O'Farrell slams govt websites, flags portal

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said today at CeBIT Australia that he was looking to a new government web portal to fix the woeful state of the government's current web presence.

Premier Barry O'Farrell.
(Barry O'Farrell image by Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW, CC BY 2.0)

He acknowledged that the government's web presence isn't currently up to scratch, which makes things difficult for time-poor citizens.

"I encourage you just to look at the Department of Premier and Cabinet's website to see how unattractive, how unresponsive and how — as my 17-year-old son would say — how useless some of them can be," he said.

"To address this, we're intending to develop a web portal entirely focussed around the customer and their needs."

He said that he is following examples around the globe, such as New York, Canada and Hong Kong, which had set up one-stop web shops.

He said that there are many government organisations currently operating independently that could be rolled together, so that people only have to go to one place.

O'Farrell said that the government had also recognised the future of apps.

He said that he'd like to see apps that didn't show just when trains were meant to arrive, but also in real-time when they will arrive.

Currently, the TripView app for iPhone and Android devices lists the timetables for Sydney's buses, trains and ferries; however, unlike a similar app for trams in Victoria, the app doesn't provide real-time transport location details.