Digital government transformation has emerged as the new frontier in public sector modernisation. Disruptive technologies like Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), Extended Reality (XR), Cloud Computing, Machine Learning (ML), and the Internet of Things (IoT) are dramatically improving citizen services.
While the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digitalisation and improved personalisation of services across businesses and governments, Australians now expect this trend to continue through simple, helpful, respectful, and transparent service at all digital touchpoints. This expectation is putting enormous pressure on governments to improve service delivery.
Australia has been on an accelerated path of digital transformation over the past decade. The Digital Government Strategy aims to make Australia one of the top three digital governments in the world by 2025. Delivering this ambitious strategy will require an in-depth understanding of people’s relationships with technology, without risking digital exclusion, especially among older and more vulnerable populations. For organisations and governments to scale high-quality digital experiences quickly, they will need sufficient citizen uptake in the future.
Publicis Sapient conducted research with citizens across demographics to understand how this can become a reality. The report examines what Australians can expect from government, how digitalisation is enabling citizen-centric services, and what policies will be necessary to respond to evolving expectations.
The findings reveal that extensive progress has been made in accelerating digitalisation. A vast majority of citizens are eager and willing to use digital tools across a range of government services. This digital uptake, along with an overall positive citizen sentiment, is driving further investments and enhancements in new technology.
To keep the momentum going, inter-agency collaboration will be critical to establish common frameworks and expand digital inclusion for all citizens, especially those with vulnerabilities and people from minority groups. Addressing data privacy and security challenges will also elevate credibility and citizen trust in digital government services.
The Publicis Sapient Digital Citizen Report is one of the largest annual surveys on digital government in Australia conducted by a private organisation. It examines how citizens engage with governments through digital services. The December 2022 survey had 5,066 participants from a broad range of demographic characteristics, reflecting the population of Australia. It offers rich insights on consumer behaviour and citizen-centric services for the public sector.
This report aims to:
The survey was run digitally in December 2022. The survey involved 5,066 participants with every effort to achieve a broad range of demographic characteristics, reflecting the population of Australia.
Respondents were provided with the following service groupings and examples to understand usage and experience across key government service areas:
The pandemic made digitalisation an imperative. For years, governments explored tech adoption to streamline paper-heavy tasks and reduce reliance on legacy infrastructure, making minor changes in service delivery for short-term improvements in consumer satisfaction. Today, governments recognise that citizen expectations have evolved, and citizen-centric services are crucial for effective public administration. Digital transactions are quicker, more convenient, and mobile, becoming the preferred channel for citizens to access government services.
In Australia, the number of people using digital government services rose across all age groups in 2021. With COVID-19 restrictions in place, people became increasingly accustomed to digital interactions, resulting in growing confidence in, and demand for, e-government services. This trend persisted in 2022, with transparency, accessibility, speed, and user-friendliness driving a more permanent shift to digital services.
There has been a notable rise in digital government services among the elderly—61% to 85% used at least one digital government service.
Australian citizens now expect a wider spectrum of digital services to support evolving needs, especially in digital voting (31%), mental health services (29%), and digital driver’s licences (26%).
The report also found a strong uptake in digital mental health services to support growing levels of psychological distress among citizens. Such services were accessed at least once among working professionals (78%), those who experienced a major life event (81%), caregivers (86%), and those with university-level education or higher (83%).
Meanwhile, new and emerging technologies are driving more Australians to adopt them in their daily lives. Over half of Australians (63%) have practical knowledge of emerging technologies, with 15% indicating they have deep knowledge and interact with these technologies frequently, including AR, VR, XR, Web 3.0, and digital currencies.
However, the digital divide persists—especially among older and more vulnerable populations, those with poor digital literacy skills, and minority and indigenous groups. People in larger cities are also more likely to be digitally savvy and technologically adept than those from rural areas.
As momentum around digital services builds, the government and public sector are assessing the key capabilities required to deliver connected experiences across the full spectrum of service needs. By analysing the motivations, preferences, and pain points of their citizens, governments can be better prepared to deliver more connected experiences in the future.
Those in regional and rural areas are twice as likely to have not accessed online government services than respondents in mid or large cities.
General (MyGov) and Healthcare were the two most highly accessed services across the regions. Responders from a mid-sized city (77%) are the most likely to have used an online government service, more than 10% higher than usage by other regions. However, they were also the region which found the most difficulty in using the services (32%).
Australia’s digital transformation began long before the pandemic. National estimates put the potential benefit of digitalisation to the economy at roughly $315 billion over the next decade, with the creation of up to a quarter of a million new jobs expected by 2025. The 2023-24 Federal Budget included an investment of over $2 billion in data, digital, and ICT solutions to modernise outdated legacy platforms and IT systems, positioning Australia as a leading digital economy.
This report reinforces the demand for more government digital services across Australia and highlights a growing preference among citizens for technology. The survey findings reveal that a vast majority of Australians used at least one digital government service in 2022. Australians also rate digital government services highly, with most services viewed as either good or very good, a sentiment that remains unchanged from the previous year.
Technology plays a big part in Australians seeking digital support during major life events, including births and marriages. Two-thirds of Australians experienced an important life event in 2022, such as the birth of a child, purchase of a home, marriage, or death of a loved one, and the majority engaged with online government services related to these events. A key area of opportunity is for government services to deliver more user-centric experiences to support these major events in a person’s life.
For example, New South Wales is developing the NSW Digital ID program to issue a digital birth certificate, which will improve convenience, accessibility, and security. Expanding the scope of digital services through initiatives like this will help deliver greater convenience and accessibility to government services during key events in a person’s life.
Australia’s digital economy has grown strongly in recent years, but there are still opportunities to expand digitisation so that new geographies and population demographics can benefit. By making digitalisation a business imperative, the public sector stands to gain from improved efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The Federal Government has accelerated reforms and eliminated regulatory barriers to drive the uptake of technology across the economy.
