Mr Dominello spoke in-depth about the plans and possibilities of digital service delivery by governments. 

Data innovation can greatly benefit and influence our economy, stated Mr Dominello, but for it to work, the government needs to revolve services around the individual to ensure quality service delivery and to ensure services are adopted by the public. 

The minister keyed in to one of the most significant roles of governments, “we get elected to provide services, and if we don’t do that right then everything starts falling apart”.  

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It is essential for governments to evolve alongside the new technological environment in a way that assures empowerment and privacy for its citizens, he noted, and control of data is an integral aspect of whether citizens will be empowered or disempowered by their data. 

“There is a fine line between a corporate and state-controlled big brother world, and a world where we improve our democracy in a way where we have more control,” said Mr Dominello, “and it is a non-negotiable which route we take”. 

The government is beginning to roll out several kinds of digital products — digital certifications, including digital birth certificates, drivers’ licences, and academic certifications — as well as a health app, which will hold health data, pharmaceutical records, pathology records, x-ray records and the like. 

The minister detailed some of the novel advantages that these services will allow. 

In the case of the health app, the individual will have increased access to their health information and hold control over sharing the information, he stated; it also allows for data portability.  

“Going between different health services, the individual can securely share their private information on their terms, rather than health practices holding the information while individuals do consent forms with the sharing going on behind the scenes,” he said. 

In the case of digital certifications and credentials, they sit in the wallet on the device, and the user can choose who to share it with and when, in a secure way, he said. 

“There is a quantum shift in how people are engaging with governments digitally,” noted the minister, and it’s clear that trust is the most essential aspect for the public to adopt digital government services. 

“We found trust in privacy to be essential for one of the first major government-created digital services — the COVID check-in feature.

“We said to the public, this data only goes to health — police can’t access it, no one else can — this was enshrined in law. 

“Once people think their information can go to the broader reaches of government, then people aren’t going to use it,” he said. 

“The individual should be at the centre of the data ecosystem.

“We must make sure the individual has control of their data, who they share it with and the like, so it means the government does not have a snail trail they can piece together.”

Design features need to be embedded in services to assure security and privacy of information, he said, “for the case of digital IDs and credentials, the government doesn’t store the credentials, they just provide the certification of them”.

“The heart of this movement is to empower the individual with control over their data,” he noted.

The minister also spoke about the advantage technology provides in allowing for an instantaneous feedback mechanism to governments on the quality of their service. 

Digital services can give individuals the opportunity to shape them, by providing feedback to governments on the quality of the service, posed Mr Dominello.

“Providing feedback on service delivery is like a micro election,” he said, “at the moment government’s a monopoly. We’re here for three years, four years, the only way to get us out is after that time, which means you’re going to have a lot of bad service delivery before then.

“Wouldn’t it be good if you kept us to account for every time we delivered a service?” 

Paul Franklin, executive general manager at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), discussed the role the ACCC will play in ensuring security and credibility of data. 

“The ACCC’s role is to accredit data recipients so there is trust that data is an asset under the control of the consumer.

“The ACCC holds encryption keys, so that data can be shared securely. Data does not flow through the ACCC, they purely hold encryption keys and accreditations,” he said.  

With respect to who can access the individual’s data, “consent is absolutely critical”, said Mr Franklin. “Consent is the key to getting privacy and empowerment right for the customer,” he said.

Mr Dominello pointed out that to strike the balance of effective service delivery with the very essential and risky of secure and private data, he said that thought leadership was an essential component. 

“Leaders need to push the envelope in this space. 

“You need great leadership that will take informed, educated risk — it’s the way forwards,” he said.