myGov vendor selection creates work delay


Denham Sadler
National Affairs Editor

Work is yet to begin on the pivotal second stage of the federal government’s myGov redevelopment, with a private contractor yet to be selected for the project.

The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) is heading the program, which will develop a new version of myGov, to initially run alongside the existing platform and eventually replace it.

Deloitte has so far led the work on the project after being contracted by the DTA, with the consulting giant paid just under $30 million last year to develop a prototype then a beta version of the platform, which launched publicly late last year as part of a trial.

Centrelink
People waiting: Services Australia has not signed a contract for myGov second phase

Deloitte was awarded a $1.2 million contract with Services Australia for further work on this beta, running from late November to the end of 2020.

The second stage of the project, dubbed Horizon 2, will include the bulk of the work, with a “systems integrator with hosting and software partners” to fully develop the platform, including a dashboard, profile, inbox and forms.

Despite plans for work to kick off on this stage midway through 2020, a spokesperson for Services Australia confirmed that the department is still yet to sign the contract for this work, despite opening procurement early last year.

“Procurement to support Horizon 2 development is underway. The outcome will be published on AusTender once completed,” the spokesperson told InnovationAus.

This means the project has stalled so far in 2021, with Deloitte’s contract coming to an end on 31 December last year.

Consultancy firm Nous was awarded a $11,000 pay rise for its work providing advice and support for the myGov project, making its contract, running until May, worth $1.06 million.

Deloitte first won a small contract to quickly develop a prototype of the new myGov platform in early 2020. It then won a contract initially worth $9.5 million to turn this into a working beta, but this was eventually tripled in value to $28.1 million after a series of amendments in 2020.

This contract was initially with the DTA, running until November when it was awarded the new deal with Services Australia.

The first stage of the project, which has now been completed, saw the creation of the beta myGov platform, including personalised contact, a web-based myGov inbox, opt-in notifications and login access to myGov.

Once fully functional, the DTA has said the new version of myGov will offer a user experience in line with social media giants and other tech companies.

“This platform will collect services, apps and other customer experience capabilities to give users everything they need. This will operate on a ‘Netflix’ model, providing users with what they need to do next based on their previous interactions with government services – similar to Netflix’s ‘recommended to you’,” the DTA said last year.

A number of other private companies have won work as part of the myGov project. Law firm King and Wood Mallesons has been paid $1.75 million to provide legal services, along with the DTA’s digital identity project, while Maddocks was paid $100,000 for legal services.

Deloitte rival McKinsey was also paid nearly $1 million to develop a business case for the new version of myGov, while Proximity Advisory Services won a $100,000 contract to provide probity advice on the project.

myGov vendor selection faces work delays

By Denham Sadler

Work is yet to begin on the pivotal second stage of the federal government’s myGov redevelopment, with a private contractor yet to be selected for the project.

The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) is heading the program, which will develop a new version of myGov, to initially run alongside the existing platform and eventually replace it.

Deloitte has so far led the work on the project after being contracted by the DTA, with the consulting giant paid just under $30 million last year to develop a prototype then a beta version of the platform, which launched publicly late last year as part of a trial.

Deloitte was awarded a $1.2 million contract with Services Australia for further work on this beta, running from late November to the end of 2020.

The second stage of the project, dubbed Horizon 2, will include the bulk of the work, with a “systems integrator with hosting and software partners” to fully develop the platform, including a dashboard, profile, inbox and forms.

Despite plans for work to kick off on this stage midway through 2020, a spokesperson for Services Australia confirmed that the department is still yet to sign the contract for this work, despite opening procurement early last year.

“Procurement to support Horizon 2 development is underway. The outcome will be published on AusTender once completed,” the spokesperson told InnovationAus.

This means the project has stalled so far in 2021, with Deloitte’s contract coming to an end on 31 December last year.

Consultancy firm Nous was awarded a $11,000 pay rise for its work providing advice and support for the myGov project, making its contract, running until May, worth $1.06 million.

Deloitte first won a small contract to quickly develop a prototype of the new myGov platform in early 2020. It then won a contract initially worth $9.5 million to turn this into a working beta, but this was eventually tripled in value to $28.1 million after a series of amendments in 2020.

This contract was initially with the DTA, running until November when it was awarded the new deal with Services Australia.

The first stage of the project, which has now been completed, saw the creation of the beta myGov platform, including personalised contact, a web-based myGov inbox, opt-in notifications and login access to myGov.

Once fully functional, the DTA has said the new version of myGov will offer a user experience in line with social media giants and other tech companies.

“This platform will collect services, apps and other customer experience capabilities to give users everything they need. This will operate on a ‘Netflix’ model, providing users with what they need to do next based on their previous interactions with government services – similar to Netflix’s ‘recommended to you’,” the DTA said last year.

A number of other private companies have won work as part of the myGov project. Law firm King and Wood Mallesons has been paid $1.75 million to provide legal services, along with the DTA’s digital identity project, while Maddocks was paid $100,000 for legal services.

Deloitte rival McKinsey was also paid nearly $1 million to develop a business case for the new version of myGov, while Proximity Advisory Services won a $100,000 contract to provide probity advice on the project.

Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.

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