areas as diverse as aged care, weather and climate data, and protection from scams. For example, Australians are now benefiting from closed projects that focused on:
- Bill relief – enabling the government to deliver targeted and temporary relief on power bills to eligible Australian households and small businesses
- Scam protection – protecting Australian consumers from online scams by taking down investment scam and phishing websites through enhanced data sharing and analytics capabilities
- Aged care – improving the quality of aged care by:
- providing more efficient and high-quality data exchange between aged care providers and government
- providing aged care providers with a more streamlined, secure and user-friendly financial reporting experience
- Weather and climate data – improving public access to Australia’s weather and climate data to enable better hazard preparedness and responses for the Australian community and industry
- Waste and resource recovery – improving national waste and resource recovery data to enable Australian consumers to make more informed choices
- Digital trade – developing better digital trade services to enable the trade industry to interact with relevant government agencies.
Finishing up – how projects leaving the portfolio performed
Of the 13 Tier 1 and Tier 2 projects that closed, 10 (76.9%) reported a High or Medium-High delivery confidence. Just 2 projects had a rating of Medium or lower, while one project did not report a delivery confidence rating.
Between February 2024 and February 2025, and before closing, 4 of these projects improved their delivery confidence, and 3 projects stayed the same. Comparisons for the remaining projects are not possible as they did not report a delivery confidence in February 2024.
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Appendix: Major digital projects list
Scope
This appendix contains information on digital projects the DTA is providing advice or assurance on, including in our role administering the Assurance Framework for Digital and ICT Investments (Assurance Framework).
It includes details on active projects as well as projects that have concluded assurance oversight since the first public report in February 2024.
This appendix does not include:
- projects not subject to the Assurance Framework, or projects subject to the Assurance Framework that closed before February 2024
- projects that involve sustaining existing digital capability that are not in-scope of the Assurance Framework
- recently funded projects yet to formally commence or enter assurance oversight
- projects led by agencies in the Australian Intelligence Community as well as the Department of Defence – these projects are subject to other assurance and oversight processes overseen by the Office of National Intelligence and Defence respectively.
Withheld project data
In a small number of cases, project data has been withheld at the request of lead agencies. Data is only withheld in exceptional circumstances where release would be prejudicial to the national interest and/or commercial negotiations. This includes in situations where releasing budget information would compromise the ability of agencies to achieve a value for money outcome in negotiations with commercial delivery partners. These are denoted as ‘NFP’ in the table in Overview by portfolio below.
Data collection and further enquiries
The DTA works closely with each Senior Responsible Official to validate data and monitor progress for every project. The DTA coordinates reporting across government to promote transparency to ministers and the Australian community. However, given the potential for commercial sensitivities to arise, especially when project challenges are being remediated, all project-specific enquiries should be directed to the relevant agency.
Explanation of table column headers
The table in Overview by portfolio below includes the following column headers.
Column header Description Project name The name of the project as advised by the lead agency. DCA 2024 The delivery confidence for the project as reported in February 2024 (digital project data release). DCA 2025 The delivery confidence for the project for the purposes of this (February 2025) report. Delivery status The delivery status of the project for the purposes of this February 2025 report. Total budget ($million) The total budget (including both digital and non-digital budget components). Numbers are rounded to one decimal place. Digital budget ($ million) The portion of total budget devoted to the design, development, implementation, deployment, sustainment and testing of digital and ICT capability. Numbers are rounded to one decimal place. Project end date For active projects, this is the expected end date of the project as advised by the lead agency. For projects that have concluded assurance oversight, this is the actual end date of the project as advised by the lead agency. Project description A high-level description of the project, including:
- what it intends to deliver
- whether the project has been subject to the Assurance Framework’s escalation protocols.
Key for delivery confidence
Delivery confidence is an assessment of a project’s overall trajectory to deliver on intended outcomes and benefits. A lower delivery confidence rating signals there are issues or risks that need to be addressed. However, a low rating does not necessarily mean a project will
fail. Instead, it is an early warning, allowing for timely interventions to support the project team in mitigating risks and overcoming challenges.The DTA plays a crucial role in this process. By working closely with agencies, we help to ensure that the right measures are taken when delivery confidence decreases. This involves providing guidance, resources and support to project teams, helping them make the best use of assurance processes, and promoting strategies to address emerging issues. This collaborative effort aims to improve the likelihood of successful project delivery, so that investments provide expected benefits to Australians and businesses.
Delivery confidence assessments are based on independent assurance assessments since the release of February 2024 report. Where an independent assessment is not available, the delivery confidence assessment is provided by the lead agency.
