There are important challenges to overcome in order to achieve our objectives.
Our objectives
- Make it easier for citizens and businesses to engage with government.
- Accelerate digital transformation.
- Corporate services that enable better service delivery and drive productivity over time.
Challenges and barriers
Accelerating customer expectations and technology change
New technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing are rapidly advancing, with implications for privacy and cybersecurity. To keep pace, we need smart policy responses, as well as expertise to develop and implement enabling technology to deliver high quality digital services.
Barriers to digital inclusion
The social challenges faced by the most vulnerable in our society – such as accessing services and obtaining higher value jobs – are magnified by the increasing use of digital.
We need to identify and address common challenges and inhibitors to service access.
Organisational capacity and capability
DGS is a new department formed by the transfer of functions from others. Further organisational development is needed to create the capabilities and capacity needed to deliver our objectives, including:
- culture and structure
- resources, including the available technology and condition of assets
- service delivery channels
- performance data
- service, asset and operation plans.
Operating context
The increasing digitisation of economies has highlighted the importance of digital transformation for government and how it can help improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and accessibility of government services.
Digital services are the face of modern government, and great digital services can build trust with citizens. Citizens and businesses now expect government information and services to be readily available online, easy to find and understand, and at low or no cost.
Widespread reliance on technology during the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that digital connectivity, platforms and skills are rapidly becoming critical infrastructure, not just tools. The number of Victorians reporting they can’t or won’t use online services has fallen from 19 percent to around 8 percent.
In addition to meeting rising citizen expectations, digital government services are also more efficient which will help to meet demand growth and contribute to budget repair.
Objective 1: Accelerate digital transformation for government
This objective supports the effective and efficient delivery of government services through digital technology and platforms.
Indicators
- Development and effective use of technology supports delivery of customer services in a more efficient and effective way at scale.
- Achievement of government policies and priorities relating to use of digital platforms for government services and records management.
Our functions
Digital strategy and transformation
- Continued innovation in digital technology to improve whole of government service delivery and business processes
- Digital delivery of information and services to Victorian citizens and businesses.
Management of Victoria’s public records
- Provides direction to government on the management of public records
- Ensures the historical memory of the Victorian Government endures, is secure and accessible.
Key initiatives
Cyber Security
- Oversee, review and strengthen the cyber defence systems across the Victorian public sector, and uplift response capabilities for cyber incidents with the creation of a new Cyber Defence Centre.
Connecting Victoria
- Improve broadband and mobile connectivity.
- Keep the public Wi-Fi access free and available in Melbourne’s CBD until April 2025.
Single digital presence
- Make Victorian Government information easier for the community to access and navigate on a single digital platform.
Service Victoria
- Continue to modernise and digitise government service delivery to improve public access to government services and simplify daily transactions with the Victorian Government.
Digital Victoria
- Drive digital transformation across government and improve the user experience for business owners and local families alike.
Objective 2: Make it easier for citizens and businesses to engage with government
This objective contributes to the digital delivery of information and services to Victorian citizens and businesses; supports empowering consumers and businesses to know their rights and responsibilities; supports protection of Victorians’ identity through life event registrations and protection of children and people with disability through risk assessments of those working with or caring for them; and supports local councils to provide responsive and accountable services to the community.
Indicators
- Increased access by consumers, renters, rental providers, businesses and community organisations to digital information.
- Births, deaths and marriages registration transaction accuracy rate.
- Working with Children and NDIS Checks processed (exclusions issued within three days of receiving a decision).
- Community satisfaction with the performance of councils as measured through the Local Government Community Satisfaction Survey.
Our functions
Regulation of the Victorian consumer marketplace
- Engaging with business to ensure compliance with the law and detecting and addressing non-compliance.
- Informing consumers and businesses about their rights and responsibilities under the law.
- Registration and occupational licensing.
- Regulation of the residential tenancies market.
- Free services to help resolve residential building disputes.
Identity and worker screening services
- Providing screening of persons who work with or care for children, and screening of persons engaged in risk assessed roles for the purposes of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
- Registration of significant life events by the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM).
Local government
- Supporting local councils to increase accountability, transparency and good governance, and provide support to the Victorian Local Government Grants Commission.
- Activities to enhance the emergency management capability and capacity of local government.
Key initiatives
Ex-gratia relief for Porter Davis Homes customers
- Support the families who had signed a domestic building contract and paid deposits to the insolvent home builder, Porter Davis Homes, but had no valid domestic building insurance taken out by Porter Davis Homes.
Professional engineer registration scheme
- Mandatory Victorian registration scheme to help ensure Victoria’s registered engineers are appropriately qualified and experienced.
Doing what matters for local communities and local government workers
- Funding councils for a better Footscray streetscape, Laurimar public facilities, and traineeships/apprenticeships.
- Expand the Gender Equality Act 2020 to library corps and a tailored Fair Jobs Code.
Digital future of the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages
- Pilot front-end Births, Deaths and Marriages services as a function of Service Victoria.
We will also contribute to:
Reducing future justice demand and keeping the community safe
(Department of Justice and Community Safety initiative)
Supporting Community Sector Jobs
(Department of Families, Fairness and Housing initiative)
Objective 3: Corporate services that enable better service delivery and drive productivity over time
This objective aims to accelerate common corporate services to deliver integrated and customer-centred shared services to government agencies.
Areas include procurement, office accommodation management, carpool and government library services and shared central agency corporate services.
Indicators
- Benefits delivered as a percentage of expenditure under managed state purchasing contracts, including reduced and avoided costs.
- Low vacancy rates for government office accommodation maintained.
- High-quality whole of government common services provided to government agencies as assessed by feedback from key clients.
Our functions
Services to government
- Developing and maintaining a framework of whole of government policies, strategies, standards and guidelines which promote the efficient and effective use of common services including procurement, office accommodation management, carpool and government library services.
- Managing a program of whole of government procurement contracts to ensure optimum benefit to government.
- Supporting the operations of the Victorian Government Purchasing Board.
- Providing strategic and fit-for-purpose shared services advisory to clients to deliver value to the Victorian Government.
- Providing whole of government office accommodation and accommodation management.
- Providing VicFleet, carpool, government library services and shared corporate services.
Key initiative
Procurement reform
- Priority social procurement reforms to strengthen social procurement compliance and improve process efficiency.
- Streamline and simplify government purchasing for both buyers and suppliers, improving procurement technology and leveraging the government spend to achieve greater value for Victorians.
Centralised accommodation management
- New fit-out solutions, proactive leasing management, and building re-stacking to derive overall accommodation savings across government.
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