Australia’s employment agency sees emerging tech opportunity with cloud move

Australia’s Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), which is focused on supporting Australians find secure, well-paid jobs by equipping them with the necessary skills, has been migrating to a cloud-based infrastructure to better serve its widely dispersed stakeholders. 

According to DEWR’s chief digital officer, Adam Shain, the move to the cloud is in accordance with the Australian Public Service’s Data and Digital Government Strategy, developed by the federal govtech agency, the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA).  

This strategy lays out a vision that “Australian Government will deliver simple, secure and connected public services, for all people and business, through world-class data and digital capabilities,” with a target date of 2030. 

DEWR comprises 4,299 Australian public service employees, as well as 772 contractors, including 557 information and communication technology (ICT) contractors.  

The department also acts as the ICT services provider for eight partner agencies including the Department of Education. 

The department is currently led by three ministers - Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Murray Watt, Minister for Skills and Training, Andrew Giles, and Assistant Minister for Employment and Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Dr Andrew Leigh.  

It is also the department in charge for entities including Australia’s industrial relations tribunal the Fair Work Commission, the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman, Safe Work Australia, and the Australian Skills Quality Authority.  

The department’s corporate plan for 2024-2025 financial year details a commitment to modernising its IT infrastructure and updating end-user platforms, while promoting digital literacy across the department and its partner agencies.  

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Following DTA’s lead 

Speaking to GovInsider, Shain said in its cloud and IT modernisation journey, DEWR has been following the lead set by DTA which is tasked with helping other departments pursue their IT modernisation and digital transformation agendas.  

In 2020, the DTA set out to build the whole-of-government Australian Government Architecture (AGA), a decision-making construct for guiding departments through ICT infrastructure decisions from strategy through to procurement through to operation. 

The AGA aims to convey the strategic outcomes the Australian government is working towards through its various digital investments, which include improving the digital experience for citizens and businesses, enabling secure online interactions with government, and digitalising services for greater accessibility and convenience. 

By aligning strategies, policies, standards and designs across government, the DTA can increase the reuse of existing services and platforms to maximise ICT capabilities, better track the government digital asset landscape, and drive consistency in the strategic direction of various agencies. 

Simplifying the technology landscape 

Shain said DEWR’s move to the cloud “will simplify our technology landscape, make our services secure, accessible and inclusive, and position the department to take advantage of modern tools such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics”. 

Through the transformation programme, the department aims to support its own digital delivery demands while improving digital experiences for its clients, he added. 

DEWR’s Data Strategy 2024–27 outlines the objectives of building on existing data governance foundations, enhancing data capability, developing data technology ethically, and transforming the department’s data analytics capabilities and practices, Shain said.  

The strategy commits the department to harnessing insights from its data assets to inform policy development and programme design, strengthening its data capability and culture, and ensuring data is managed safely and securely. 

DEWR is also adopting a hybrid approach to its cloud infrastructure deployment, he added.  

“[This] allows us to capitalise on our improved data centre and cloud environments. By evolving and consolidating our cloud footprint, we can ensure our technology ecosystem is flexible, secure, and can support emerging technologies,” he said. 

Flexibility of cloud services 

The flexibility of cloud services will enable the department to scale resources on demand to cater to changing workloads, Shain said. It will also help the department improve responsiveness and enhance the delivery of essential government services. 

Shain added that successfully handling change management and mitigating risks are key priorities while managing the digital transformation process. Addressing any potential security concerns is another key focus area.

“We continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that any risks related to cloud adoption are managed effectively,” Shain said. 

The digital transformation programme is expected to help DEWR improve recruitment outcomes. 

“We expect that in moving towards a more contemporary workplace environment and embracing digital transformation, the department will become more attractive to digital professionals looking to engage with innovative projects and modern technologies,” Shain said. 

DEWR’s corporate plan lays out plans to collaborate with the Australian Public Service Commission’s Emerging Talent Programmes Team to develop three new ICT entry-level programmes for the department.

These are the Digital Traineeship Program, the Digital Cadetship Programme and the Digital Graduate Programme, Shain said.  

Once the cloud migration is complete, the department plans to move to the next stage of its transformation, Shain added.

“We intend continuing our transformation towards a more consolidated, simplified technology landscape and leveraging new technologies where we can and [it] is appropriate,” he said. 

The department’s Digital Business Strategy outlines four shifts to transform the digital experiences provided by the department.

The four shifts are facilitating simple access for users, creating cohesive and reliable digital experiences, improving the way DEWR uses data to enhance services, and supporting policy development by ensuring key systems are integrated and connected, Shain said.