2024 Spirit of Service Awards finalists
Congratulations to the finalists of the 2024 Spirit of Service Awards!
We received numerous strong applications from across the Australian and ACT public sector, showcasing initiatives that are driving positive change for Australia’s communities.
The finalists will go on to deliver a 3-minute video pitch presentation of their initiative to our esteemed judging panel. Join us for our celebratory awards gala on 23 October at the National Arboretum Canberra, where we’ll announce the winners.
Meet our finalists across the four award categories:
LEARNING CATEGORY
Essentials to strengthen your small business – an online learning solution for small business operators
Australian Taxation Office
This project aims to help small businesses and their supporters build skills and knowledge through a free, authoritative online learning platform. Designed by and for small businesses, it addresses their need for accessible, understandable information on tax and superannuation obligations.
The online learning platform, launched in January 2024, provides self-help resources tailored to small business feedback, supporting them in meeting their obligations effectively. It’s part of a ‘prevention before correction’ strategy, aiming to reduce errors and improve compliance. The approach focuses on long-term behavioural change with practical, repeatable content. Evaluation will track engagement and shifts in behaviour through the Tax Gap random enquiry program.
Villain Academy – A game of unscrupulous infiltration
Australian Taxation Office
The ATO’s Villain Academy is an innovative initiative marking the first interactive choose-your-own-adventure game designed to teach staff about fraud and corruption. Featuring 41 videos, it simulates a villain’s attempt to infiltrate the ATO, engaging employees in ethical decision-making and illustrating the consequences of fraud.
With over 6,000 plays, Villain Academy significantly outperforms typical content, which usually garners around 1,800 views. The game’s average view time is 18 minutes with a 78 per cent interaction rate, far exceeding industry standards. Detailed guides support the game, ensuring thorough understanding of integrity and ethical principles.
Developed using standard resources, the academy combines technology, storytelling, and interactive gameplay to enhance ATO and APS employees’ ability to identify and mitigate integrity risks. Its success highlights the effectiveness of creative educational strategies in tackling complex public sector challenges, which benefits at the individual and organisational levels.
SES100: Increasing First Nations senior executive representation in the APS
National Indigenous Australians Agency and Australian Public Service Commission
The SES100 initiative is part of the NIAA’s commitment to boosting First Nations leadership by increasing the number of First Nations SES to 100. Working in partnership with the APSC, the initiative has already made a significant impact with positive feedback received from program participants.
COLLABORATION CATEGORY
Australian Government Green Bond Program
Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) and Department of Treasury
The AOFM and Treasury have developed the Australian Government Green Bond Program with input from federal and state departments, international peers, and sustainable finance experts. Green bonds, an integral part of the Sustainable Finance Strategy, will fund public projects that advance Australia’s net zero goals and support environmental objectives. They will finance high-quality projects with clear environmental outcomes, monitored and reported by multiple agencies.
Introduced in April 2023 and detailed in the Green Bond Framework released in December 2023, the program aligns with international standards and has been validated by Sustainalytics, an external sustainability expert. It was shaped by consultations with over 30 investors and other stakeholders. AOFM promoted the bonds through a roadshow from April to May 2024, engaging 147 institutional investors globally. The first Green Treasury Bond was issued the week of 3 June 2024.
Digital Atlas of Australia - Driving informed, place-based policy decisions
Geoscience Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics, and Department of Social Services
Geoscience Australia (GA), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and the Department of Social Services (DSS) are collaborating to improve the availability, transparency, and use of socio-economic data through the new Digital Atlas of Australia. This platform integrates GA and ABS’s geospatial and statistical expertise with DSS’s policy insights.
The Digital Atlas provides accessible, interactive maps displaying population, socio-economic, and income support data. It offers insights for policymakers to forecast social security usage, costs, and tailor interventions to address disadvantage. This initiative increases government transparency and improves engagement with Australian businesses, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Bringing statutory declarations into the 21st century
Services Australia, Department of Finance, and Attorney-General’s Department (AGD)
Australian businesses and consumers create over 3.8 million Commonwealth statutory declarations annually, consuming more than 9 million hours for tasks like finding authorised witnesses, filling out forms, and processing documents. The new digital Commonwealth statutory declaration, using myGov and Digital Identity (ID), offers a simpler, secure online solution. It allows users to complete, electronically sign, and download declarations via myGov with their Digital ID, reducing time and effort compared to paper forms.