Benefits are also being seen at a state level. For example, NSW citizens have saved millions of hours thanks to 60 time-saving initiatives developed by the Department of Customer Service. These digital technologies have improved management of resources through smarter spending and enhanced accountability and trust.
Australia stands to unlock a $224 billion economic opportunity if both the public and private sectors expand digital innovation. These savings could be redirected to other infrastructure and service improvements, such as new roads and healthcare expansion.
By leveraging AI, IoT, ML, and other digital tools, governments can accelerate citizen outreach and optimise their own resources. This is likely to drive improved collaboration with citizens and involve them in decision making, policy development, and service design. Governments can also become catalysts for private businesses, social enterprises, and citizens to jointly develop innovative services and business models that benefit society.
Digital channels have become an indispensable part of life for Australian citizens. The findings of this research demonstrate that citizens have successfully adapted to digital tools to access public services. To keep the momentum going and build long-term value and resilience, governments will need to implement timely, technology-enabled change initiatives that address citizen pain points.
Encouragingly, the past two years have witnessed remarkable improvements in the end-to-end customer journey across both public and private sector touchpoints. However, timely citizen feedback is critical for an in-depth understanding of the experience delivered and to identify gaps that need to be plugged to improve service.
The NSW Government relies on citizen insights to make improvements to the customer journey. Its State of the Customer report, which captured feedback from 30,000 people, revealed that a majority of citizens found it easy to interact with NSW Government services and that the information they accessed was simple to understand. Such insights are invaluable when developing and improving digital products, including the Service NSW App, which is widely used to access digital driver’s licences, store credentials, and verify personal identities.
Embedding citizen-centricity across the journey is vital to the success of digitalisation. This, coupled with speed and personalisation, will give digital government a competitive advantage over legacy systems in the future.
Largely driven by necessity, the pandemic compelled more people to access government services, healthcare, and financial solutions virtually. This shift has now become a choice, and this research shows that since 2021, the proportion of Australians using digital government services increased across all age groups. A vast majority (94%) of Australians used at least one digital government service in 2022.
MyGov (56%), healthcare (55%), and financial services/taxes (45%) were among the most accessed digital government services in 2022. Healthcare services (92%), transportation/recreation services (92%), and general (MyGov) services (89%) also registered the highest positive rating amongst the listed digital government services.
Initiatives are underway across Australia to integrate patient data and use information effectively. The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) is championing the development and implementation of the National Digital Health Strategy to increase access to useful medical information, secure a trusted information network, and support the interoperability of data across the supply chain. The 2023-24 Federal Budget also included a $824.4 million investment in digital health to transform the My Health Record system and support other digital health initiatives.
Similarly, seamless online payment technologies are accelerating consumer appetite for digital services in banking and finance. Opportunities beckon for financial services organisations looking to leverage their operational success for further digital transformation. By improving IT infrastructure and applications, financial institutions can take advantage of evolving customer attitudes to technology and support the growing shift to digital interactions.
Despite a surge in tech adoption among older populations from 61% to 85%, millennials remain the most likely to use digital services. A key area of opportunity for governments is to continue to build and broaden digital government services among builders to improve their digital literacy.
The Be Connected initiative launched by the Australian Government encourages and assists older populations to learn the basics of digital technology: how to use a digital device, how to safely shop and bank online, how to navigate myGov, and generally stay in touch with family and friends via social media. Expanding such services will play a critical role in eliminating digital isolation among elderly populations.
Across healthcare and financial services, improved co-operation will facilitate the implementation of priority digital solutions and accelerate innovation. Many organisations have begun to independently invest in their own digital solutions, but inter-agency co-operation and strong public-private partnerships will be key to standardising best practices and delivering value to customers.
State by state ratings of digital government show that the majority of responses for each service and state fall into the 'Good' and 'Very Good' categories.
NSW continues to excel in its delivery of digital citizen services through useful, inclusive, and easy to access services and experiences. The state reports the highest satisfaction for digital services compared to any other state. NSW services are also better placed than any other state, with 48% of respondents indicating that using online services made tasks easier, compared to all other states which scored less than 40%. Of those who reported a marriage life event in the last 12 months, NSW respondents (16%) were more than twice as likely to use digital services compared to all other states, except for WA (11%).
Major life events—whether the birth of a child or the death of a loved one—have significant social and psychological impact on an individual. Publicis Sapient’s research shows that Australian citizens value digital government services during disruptive life events, with 42% stating that digital services simplified administrative tasks. Only 32% said they did not use a digital service during a big life event.
The proportion of Australians experiencing major life events in the past 12 months has gone up from 60% to 65%. Additionally, 68% of those who experienced a major life event used online government services related to the event. The top life events remained unchanged from the previous year—new job (23%), new house (19%), death of a loved one (14%)—however, digital government services were most likely to be used during births (92%) and marriages (88%).
There is significant opportunity to encourage wider adoption of digital services to help citizens effectively navigate transformational events in their lives. Better connected services across federal and state jurisdictions will ensure that online government services are used most effectively during crucial life events. Improved data and analytics or digital identification management can also plug low points in the customer journey and offer a comprehensive view of how citizens are using digital services.
Australia’s public sector services industries have made remarkable progress in strengthening their digitalisation efforts. However, digital platforms require updates to improve personalisation and engagement. Wider investments in data analytics to keep track of user behaviour and feedback could radically transform the citizen experience in the future.
This, coupled with a citizen-centric engagement strategy, will drive successful digital transformation. The first step is to recognise that improved digital engagement is not about overwhelming people with information. Eliminating technical difficulties, speeding up processing time, and improving overall functionality will strengthen trust and credibility in government digital services.
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