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Document your findings
Document your findings and recommendations on how to apply criterion 3.
- provide evidence to support your decisions and show how you have used the AGA to find reusable platforms and capabilities for your service offering
- evidence such as user research, cost-benefit analysis, or risk assessment can be used
- use the Digital Investment Overview (DIO) Data Collection form to report on how you have met the criterion.
- use the Digital Capability Assessment Process (DCAP) template to report on how you have met the criterion.
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Suggested activities to apply this criterion
Understand available capabilities and services available for reuse
Use the AGA: Review the AGA early in the design of the service to understand what is available to you.
Avoid unnecessary investment: Consider the capabilities available through existing portals and leverage existing government investment. Use existing whole-of-government resources and guidance to help build an understanding of what platforms and capabilities are available.
Connect and assess: Assess how well the existing capabilities align with the service’s requirements and objectives (Criterion 1). Engage other agencies to gain insights on ways to promote, use or plan for future reuse.
Identify and apply any applicable whole-of-government requirements and policies
Know what’s required: Use the AGA to determine what requirements and policies apply to the service. Consider how to apply these across the service to enhance the user’s experience and support compliance.
Document how reuse has been considered in your decisions
Compare your needs with existing capabilities: Clearly demonstrate how reuse has been applied in the decision-making process by documenting how the needs of the service compare with what existing platforms offer in terms of user experience, cost and efficiency.
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Criterion 4 – Follow the decision-making framework
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Criterion 4 – Follow the decision-making framework
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Apply decision-making criteria to determine if a new access point is required.
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Apply the relevant decision-making framework
- Use the decision-making framework relevant to the service: Assess the service against the decision-making framework to understand if reusing existing platforms and capabilities is beneficial to users.
- Know your user context: Understand if users are accessing the new service as a private individual, as a representative of a business, as a representative of a service provider, or a combination of these.
- Understand if it is cost effective: Determine if using an existing access point is not prohibitive on the basis of investment required, and if the cost of using the existing portal is outweighed by the benefits. For example, Investment to uplift an existing portal is outweighed by a significantly better experience for users.
- Consider how to overcome barriers: Consider if there are any challenges making the new service available through an existing point. For example, could there be technical issues interfacing with legacy internal systems or legal barriers such as data sharing. Consider, where appropriate, using mechanisms such as the Data Availability and Transparency Act (DATA) scheme to support ethical data sharing.
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When to apply
Apply Criterion 4 during the Discovery phase to help consider capabilities and services available to improve user experience and promote reuse.
This criterion requires agencies to apply and follow a set of decision-making principles to determine where a new service is best placed within the existing landscape of government digital services. The decision-making framework will apply based on the users of the new digital service:
- citizen-facing services (for individuals)
- business and provider-facing services.
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Question for consideration
- Are users accessing the new service as a private individual, as a representative of a business, as a representative of a service provider, or a combination of these roles?
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Guidance and resources Off
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Guidance to follow the decision-making framework
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Next page: Criterion 5 – Engage with delivery partners
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Services covered by the Digital Inclusion Standard
The Inclusion 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
- new staff facing
- all existing public facing
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Informational services
Informational services provide information to users, 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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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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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.
For more information on how ‘portals’ are defined, please refer to the Australian Government Architecture (AGA).
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Digital experience
Digital experiences are the interactions and engagements a user has with a digital service, including its usability, design and the overall user satisfaction.
Digital inclusion
Digital inclusion is the capability of individuals or groups to enjoy the benefits of being online and using technology confidently to improve their day-to-day lives. (See What is Digital Inclusion? for more information.)
Services not covered by the Digital Inclusion Standard
The Digital Inclusion Standard does not apply to:
- corporate Commonwealth entities
- state, territory or local government services
- personal ministerial websites that contain a minister’s political activities or views on issues not related to their ministerial role.
Services not covered by the Digital Inclusion Standard, such as existing staff-facing services, may choose to apply the Digital Inclusion Standard to improve their digital services.
Some services may request an exemption from the Digital Inclusion Standard. See the Exemptions section below.
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Next page: Meeting the Digital Inclusion Standard
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Measuring success of the Digital Inclusion Standard
We will measure success by reporting on agencies’ compliance with the Inclusion Standard.
Agencies are required to report on their compliance with the Inclusion Standard to the DTA within specified timeframes and maintain continuous improvement against performance measures.
Agencies are required to demonstrate compliance through DTA’s current and any future data collection activities that support the IOF.
- For new or replacement services this will apply from 1 January 2025
- For existing public facing services this will apply from 1 January 2026
Further information can be found in the Compliance, reporting and exemption guide.
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Meeting the Inclusion Standard
The Inclusion Standard is made up of 5 criteria that help government agencies design and deliver inclusive and accessible services for all people and business.
To successfully apply the Inclusion Standard, agencies must meet all the criteria.
Agencies are strongly encouraged to consider how the criteria applies across the whole service lifecycle.
It is recommended that agencies also consider the non-digital experience of users to make sure services are inclusive and accessible for all.
Alignment with the Investment Oversight Framework
Agencies are expected to consider how their proposal aligns to the Inclusion Standard throughout all the IOF states. A diagram showing how each standard applies across the IOF touchpoints can be found within the Digital Experience Policy.
Exemptions
The DTA acknowledge that some agencies may be unable to meet one or more of the criteria set out by the Inclusion Standard due to a range of circumstances.
Further information can be found in the Compliance, reporting and exemption guide.
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Next page: Measuring success of the Digital Inclusion Standard
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Criterion 1. Embrace diversity
Connect with the digital community
Share, build or learn digital experience and skills with training and events, and collaborate with peers across government.