• Your responsibilities

    To successfully meet this criterion, agencies will need to:

    • understand the service’s users
    • conduct user research
    • test and validate designs.

    When to apply this criterion

    Apply Criterion 2 during the Discovery phase to validate initial assumptions made in Criterion 1 (‘Have a clear intent’). Test and validate the service with users as knowledge of the problem grows.

    User needs aren’t static. Revisit this criterion across the Service design and delivery process to provide reliable, accessible services to users, when they need them.

    Questions for consideration

    • Who will use this service?
    • What are their wants and needs?
    • What are their pain points and frustrations?
    • What is their current experience with this or other services?
    • What devices and technology do they use?

    How to apply criterion 2

  • Your responsibilities

    To successfully meet this criterion, you need to:

    • understand your users
    • conduct user research
    • test and validate your designs
  • Transition approach

    Implementation of the Digital Service Standard is phased to give agencies time to plan and update their services.

    • Phase 1: 1 July 2024 – New services
    • Phase 2: 1 July 2025 – Existing public-facing services.

    Phase 1 – New services 

    From 1 July 2024, services that meet the following criteria will be required to meet Version 2.0 of the Digital Service Standard:

    • public or staff-facing
    • owned by non-corporate Commonwealth entities 
    • new informational and transactional services.
       
  • Transition Approach

    The implementation of Version 2.0 of the Standard will be phased to give agencies time to plan and update their services:

    • phase 1- new services
    • phase 2 - existing public-facing services 

    The Digital Transformation Agency’s (DTA) website will be updated to include Version 2.0 of the Standard, replacing Version 1.0 (refer to the Australian Government Architecture website).

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  • Phase 1 – New services

    From 1 July 2024, services that meet the following criteria will be required to meet Version 2.0 of the Digital Service Standard:

    • public or staff-facing
    • owned by non-corporate Commonwealth entities 
    • new informational and transactional services.

    Example – new services designed or redesigned from 1 July 2024

    Any new digital or ICT-enabled proposals coming forward in the 2024-25 MYEFO context will need to meet the requirements of the Digital Service Standard Version 2.0, as per the Investment Oversight Framework. 

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  • How do we measure success of the Digital Service Standard?

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  • Phase 2 – Existing public-facing services

     

    From 1 July 2025, services that meet the following criteria, will be required to meet Version 2.0 of the Standard: 

    • public-facing:and
    • owned by non-corporate Commonwealth entities; and 
    • all existing information and transactional services
    • note: existing staff facing services are excluded

     Example – existing public-facing services

    Public-facing services in existence prior to 1 July 2024, will be required to update their services to meet the requirements under Version 2.0 of the Standard from 1 July 2025 or seek an exemption from the DTA.  

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  • Updates to the Digital Service Standard 2.0

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  • Updates to the Digital Service Standard 2.0

  • Transition Approach

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  • Services covered by the Digital Service Standard

    The Digital Service 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.

    This includes services provided through a website, mobile app or other digital platform.

    Version 2.0 of the Digital Service Standard will be assessed and enforced in 2 phases. Refer to the Transition approach section for details about the 2 phases.

  • Informational services

    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.
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  • Staff-facing services

    Staff-facing services provide information to government employees or support employee transactions. They may include:

    • intranets
    • learning management systems
    • records management systems
    • case/client management systems
    • decision-making systems
    • any systems or platforms utilised by staff.
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  • Transactional services

    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.
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