DIGITAL STRATEGY FOR THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN
GOVERNMENT 2021–2025
289. Mr G. BAKER to the Minister for Innovation and ICT:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's ongoing
efforts to improve the delivery of services to the Western Australian community
and Western Australian businesses. Can the minister outline to the house how
the new whole-of-government digital strategy
will help drive better service delivery, reduce the regulatory burden on businesses
and make it easier for Western Australians to engage government?
Mr D.T. PUNCH
replied:
I am delighted with that
question and I thank the member for South Perth for his great interest in all
things technology and online. Thank you.
The digital economy is an
exciting field. The digital world is growing exponentially with new advances in
technology daily. Digital technology is fundamentally changing the way
that citizens relate to government. We understand on this side of the house
that any successful digital strategy must be centred on the needs of people,
communities and businesses. It is about putting people first. The McGowan
government's digital strategy will address four strategic priorities:
better services; informed decision-making; safety and security; and digital
inclusivity.
The first of those
strategic priorities, better services, is focused on ensuring people and
businesses can make the most of their
transactions with the WA government online. It will integrate government
services so that Western Australians can interact with one government
agency rather than multiple agencies. People will soon be able to securely log
on to the WA gov portal and access government services in one safe place. It is
aimed to put people and businesses at the centre of our online strategy by
designing an online presence built around the needs of people and businesses.
Smarter services will be driven by data insights enabling the WA public sector
to evaluate how effectively daily operations are servicing Western Australians.
We will continue to listen and learn from citizens and industry, as this
government has always done, and make it easier for them to communicate with us.
It will also mean that our digital strategy will ensure decisions made by the
state government are backed by data. Using data to inform our decisions will
optimise outcomes and enable us to achieve better outcomes.
We also understand that data protection is crucial in the
current environment in which cyber attacks are being experienced around the
world in unprecedented quantities. The scale of cyber attacks means that we
have to act. The strategy focuses on protecting our systems and online services
from cyber attacks and will strengthen the state government's capability to detect and prevent such attacks.
Initiatives under the strategy will include a cybersecurity incident
reporting portal that will allow agencies to report cyberthreats and help in
the coordination for a united government response, as well as stronger privacy
protections for personal data.
The McGowan government is ensuring that no-one is left behind
as our services become more digital. The digital strategy will remove barriers
to inclusion so that all Western Australians can access and use the internet
and digital technology. Life is becoming more digital and we need to make it
easier for Western Australians to communicate with government in a convenient,
smart and secure way. At the heart of this strategy is the premise that all Western Australians should have access to quality,
affordable internet services and the skills needed to take advantage of
the digital economy.