This popped up a few days ago:
Refresh: myGov gets new look ahead of app launch
The federal government has taken its first step towards overhauling the myGov online services portal, rolling out a refreshed website ahead of the launch of a new app later this year.
The new website, which is still at my.gov.au, has a new visual design with a modern logo and a blue colour scheme (replacing the green), but it also features a new navigational layout.
Government services minister Bill Shorten said the changes were designed to put inbox messages and linked services up front, with information on claims and payments organised according to particular life events.
“The initial topics include raising kids, changes in living arrangements, ageing, work, education and health and disability, with more topics and information to be added soon,” he said.
“The pandemic showed us the importance of having excellent connections with government services online, and these upgrades will immediately give Australians more options when using the site.”
Labor had pledged to audit the myGov service, as part of its pre-election commitments, following criticism that the portal suffered too many crashes and outages. In June, Shorten said his aim was to make myGov a more seamless and practical service, characterising the existing iteration as a “digital workhouse” that soaked up hours of peoples’ time.
The latest refresh is the first step towards the service’s eventual overhaul, the minister said, which will also include a smartphone app.
“We want Australia’s government services online to be the world’s best and the app, to be delivered soon, will further boost and simplify the user experience,” Shorten added.
Since launching in 2013, myGov has become Australia’s largest authenticated platform, connecting to government services including Medicare, the Tax Office and Centrelink. It has more than 25 million active linked accounts and an average of one million sign-ins per day, according to the Albanese government.
More here:
There is also coverage here:
Govt launches revamped myGov, says app still ‘coming soon’
Justin Hendry
Editor
Services Australia flicked the switch on the new myGov on Monday, having revealed plans to permanently replace the legacy platform – which was last upgraded in 2017 – last month.
“From today, the myGov website has changed colour from green to blue, as part of a broader upgrade,” Government Services minister Bill Shorten said.
The changeover was followed by reports of issues in myGov accounts for some users on Monday, with the source of the problems now the subject of an investigation by the services agency.
While the upgrade is largely cosmetic, including a new layout to help people see the inbox messages and linked services more easily, additional functionality is expected to be added over time.
Minister Shorten said the “upgrades will immediately give Australian’s more options when using the site” but stressed that they were “only the beginning”.
“The latest upgrades to the myGov website means it has the flexibility to adapt to meet people’s information needs and preferences into the future,” he said.
“Users will also be connected to services based on life events. The initial topics include raising kids, changes in living arrangements, ageing, work, education and health and disability…”
Services Australia has been beta testing the new myGov with users since September 2021 and began actively prompting users to try it out during tax time in July.
Underpinned by the government’s digital experience platform (GOVDXP), the new myGov is the result of more than two years of development by US consulting giant Deloitte.
Deloitte has been involved with the redevelopment since the very beginning, having landed an near-$1 million contract through a limited tender to develop a prototype for the new platform.
Since then, Deloitte has been paid more than $30 million for its work, with additional contracts awarded through a Systems Integrator Panel also consisting of Accenture, IBM and Arq Group.
More here:
https://www.innovationaus.com/govt-launches-revamped-mygov-says-app-still-coming-soon/
Given the huge use of this portal one can hardly be critical of the Government moving slowly and deliberately as it tries to improve things for users.
It does seem, however that the access app has been a pretty long time coming (since 2019).
I guess you can never please everyone. Given how important the myGov system is for access to be clumsy myHealth Record I am sure we will hear pretty soon if that is not working well.
In this case public silence is probably a good thing!
David.
I just logged on to mygov to have a look at the new version.
ReplyDeleteThe first screen is the Dashboard
There is a list of alerts, the first of which is
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination
As I've now had my booster I decided to get a copy of the proof, so I clicked on the link.
Up comes a dialog box with two options
Go to My Health Record
and
Close.
I select the first option and get taken back to the Dashboard.
Well, that's a good start.
So, I select the My Health Record option on the dashboard and get taken to the My Health Record site I click on the Proof of vaccination | COVID-19 digital certificate link
An empty page comes up and in the background a file called 5w7W346E.pdf gets downloaded.
If I want an International COVID-19 digital certificate, there is a link that takes me to a Services Australia page. The certificate is different from the Australian one and so is the process to get one.
IMHO, they've got a long way to go to make both mygov and MyHR user friendly. And that's apart from making MyHR useful.
Not having FedHR I get the option to go to Medicare - takes me cleanly and directly to the correct page.
ReplyDeleteThe opening bit is noisy but it’s a new release so can forgive.
I will say - not having a fedHR does not limit my life choices or quality of care, the healthcare system seems to operate fine despite my lack of fedHR, answering questions and filling in forms remains a comforting interaction and distraction.