Rating Description High Successful delivery of the investment to time, cost, quality standards and benefits realisation appears highly likely and there are no major outstanding issues that at this stage appear to threaten delivery significantly. Medium-High Successful delivery of the investment to time, cost, quality standards and benefits realisation appears probable however constant attention will be needed to ensure risks do not become major issues threatening delivery. Medium Successful delivery of the investment against budget, schedule, scope and benefits, appears feasible but significant issues already exist, requiring management attention. These appear resolvable at this stage and, if addressed promptly, should not present a cost/schedule overrun or loss/ delay of benefits. Medium-Low Successful delivery of the investment requires urgent action to address major risks or issues in a number of key areas. Changes to budget, schedule, scope or benefits may be necessary if the investment is to be delivered successfully. Low Successful delivery of the investment requires changes to budget, schedule, scope or benefits. There are major issues with investment definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which do not appear to be manageable or resolvable without such changes being made. Not reported Delivery confidence was not reported by the lead agency. Blank Where a delivery confidence field is blank, this means a project was not required to report for the purposes of the February 2024 report e.g. because the project had not commenced. Key for project tiers
Tier 1 Tier 1 investments represent the Australian Government’s most complex and strategically significant digital or ICT investments, responsible for transforming the experience of people and business and realising the APS Enterprise view by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations. Tier 2 Tier 2 investments are usually complex and strategically significant digital or ICT investments but may not have the same whole-of- government emphasis or the same criticality to the digital agenda as Tier 1 investments or, if they do, they are of lower estimated total cost. Tier 3 Tier 3 investments are significant digital or ICT investments. They are likely focused on meeting the needs of one agency or, sometimes, a small group of agencies. They generally represent lower risk. Overview by portfolio
- Agriculture, fisheries and forestry
- Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
- Attorney-General's
- Administrative Review Tribunal
- Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission
- Australian Federal Police
- Attorney-General’s Department
- Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)
- Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions
- National Anti-Corruption Commission
- Climate change, energy, the environment and water
- Australian Energy Regulator
- Bureau of Meteorology
- Clean Energy Regulator
- Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
- Inspector-General of Water Compliance
- Murray-Darling Basin Authority
- Education
- Department of Education
- Employment and workplace relations
- Australian Skills Quality Authority
- Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
- Finance
- Australian Electoral Commission
- Department of Finance
- Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)
- Foreign affairs and trade
- Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Health and aged care
- Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
- Australian Digital Health Agency
- Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency
- Department of Health and Aged Care
- Inspector-General of Aged Care
- Home affairs
- Department of Home Affairs
- National Emergency Management Agency
- Industry, science and resources
- Geoscience Australia
- Department of Industry, Science and Resources
- Questacon
- Infrastructure, transport, regional development, communications and the arts
- Australian Communications and Media Authority
- Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts
- National Archives of Australia
- Prime Minister and Cabinet
- Australian Public Service Commission
- Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
- Social services
- Department of Social Services
- National Disability Insurance Agency
- NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
- Services Australia
- Treasury
- Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
- Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission
- Australian Taxation Office
- Department of the Treasury
- Veteran's affairs (part of the Defence portfolio)
- Department of Veterans’ Affairs
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The Digital Inclusion Standard incorporates a wealth of thinking and research traditionally residing within siloed user groups. It seeks to build upon and elevate these best practices to a whole-of-government (WofG) level to foster greater digital inclusion and accessibility for all people and business.
The Digital Inclusion Standard is part of a suite of standards and guidance that sits within the Digital Experience Policy (DXP). The DXP supports an Australian Government focus on improving the experience for people and businesses interacting digitally with government information and services. The DXP includes a suite of standards and guidance that supports agencies to deliver more cohesive and consistent digital experiences, including (but not limited to) the Digital Service Standard, the Digital Performance Standard, and the Digital Access Standard.
The Digital Inclusion Standard builds upon the new Digital Service Standard Criteria 3 – Leave No One Behind forming part of a set of standards and guidelines committed to improving digital experiences across government.
The scope of the Digital Inclusion Standard aligns to a Digital Experience (see definition). The Digital Inclusion Standard does not attempt to address barriers related to:
- Access/Infrastructure
- Affordability
- Non-digital
These issues are the focus of a range of government digital inclusion programs and initiatives.
Services covered by the Digital Inclusion Standard
The Digital Inclusion Standard is mandatory and applies to digital services that are:
- owned by non-corporate Commonwealth entities
- informational or transactional
- new or existing public facing
- new staff facing
They may be provided through a website, mobile app or other digital platform. Enforcement of the Digital Inclusion Standard will be introduced in 2 phases. Refer to the Transition
Approach section for details about the 2 phases. -
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
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Department of Education
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Key figures
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How the Australian Government manages its digital projects to support success
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Projects that left the portfolio
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Investment by sector
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Administrative Review Tribunal
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Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission
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