Australian government departments could save taxpayers
up to AUD$300 million this year through electronic service delivery,
but inadequate reporting procedures are hampering its take-up,
according to a recent survey.
The survey, conducted by APT Strategies, concluded that through
the use of electronic service delivery, government agencies and
departments were able to increase efficiencies and save money.
But the extent to which money is being saved is unknown because
there are no standards in place to monitor key performance metrics,
including accurate visitor statistics, financial data and reporting
procedures. "In our analysis, we found inconsistent definitions,
standards and evaluation techniques and timeframes," said Marc
Phillips, CEO of APT Strategies. "In any benchmarking, there needs
to be standardisation and reporting of this..."
The report estimated that some 40 percent of Australian
government departments and agencies are not correctly recording
statistics. "It was pretty disgraceful," said Phillips.
Phillips was incredulous that the government hadn't ensured that
steps were taken to emphasise the savings. "[The cost savings] could
represent a major coup for the current Liberal governement,"
explained Phillips. However, nothing is being done to quantify or
emphasise the impact of these savings on the Australian taxpayer.
"People are complaining that there is no money for roads, but if
you can tell the taxpayers that you've saved them $300 million it's
in your interest to tell them," said Phillips.
