Guest Blog by NSW Leader of the Opposition, Barry O’Farrell

Improving the relationship between government and people  I’m a believer in the power of IT improving the relationship between Government and people – I’ve had a website since 1998 (www.barryofarrell.com.au) and these days I’m an active tweeter (www.twitter.com/barryofarrell).

However the NSW Labor Government after 14 years in power just doesn’t get it. For instance, if you want to visit the new Communities NSW website – www.communities.nsw.gov.au, it’s almost the same URL as Community Services (formerly known as DoCS) - www.community.nsw.gov.au - just 4 letters different. To make things more confusing, Community Services is not linked at all to Communities NSW - it's part of the NSW Department of Human Services.

My point is we have the opportunity to use IT to revolutionise how Government provides services to people. Having said this, the bad use of IT places barriers between Government and people - making all our lives harder and not easier.

The great misconception is that IT is simply a way to replicate offline transactions – online – at a more efficient and cheaper cost. However it’s actually an opportunity to rethink how we transact in the first place.

So, where do I see the opportunities? 

Firstly, we need to make it easier for people to interact with Government. Most Government service transactions should be online – but disappointingly they’re not. For example, why can’t you purchase or renew train, bus and ferry tickets online, rather than facing the Monday morning queue at the train station? I’d like to be able to leverage technology to improve service delivery, including things like:

• An integrated transport authority that provides modern online ticketing to avoid queues;
• Electronic record keeping that provides detailed and accurate patient care in our health system; and
• Development of a digital curriculum for schools that makes learning more relevant for students and gives teachers new tools to make their jobs easier and more effective.

Secondly, to change the nature of the transactions so that people have a one stop relationship with Government – rather than multiple relationships with NSW Health, RTA, Education, Office of State Revenue, and 160 departments and agencies.

That means investing in IT to allow the Government to act as one coordinated organisation. 

Sadly, as the Ombudsman’s report into the child death of Ebony reveals, Government agencies - such as DoCS, Housing, Education and Police - don’t effectively and efficiently communicate with each other as they should.

The effective use of communication should be enhanced so that, for instance:

• You can renew your fishing licence on the same website that you renew your driver’s licence.
• When you move, you don’t have to tell the Government what you new address is multiple times.
• One Government department doesn’t make short-term decisions that increase costs for another Government department.

A future NSW Liberal & Nationals Government is energised to embrace technology to make it easier for people to have a one stop efficient and effective relationship with the Government – to make NSW a smarter state.

What do you think? Let me know by writing below about how a future NSW Liberals & Nationals Government can assist you!

You can have you say by commenting below or by visiting www.barryofarrell.com.au.

Comments

• Anonymous
  October 17, 2010
  Lots of good ideas here, Barry. You are certainly echoing the community but once again you are light on the details of implementation.