Published: Jan 24, 2025

How technology can deliver seamless services in Australia’s public sector

Building trust in government through deeper citizen engagement

Demand for personalised service has grown at a time when the landscape of work has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years, driven by technological advancements, shifting workforce expectations, and, most notably, the global COVID-19 pandemic.  

An unforeseen byproduct of the pandemic was the enforced acceleration of digital transformations in both the private and public sector. Overnight, businesses were forced to adapt to survive. With entire workforces under lockdown, employees urgently needed the tools to work from home. And new ways were found to continue to meet citizen and customer expectations in a dramatically changed landscape.  

An earlier survey by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) looked at the ‘Six Pillars of Customer Experience Excellence’, including personalisation, time and effort, resolution, integrity, expectations and empathy. CEDA found that the Australian public sector made ‘great advances in delivering improvements in customer experience and doing so during some of the most challenging times.’ Australians’ expectations didn’t waiver during the pandemic – on the contrary, they expected the government to continue delivering services and develop new ones to enable them to carry on as close to normal. 

Today, more than a third of Australians continue working from home, with hybrid arrangements increasingly common, according to recent research. Demand for citizen-centric services is increasing, with major executive agencies at times continuing to hire new staff to reduce claims backlog and call wait times.

Confidence in the public sector in Australia is built on trust. To maintain this trust, key decision makers need to continue harnessing emerging technologies and improve approaches for delivering citizen service with intimacy. A recent survey of public sector employees found 85% of government workers surveyed had recently experienced a digital initiative being implemented in their department or agency.  

There are warning signs, however, that show government agencies still have work to do. Despite innovative technologies helping streamline services, data issues are still prevalent – just 11% of public sector workers surveyed as part of the same study said they have no issues with accessing the data they need to do their jobs. As part of the same research: 

• 63% of Australian government workers believed the adoption of new technologies made government services more accessible to citizens 

• 33% of government workers often said they had to undertake tasks without all the data they need 

• 74% of government workers mentioned never or very rarely using AI in their current role. 

Working with a partner that understands the importance of service quality and the complex processes of government departments can help key decision makers at public agencies avoid inefficient data silos.

NCS has used AWS cloud services complemented with ins8.ai, NCS’ hyperlocal speech recognition solution, to add generative AI features to the Singapore Ministry of Manpower's (MOM’s) Contact Centre.  

You can find out more about this work in this case study. 

This work has followed NCS serving alongside MOM, with HEART.

The Australian Government has said that by 2030 it aims ‘to use data and digital technologies to deliver connected, accessible services which are centred around the needs of people and business.’ Helping public sector departments become more responsive to customer needs would enable them to keep the hard-earned trust it built from when the pandemic made innovation a necessity. And by leading the way on integrating new technology, there is a genuine opportunity to, in turn, inspire the private sector so that every Australian benefits.

NCS Australia provides services and solutions in consulting, digital, applications and cloud. Our diverse workforce has delivered a wealth of large-scale, mission-critical, and multi-platform projects for governments and businesses nationally. The NCS Australia team is able to draw on experiences and resources from across the region to support public sector clients with delivering services that are personal, timely and secure.