A life events approach to Government services

With an average of more than 780,000 visits each day, myGov plays a critical role connecting Australians with information, payments and services.

The myGov website moved to a new digital platform in September 2022. Working with teams from more than 20 Australian and state government agencies, Services Australia brought together information about payments and services structured around the life events of users, rather than the work of individual Government departments.

The new myGov structures around life events launched in September 2022
Image: Services Australia

The idea of using life events to structure content is built on years of research undertaken by many agencies. The approach allows myGov to act as a digital navigator, helping people discover information relevant to them at a point in time.

Responding to testing the new structure, customers said that:

• it is easy to find relevant information
• content is more engaging and easy to read
• the approach supports them to complete their tasks.

For ongoing improvement to the customer experience on myGov, performance is monitored using web analytics, page polling, surveys and terms used with search and the digital assistant. Operational insights from staff and service delivery are also important to help ensure content meets people’s needs.

There is strong evidence of people finding myGov through search engines and referring links on agency websites. People are exploring content and shifting their behaviour from only using myGov as a portal to engaging with information and online services. For example, information about scams, privacy and security, preparing for tax time and planning to go overseas are some topics generating positive page poll responses above 75%.

To develop the content for the new myGov, Services Australia:

• sourced expertise from business, policy, communications, web and content areas from more than 20 partner agencies
• hosted around 35 cross-agency content design sessions and consultations
• established 3 cross agency forums to hold open and robust conversations around the content work program and to collaborate on content design standards
• co-designed the myGov content governance framework and myGov content strategy, using peer review and industry benchmarking processes.

These partnerships have ongoing value for Government and the community, with connections between agencies enabling future content and communication collaboration.

It feels like the door is open and we’re demonstrating genuine stakeholder engagement. – Department of Health and Aged Care SES

The work we have done together is an example of best practice around collaboration. – Department of Social Services SES

See also

Australian Government (n.d.) MyGov, MyGov website, https://my.gov.au/, accessed 5 October 2023.