Fed gov leads cross tasman digital maturity ranking

The Australian Federal Government ranked first among 10 Australian and New Zealand jurisdictions for Whole-of-Government digital maturity. It scored 88.3 out of 100, almost 15 points ahead of New South Wales.

Federal lead

New South Wales placed second with 73.4 after leading every edition of the previous assessment. Western Australia followed with 72.9, ahead of Queensland on 72.6 and the Australian Capital Territory on 71.1.

New Zealand ranked sixth with 69.9. Victoria scored 64.9, South Australia 60.9 and Tasmania 60.6. The Northern Territory finished last with 54.1.

"The Federal Government topped the leaderboard, with a score of 88.3. Next is New South Wales (which has been top of the leaderboard in all previous reports), at 73.4," said Judy Hurditch, managing director and principal analyst, Intermedium.

The Federal Government's result reflected its digital service funding, the authority of the Digital Transformation Agency and the mandatory status of several technology policies. The assessment also cited the maturity of the national digital identity system and its use across jurisdictions.

The Federal Government received the maximum category score for replatforming. It also performed strongly in data-driven services, funding and governance, workforce development and citizen experience.

Investment controls

Digital offices are gaining greater influence over government technology spending. Several now review or endorse digital business cases before they are submitted to Cabinet for funding.

Central digital leaders hold significant authority over investment proposals in the Federal Government, New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT. Agencies must show that proposed systems comply with Whole-of-Government priorities, policies and architecture standards.

The Digital Transformation Agency acts as the gatekeeper for major federal digital proposals under the Digital and ICT Investment Oversight Framework. Agencies must demonstrate alignment with shared strategies and technical standards before proposals proceed to Cabinet.

New South Wales applies similar controls to projects seeking support from the Digital Restart Fund. Queensland assesses major proposals through its governance and assurance frameworks. Digital Canberra reviews technology business cases in the ACT.

"A significant number of WofG digital offices (such as the Digital Transformation Agency) have endorsement authority over technology business cases put forward for Cabinet funding consideration. Several of these offices are also the authors and custodians of mandatory policies and frameworks," said Hurditch.

Shared platforms

Governments are moving away from separate agency websites, accounts and transaction systems. Services are increasingly being directed through central portals, digital accounts and reusable government platforms.

Unified service portals include myGov, MyServiceNSW, Service Victoria, mySAGOV and the Govt.nz app. However, most jurisdictions do not yet require every agency to place all services within a single account.

New South Wales received the highest assessment for its central portal. It organises information around life events and provides AI-generated summaries in search results.

Queensland is adapting government website content for AI search and large language models. Western Australia requires agencies to consolidate public information into its central portal. It also requires future digital transactions to use ServiceWA or another approved shared platform.

Digital identity systems are becoming more interconnected. South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland allow citizens to use the Federal Government's myID for some state services. New Zealand's RealMe system operates across government and parts of the private sector.

AI governance

AI safety rules vary across the region. The ACT received the highest assessment because agencies must submit AI risk evaluations to a central advisory group before deploying a system.

Federal, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australian and Northern Territory agencies must also conduct risk assessments. Final deployment decisions often remain with individual departments or accountable officials.

Rules for citizen-facing chatbots are less developed. Most governments allow agencies to deploy AI assistants under broader digital or AI guidelines. Few require a common architecture that would standardise chatbot functions across departments.

The Federal Government requires agencies to inform people when they are interacting with AI. Western Australia also requires disclosure and a pathway for human review. Other jurisdictions generally encourage transparency without requiring point-of-service notices for every interaction.

"Given the strong push to include AI in citizen-facing channels, suppliers need to ensure their solutions align with the move towards platforms, AI safety frameworks, cyber resilience mandates, and long-term value for money," said Hurditch.