Media Release - Labor’s myopic myGov investment sets back digital transformation

The online government services portal myGov has received only a single year of funding under Labor’s 2023-24 Budget, and no additional investment has been made to continue its transformation, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy, Paul Fletcher said today. 

“Government Services Minister Bill Shorten is doing the bare minimum to provide Australians a seamless, simple and safe experience of using digital government services,” Mr Fletcher said. 

“Bill Shorten has again failed to deliver a single new digital service delivery Budget measure. In almost a year as Minister, Bill Shorten has demonstrated a worrying blind spot for digital services. He just doesn’t seem to care, but he should. 

“Labor’s growing cost of living crisis means more Australians are reaching out to Services Australia for support, so it is essential the digital ‘front door’ of government is operating smoothly.

“However, myGov has only received funding for next financial year and this investment is simply to ‘sustain’ the platform.

“This is code for funding that is designed to do no more than keep the lights on rather than enhance or improve myGov in any meaningful way.

“Labor’s funding decision falls far short of the initial $138 million the independent, expert-led myGov User Audit recommended. By contrast, the Coalition Government delivered sustainment funding alongside additional investments to upgrade the platform.

“In 2021-22, under our Digital Economy Strategy, we delivered a $200.1 million myGov investment to deliver a simpler and more tailored experience for Australians.

“Through this program, we established new features such as digital assistants, which today are core features of the myGov user experience.

“The Coalition’s investment in myGov was recently assessed by the User Audit as “well-crafted” and “put in place much needed building blocks for a better myGov.

“But the Coalition didn’t just stop at myGov. For example, we also invested over $1.5 billion on the Welfare Payment Infrastructure Transformation project, upgrading vital IT infrastructure that underpins the payment system.

“Upgrading myGov and other digital systems will be more difficult in the future because under Labor over 1,200 specialist IT jobs at Services Australia have been cut, exactly what the Community & Public Sector Union wanted.

“This is bad news for Australians who expect and deserve modern, digital-led service delivery,” Mr Fletcher said.

ENDS