Greater accessibility, upskilling communities and building resilience for the future are at the heart of the Minns Labor Government's new digital roadmap for New South Wales.
The NSW Digital Strategy launched today sets out how the state will deliver innovative, inclusive and secure digital services to improve the lives of residents. For the first time, the new strategy includes a way to track progress on digital as a state.
The NSW Digital Strategy is built around five key missions:
- Accessibility: Make digital services accessible, inclusive and connected for all people in NSW
- Productivity: Use digital to advance service delivery, support the local economy and drive productivity
- Trust: Build trust through reliable, stable government services and sustainable digital infrastructure
- Resilience: Keep NSW safe and resilient for emergencies online and in-person
- Digital Skills: Uplift digital capability in our public sector workforce.
This provides a roadmap for how NSW will harness digital transformation to support economic growth, improve service delivery and create more connected communities.
NSW is home to 32 per cent of Australia's population and is one of the most diverse states in the world, with the Government committed to making digital services inclusive by supporting all NSW communities on their digital journey.
People responding to a NSW Government survey to understand the challenges faced when engaging with digital technologies and services found 1 in 5 people (22 per cent) feel they lack the necessary skills to perform important online tasks such as job searching, working, studying or accessing government services.
The feedback also found those aged 65+, from low-income households or whose highest education level is high school are less likely to feel confident in performing these tasks.
The strategy leverages leading technology and builds on large-scale projects already underway, including ongoing work to deliver a secure and privacy-preserving NSW digital identity and verifiable credentials system for use across the public and private sectors.
Key initiatives under the strategy include:
- Delivery of the NSW Digital ID and NSW Digital Wallet to enable a safer, more inclusive digital economy by streamlining services and providing a secure way to prove who you are.
- The state's first Digital Inclusion Strategy, informed by community input which shows that key barriers to inclusion include not just location, physical challenges and economic factors, but also confidence in digital skills and trust in digitalisation.
- Better coordination of information and communications technology spending across government to reduce duplication and an enhanced approach to cyber security coordination, governance and investment.
- Supporting housing delivery by improving the NSW Planning Portal and developing the Digital Housing Pipeline, an initiative that offers access to information on the delivery of new homes, facilitating improved collaboration among developers, government agencies and homeowners to streamline the process from planning to occupancy.
- Delivering secure and resilient critical communications for emergency services and supporting communities during disasters by building on projects like the Hazards Near Me app which includes fire, storm, tsunami and flood information.
- Updating strategies to leverage data and use artificial intelligence to enhance the response to natural disasters and emergencies through tools like RFS Athena which predicts fire behaviour.
The NSW Digital Strategy puts people at its heart by targeting practical benefits, powered by community insights and formulated through extensive collaboration with industry and academic partners. For more information, read the strategy at www.digital.nsw.gov.au/strategy
Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib said:
"The NSW Digital Strategy lays the foundation for a future for digital services that are more secure, inclusive and accessible, and is a commitment to improving people's daily lives."
"This strategy is about more than just technology- it's about people and how we build world-class digital services that strengthen our communities while supporting economic growth."
"Our key missions of accessibility, productivity, trust, resilience and skills will help ensure we deliver with purpose on the things people need, like increasing access to government services."
"We are already bringing our strategy to life, through initiatives like our new EasyRead hub and updated AI frameworks, by ensuring digital infrastructure is front of mind for government projects, and by improving cyber security coordination and investment."
"From Western Sydney to regional and remote NSW, our vision is for a more connected state and a government that embraces new technologies and brings everyone on the journey."
"The NSW Digital Strategy will help ensure we continue to innovate and build digital services that are both forward-thinking and responsive to the needs of the community we serve."
