7. Conclusions and recommendations

In Australia, policy frameworks focusing on services to the public have the citizen at the forefront of service delivery. Open data and transparency in government are clear goals. Nonetheless as noted by the most recent Federal Government National Commission of Audit report,³⁹ real deliverables still lag behind aspirations. In response to this audit report and other reviews⁴⁰ the Australian Government Digital Transformation Office was established in July 2015 as an executive agency and part of the Prime Minister’s portfolio.

The priority for governments in Australia is moving services online with high quality usability design. The public demand for services now outstrips availability. With a strong environment of intermediary community support networks, be they through formal government channels or the NGO sector, the continued investment in quality online delivery should proceed in a manner that does not disadvantage any sector of the Australian community. One of the main barriers to particular services going online is that of creating effective user authentication mechanisms in the absence of a national identity programme. This is being addressed at the national level by the expansion of the myGov facility, which is currently being shaped as a mechanism for authentication that can be used for integrated service delivery.

The default use of technology in service delivery is an important step towards good governance in the information society, but it cannot be the only strategy for inclusive governance. Older women and indigenous populations lag behind in technology access and require investments that are not merely technological. Given that projects on ICTs and gender in aboriginal communities indicate active participation by women and girls,⁴¹ an impetus for reaching women from these communities can be a critical intervention for social inclusion.

The public sector is struggling to accommodate the organizational change impact of new technologies on its operations. There is at times a tension between the technical and business units within departments. With new technologies such as cloud computing, more and more ICT programmes are coming from within business units. This will inevitably accelerate the range of tools available to address gender issues in service delivery and at the policy level. While the role of dedicated ICT professionals in organizational change may give short-term results, the institutionalization of gender-inclusive e-government depends very much on capacities of front line public servants and attention to gender-based research on user experiences.

There is a huge opportunity for governments in Australia to use a combination of strong infrastructure, sound policy and effective legislative frameworks to seize the digital opportunity for women’s empowerment and gender equality.