MEDIA RELEASE - INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL GOVERNMENT REPORT CARD CONFIRMS DROP UNDER LABOR

PAUL FLETCHER MP

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy

Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

MEDIA RELEASE

Tuesday, 5 November 2024

Australia has recorded its worst result for digital government in over a decade, according to the latest E-Government Development Index.

The bi-yearly E-Government Survey, produced by the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs, ranks 193 Member States against a series of performance metrics, including cyber security, service delivery and digital inclusion.    

Australia’s international ranking for 2024 has dropped to eight place.

The dismal result comes as the Digital Transformation Agency’s (DTA) latest Annual Report confirms that the Albanese Labor Government has, for the second consecutive year, failed to achieve compliance with the whole-of-government Digital and ICT Investment Oversight Framework (the IOF). 

In 2023-24, only 61 per cent of digital investment proposals identified by the DTA as in-scope of the IOF were reviewed within Budget timelines as required by Budget Process Operational Rules, against a target of 100 per cent.

Shadow Minister for Government Services Paul Fletcher said the Albanese Labor Government had failed to carefully and coherently manage digital government. 

“The UN’s latest international benchmark, the worst result for Australia in over a decade, shows how poorly Katy Gallagher and Bill Shorten have managed digital government,” Mr Fletcher said.

The previous Coalition Government was doing a much better job as the 2023 OECD Digital Government Index shows, based on data for the period from January 2020 and October 2022, it placed Australia in the top 5 best performing countries.

Labor’s digital disasters include:

• Abandoning the goal of Australia becoming one of the top three digital governments globally by 2025.
• Failing to have a Digital Economy Minister or Digital Economy Strategy.
• Axing over 1000 specialised tech jobs, creating a digital brain drain at Services Australia.
• Playing musical chairs with digital identity policy and barring the private sector from participating in the scheme.
• Not having Services Australia initially participate in the Prime Minister’s pilot of Microsoft’s Copilot.
• Starting a pilot program on digital credential sharing with the NSW Government in February 2023, promising delivery that same year, and then having the pilot put on ice in June.
• Mishandling the sprawling Health Delivery Modernisation program, resulting in delays of project deliverables and Cabinet’s decision to baseline the project.
• Failing to deliver a 5-year roadmap for MyGov, as recommended by the MyGov User Audit.