MEDIA RELEASE - DATA AND DIGITAL GOVERNMENT STRATEGY A DO-NOTHING DOSSIER OF DULLNESS

PAUL FLETCHER MP

Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

MEDIA RELEASE

15 December 2023

DATA AND DIGITAL GOVERNMENT STRATEGY A DO-NOTHING DOSSIER OF DULLNESS

The Albanese Labor Government has been promising a new Data and Digital Government Strategy for months.

It has finally arrived – and it’s a deeply disappointing, dilatory, do-nothing dossier of dullness.

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy Paul Fletcher said the Strategy is a missed opportunity to provide industry and the technology sector with a clear set of priorities and direction.

“It has plenty of aspirational statements, such as: ‘The Australian Government will deliver simple, secure, and connected public services for all people and business, through world class data and digital capabilities’,” Mr Fletcher said.

“But it is entirely lacking in specific, measurable initiatives – and the money to deliver them.

“It’s no wonder the Strategy misses the mark. Labor chose not to appoint a Minister for the Digital Economy upon coming to office and Tony Burke has referred to the gig economy as a cancer.”

Other digital government failures under Labor include:

• The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) has fallen victim of Labor’s musical chairs and is now confined to the bowels of the Department of Finance.
• In July, DTA was stripped of responsibility for digital identity policy.
• Government Services Minister Bill Shorten is yet to fully respond to the myGov User Audit, and only $11.3 million in funding has been allocated for the platform through MYEFO.
• A digital credential sharing project between the Commonwealth and the NSW Government, announced by Mr Shorten in February, has been put on ice.
• According to DTA’s 2022-23 Annual Report, only 30 per cent of ICT projects assessed by the agency as being ‘strongly aligned’ to the agency’s internal assurance framework.
• In September, it was revealed that tech SMEs continued to be shut out of DTA’s Digital Marketplace.

“The Albanese Government desperately needs to apply a customer service lens across the public sector. Unfortunately, it remains unclear how this Strategy will achieve that,” Mr Fletcher said.

Media contact: William Sparling | 0416 628 276 | [email protected]