Direct link: digital.gov.au/policy/digital-experience/digital-service-standard
Responsible agency: Digital Transformation Agency
Last updated: 28 October 2024
The Digital Service Standard is part of a suite of standards and guidance that support the Digital Experience Policy. It sets the requirements for designing and delivering digital government services and puts people and business at the centre of government digital service delivery. It guides digital teams to create and maintain digital services that are:
- user-friendly
- inclusive
- adaptable
- measurable.
The Data and Digital Government Strategy sets a 2030 vision for: the Australian Government to deliver simple, secure and connected public services, for all people and businesses, through world class data and digital capabilities. The Digital Service Standard supports this vision by promoting consistency across digital services.
Version 2.0 of the standard has 10 criteria compared to 13 in the former version. The changes reflect the Government’s increased level of digital maturity and the enhanced adoption of trust and protection principles since 2016. The reinvigorated standard also strengthens inclusion and accessibility requirements, so that no one is left behind when accessing Government’s digital services.
The Digital Service Standard v2.0 applies to new public and staff facing services from 1 July 2024 and existing public facing services from 1 July 2025.
Access the standard
The digital.gov.au website hosts the Digital Service Standard (full text).
The criteria
Agencies must meet 10 criteria to create and maintain digital services that are user-friendly, inclusive, adaptable and measurable:
- Have a clear intent – a clear, high-level definition of the user problem being solved balances their needs with government priorities and requirements.
- Know your user – deeply understanding the contexts and reasons that users choose or avoid a service will reveal how to make it more valuable to them.
- Leave no one behind – a deliberate effort to challenge assumptions and design for marginalised users will ensure the service is inclusive, accessible and useful for all.
- Connect services – designing and building a connected, interoperable service grants users a simple, seamless experience and enables government to function as one.
- Build trust in design – making sure the service is useful, easy, inclusive, transparent and stable will build users’ trust and confidence in government.
- Don’t reinvent the wheel – drawing on other agencies’ experiences and adopting common platforms, patterns and standards will deliver value for government and familiarity to users.
- Do no harm – understanding how a service impacts users’ digital rights and privacy will protect them from adverse and unintended consequences.
- Innovate with purpose – innovating with clear intent will give meaning and justification to harnessing new technologies and avoid new for the sake of new.
- Monitor your service – continuous monitoring and measurement of services will ensure they operate smoothly, remain secure and cater for users’ evolving needs.
- Keep it relevant – by responding to users’ feedback and changing needs with impactful improvements, the service will remain fit for purpose.