• The Compliance, reporting and exemption guide helps government understand compliance, reporting and exemption processes for their digital service under the Digital Experience Policy.

  • Digital Service Standard checklist

  • The Digital Service Standard is made up of 10 criteria to help agencies design and deliver services that are user-friendly, inclusive, adaptable and measurable. To successfully apply the standard, agencies must meet all the criteria.

  • The requirements for each criterion are listed below, along with a brief description and best practice guidance to meet the requirements. 

    Criterion 1 – Have clear intent

    Criterion requirements 

    To successfully meet this criterion, agencies need to:

    • develop a business case for change
    • survey the policy and service landscape
    • understand the service’s lifecycle
    • adopt an agile methodology.

    For existing services, this means that agencies should have clearly identified the purpose for the service, the problem it is addressing and the whole of government priorities it is contributing towards.

    Concepts or actions to address

    • The current problem statement for the service is clear and addressed: Consider the problems the service needs to solve and why they are important. Clearly state the risks of actionand inaction, who might be impacted by the service, potential barriers to success and any knowledge gaps.
    • Government priorities the service is contributing towards have been identified: Review government policies and existing initiatives and map the problem to relevant strategic objectives and priorities. Engage with stakeholders involved in related government initiatives to gain insights into government approaches and successes.

    Optional: Describe how the digital service complies with this criterion, referencing best practice approaches deployed where possible.

  • This guide provides information about DX Policy processes. It does not provide guidance on meeting the criteria set out within each standard. For information about criteria, see the Digital Experience Policy.

  • Compliance through the IOF

    Compliance information helps the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) provide government with advice on how agencies are supporting whole-of-government strategies. Compliance and performance data is used to monitor the government’s digital ecosystem.

    As part of this, DTA identify exemplary services as well as systems or areas requiring uplift.

    Factoring compliance into the Investment Oversight Framework (IOF)

    Compliance is factored into the IOF through:

    Commitment to DX Policy and standards

    When providing advice to government, DTA factors in a proposal’s ability to demonstrate a commitment to comply with:

    • the DX Policy
    • the DX Policy supporting standards.

    More information 

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  • More information 

  • Criterion 2 – Know your user

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  • Purpose

    The Compliance, reporting and exemption guide helps government understand compliance, reporting and exemption processes for their digital service under the Digital Experience Policy.

    The guide contains information about:

    • the Digital Experience Policy (DX Policy)
    • compliance and reporting under the DX Policy
    • standards that apply to existing and new or replacement digital services
    • compliance processes through the Investment Oversight Framework (IOF)
    • exemption types, exemption application processes and scenarios. 

    This guide provides information about DX Policy processes. It does not provide guidance on meeting the criteria set out within each standard. For information about criteria, visit digital.gov.au/policy/digital-experience.
     

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  • Comply with the policy

  • Agencies are encouraged to make sure their digital service applies the criteria across all 4 standards. While compliance with all 4 standards is not always required, there are certain instances where compliance with all 4 standards is mandatory.

  • Existing services

    All existing, public facing services are required to comply with the:

    Any future reporting requirements will be for services with more than 50,000 end-to-end transactions per year.

    New or replacement services

    New or replacement services which are subject to the Investment Oversight Framework (IOF) must apply the Digital Experience Policy and any applicable standards across all states of the IOF.

    Agencies are required to demonstrate compliance through the Digital Transformation Agency's existing data collection activities that support the IOF, including:

    • Digital Prioritisation Data Collection Process
    • Digital Capability Assessment Process (DCAP)
    • Assurance Framework
    • Approved Programs Collection.

    If your digital service is subject to the IOF and you have questions about the existing data collection activities, email investment@dta.gov.au.
     

  • Phase 1 – New services

    From 1 January 2025, services that meet the following criteria will be required to meet the Digital Inclusion Standard:  

    • public or staff-facing
    • owned by non-corporate Commonwealth entities
    • new (including redesigned) informational and transactional services. 
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  • Next page: Exemption guidance

    Exemptions should only be sought where there are genuine barriers in applying the standards to a digital service.

  • Exemption guidance

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