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Australians to get one login for government services

Australians will be offered a single digital identity to access services across federal, state, and local branches of government.
Written by Josh Taylor, Contributor

The Australian government has established a Digital Transformation Office (DTO), and tasked it with creating an identity to replace the tangle of usernames, passwords, and processes that Australians use to log in to dozens of government agencies and departments online.

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull will oversee the change, with the DTO to reside in his department. The DTO will recruit developers, designers, researchers, and content specialists working across government to improve digital services.

"The DTO will also work closely with state and territory governments to identify opportunities for collaboration, including ways to make better use of myGov," Turnbull said in a statement.

In an FAQ published with the announcement, Turnbull said that the DTO was established to provide a whole-of-government approach to service delivery to get agencies out of their current silos.

The services will be reusable and interconnected across the agencies, he said.

"This will enable the government to deliver high-quality services more consistently using a common 'look and feel', with users always at the centre of the digital transformation," he said.

Turnbull said it would operate more like a tech startup than a traditional government agency.

"Interacting with government should be as easy as internet banking or ordering a taxi through an app," he said.

The role of leading digital transformation used to sit in the Department of Finance and the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), but now it will sit within the Department of Communications. Turnbull said that AGIMO and Finance would still be responsible for IT procurement.

Turnbull said that DTO will work closely with AGIMO on procurement.

"This is particularly important as government agencies take greater advantage of cloud computing and transition from an own and operate model to one based on consumption," he said.

The DTO will develop an australia.gov website similar to the UK's gov.uk, Turnbull said.

The minister said security and privacy of personal information would be protected.

with AAP

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