This digital solution saves up to $156 million and hundreds of thousands of hours each year, enhancing productivity. It provides users with guides, editing options, and the ability to download and share signed declarations. Developed through cross-agency collaboration with Services Australia, the Department of Finance, and AGD, this work demonstrates innovation across government portfolios to provide digital services and solutions for the benefit of all Australians.
BREAKTHROUGH CATEGORY
Embracing modern digital delivery approaches to reimagine the Apprenticeship system
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
The Apprenticeship Data Management System (ADMS) project introduced a new IT system that transformed the delivery of apprenticeship programs. It streamlined services for apprentices and employers while easing administrative tasks for Australian Apprenticeship Support Network providers. With over 200,000 stakeholders and 1 million annual transactions worth $700 million, the old systems were outdated and failed to meet needs, leading to strained relationships and low trust.
ADMS addressed these issues by integrating fragmented services and eliminating confusion from multiple portals. The project used an agile approach and emphasized end-user value, incorporating stakeholder feedback throughout its development. This method not only resolved previous challenges but also set a new standard for digital government projects, demonstrating how innovative practices and collaboration can enhance citizen outcomes.
Administrative Review Taskforce
Attorney-General’s Department
The Attorney-General’s Department is overhauling Australia’s administrative review system by replacing the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) with a new Administrative Review Tribunal. This reform, based on decades of review, expertise, and stakeholder feedback, aims to create a world-leading administrative review tribunal. Secured funding from the 2024-25 Budget features an innovative demand-driven model for long-term sustainability. The new appointments process is transparent, independent, and merit-based – likely the largest statutory appointment process in Australia.
The reform includes extensive consultation with government and stakeholder groups, an expert advisory group chaired by the Hon Patrick Keane AC KC, and amendments to 248 Commonwealth Acts. Key improvements will:
- implement a transparent, merit-based appointments process
- ensure that the new body is user-focus, efficient, accessible, independent, and fair
- implement sustainable funding arrangements
- implement a unified case management system
- introduce procedural efficiency and process improvements
- implement support services that emphasise early resolution.
Australian Government National Joint Common Operating Picture
Department of Home Affairs and National Emergency Management Agency
After the devastating 2019/2020 bushfires, the Australian Government established a royal commission, which in October 2020 recommended a national approach to natural disasters for improved emergency response and recovery. The National Join Common Operating Picture (NJCOP) project was created to support this by offering a national situational awareness and decision support. NJCOP provides:
- near-real-time automated situational awareness of nationally significant hazard events
- improved visibility of the impacts and consequences of hazard events
- enhanced coordination for national crises
- assistance with impact and consequences analysis for decision-making.
NJCOP is a cloud-based platform that automatically acquires and processes data from various sources in real time to deliver a comprehensive and up-to-date view of national hazards and their potential consequences. During crises, decisions at the ministerial level need to be made quickly based on advice from senior officials within the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The critical aspect of the NJCOP is providing near real-time information to enable decisions that directly impact communities facing nationally significant incidents. The NJCOP is a joint project between NEMA and the Department of Home Affairs.
COMMUNITY CATEGORY
Services Australia Community Partnerships Program
Services Australia
The Services Australia Community Partnerships program has set a new benchmark for effective joint government and non-government service delivery in local communities. It focuses on improving social, health, and economic outcomes for people experiencing significant vulnerability and those with the most barriers to accessing mainstream services.
Through formal partnerships, Community Partnership Specialist Officers (CPSOs) are embedded full-time in NGOs to tailor and deliver services. NGOs provide regular feedback to enhance service delivery. The program’s pilot phase, evaluated with input from various stakeholders, showed improved access to government support for individuals facing complex challenges and strengthened trust and collaboration with the non-government sector. The initiative has led to notable service delivery innovations and better outcomes for people previously disengaged from government and community support.
TGA’s Medical Devices Consumer Working Group
Department of Health and Aged Care
The Medical Devices Consumer Working Group has supported TGA’s Action Plan for Medical Devices since April 2019. The Working Group has been fundamental in TGA’s assessment of risk and issues with consumer use of devices.
The Working group has contributed a consumer voice to TGA’s work to improve:
- how new devices get on the market
- monitoring of medical devices issues and patient safety concerns
- device information given to patients
- adverse event reporting of devices in use.
As a result, patients can now make better informed choices about medical devices.
Read the action plan at https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/publication/publications/action-plan-medical-devices