The Australian Data and Digital Council Meetings 2019

Who is the ADDC?

The Australian Data and Digital Council (ADDC) is a collaborative council from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. It’s made up of ministerial representatives from all Australian states and territories.

Who are the members?

The ADDC includes representatives from each state and territory, and the Chair represents the Federal Government. In 2019, there were three meetings.

Attending the first meeting (in April 2019) were:

Commonwealth Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation, the Hon Michael Keenan MP
The Hon Victor Dominello MP (NSW)
The Hon David Pisoni MP (SA)
The Hon Mick Gentleman MLA (ACT)
The Hon Lauren Moss MLA (NT)
Senior officials represented Victoria and Tasmania

The second meeting (in September 2019) was attended by:

Commonwealth Minister for Government Services, the Hon Stuart Robert MP
The Hon Victor Dominello MP (NSW)
The Hon Gavin Jennings MLC (VIC)
The Hon Mick de Brenni MP (QLD)
The Hon John Gardner MP (SA)
The Hon Michael Ferguson MP (TAS)
Mr Mick Gentleman MLA (ACT)
The Hon Lauren Moss MLA (NT)
The third meeting (in December 2019) was attended by:
The Hon Stuart Robert (Commonwealth)
The Hon Victor Dominello MP (NSW)
The Hon Gavin Jennings MLC (VIC)
The Hon Mick de Brenni MP (QLD)
The Hon Dave Kelly MP (WA)
Mr Mick Gentleman MLA (ACT)

What’s the ADDC’s role?

The purpose of the ADDC is to facilitate and drive smarter service delivery and improved policy outcomes through cross-government collaboration on data and digital transformation.

The Council works to align policies and services across Australia, focusing on:

Reforming cross-jurisdictional data and digital platforms, services and protocols
Building public trust and delivering a seamless digital identity experience for citizens
Transforming government services around life events

The ADDC operates the critical role of data and technology in the governance and development of Australia’s digital landscape.

The ADDC’s first 2019 meeting

The first meeting for 2019 took place in Melbourne on 5 April 2019. The discussions covered five main areas:

‘State of the data and digital nation’ report – The ‘State of the data and digital nation’ report was endorsed. The report displays the progress of key digital and data initiatives and identifies potential areas for collaboration to enhance government services.
Redesigning government services around key life events – Ministers discussed simplifying how the public engages with government services during critical ‘life events’ by adopting a human-centred approach, reducing duplication, and streamlining interaction. Senior Officials will continue to explore streamlining services through a ‘life event’ methodology.
Simplifying businesses’ engagement with government – Ministers agreed to a joint Commonwealth, state and territory working group focused on streamlining and improving government procurement processes.
The digital divide – Ministers agreed to continue to prioritise digital inclusion in future transformation initiatives, especially for jurisdictions with significant remote and regional communities.
Strategic priorities for the Council – Ministers agreed to work on national API design guides, improving services for up-skilling Australians, e-invoicing and e-planning, and collaborating on policy matters relating to emerging technologies.

For more information, you may like to read the full PMC communication for the 5 April 2019 meeting.

The ADDC’s second 2019 meeting

The second meeting on 6 September 2019 took place in Brisbane and covered the following four main topics:

‘Life events’ services transformation – Ministers discussed improving government services around significant ‘life events’ by designing them around people’s needs. They agreed to principles to guide national initiatives and reduce duplication. The ACT will lead a ‘Birth of a Child’ pilot to simplify and streamline registering the birth of a baby and enrolling for government payments. NSW, QLD and the Commonwealth will investigate digital birth certificates.
National Disability Data Asset – The Council agreed to develop a ‘first of its kind’ enduring longitudinal National Disability Data Asset to overcome barriers of sharing data between jurisdictions and improve services for people with disabilities. The Commonwealth has provided up to $15 million for the pilot phase.
Transformation of e-invoicing – Ministers agreed to develop a plan for the widespread adoption of e-invoicing across all government agencies. The Commonwealth and NSW also agreed to a joint limited pilot of the PEPPOL standard with industry.
Digital driver’s licences – Ministers agreed to work together to explore if digital driver’s licences can be made compatible across different jurisdictions.

For more information, you may like to read the full PMC communication for the 6 September 2019 meeting.

The ADDC’s third 2019 meeting

The third meeting on 6 December 2019 took place in Sydney and covered the following five main areas:

National API design standards – Ministers agreed to national API design standards, allowing secure data sharing between all levels of government and trusted third parties.
Pan-European Public Procurement Online Standard (PEPPOL) for e-invoicing – The PEPPOL standard for e-invoicing pilot was successful. The Australian Tax Office, Commonwealth agencies, NSW and SA will implement e-invoicing across their respective departments and agencies.
Birth defect insights through data sharing – The Commonwealth and WA have agreed to trial a new project – Privacy Preserving Record Linkage (PPRL) – to explore the linkage of Commonwealth pharmaceuticals data with WA birth defect records to gain insight into the impact of medication on pregnant mothers. PPRL was agreed upon for secure integration of data sets, potentially informing future pharmaceutical policies.
Building community trust – Ministers discussed the importance of building and maintaining public trust in how governments deliver digital services and manage their data. Council agreed future ADDC projects will prioritise a citizen-centric approach.
The Birth of a Child pilot program – Ministers discussed the progress of the Birth of a Child pilot program, which aims to automate birth registration, Medicare enrolments, and Centrelink payment services. Successful findings from the pilot will inform a national rollout, including exploration for a national digital birth certificate.

For more information, you may like to read the full PMC communication for the 6 December 2019 meeting.

Salsa Digital’s take

The 2019 ADDC meetings show a strong commitment to enhancing government services through collaboration and digital transformation. There was a focus on streamlining processes, improving secure data sharing between all levels of government and trusted third parties, and adopting citizen-centric approaches.

A key priority throughout the meetings included simplifying government services and reducing duplication for significant ‘life events’ by designing around people’s needs, while building and maintaining public trust. Promoting digital inclusion and the exploration of emerging technologies were also key points.

Ministers agreed on important initiatives, including national API design standards, the development of a National Disability Data Asset, and the implementation of PEPPOL for e-invoicing.

Overall, the 2019 meetings of the ADDC showed a proactive approach to the modernisation of government services and delivering better outcomes for our citizens.