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15. Information and data management
15.1 Overview
The following section provides an overview of the data holdings associated with the current Welfare
Payment System. Of specific importance will be the data managed by the current Payment System, as this
represents the significant majority of Customer and welfare Payment data. This system contains substantial
volumes of data going back over thirty years.
15.2 Data holdings
The majority of welfare Payment data is contained within and processed by the Income Security Integrated
System. The Income Security Integrated System has been collecting data since 1984. All data collected is
still available within the system today.
15.3 Data organisation and structure
The Income Security Integrated System is a large and complex Ecosystem of M204 interlinked applications
and databases:
a)
the majority of data is stored in the non-relational M204 database management system. This
means the process of identifying and creating Customer records is more complex than when
compared to working with relational databases. This is because relationships between data
entities are not integrated into the physical database and require access to multiple sources
such as the department’s repository tool, the ‘Repository’, positional data references and, in
some cases, source-code analysis;
b)
the data stored in these databases is not fully normalised, as the focus of the Income Security
Integrated System is on performance optimisation in favour of fully formed physical models.
This means some information is repeated and could potentially require normalisation prior
to loading into the target environments;
c)
the data contained across the landscape can be fully duplicated, partially duplicated or not
duplicated. This duplication scenario complexity is significantly increased when a programme
lens is applied. Overall this means specific analysis will be required to understand, detail and
quantify the impact on the potential data migration requirements; and
d)
the current system comprises of 12 database instances that each contain a subset of
Customer records based on Customer location. This distribution of Customer records
facilitated the need to meet high levels of system performance not easily achievable with a
single large database instance. The process of identifying where a Customer is located
requires the Customer to be looked up in the National Index and the instance, where the
Customer records are stored is being established.
The current Welfare Payment System core is built on the M204 technology platform which is a technology
which uses a non-relational database structure. Data is organised into files which, in turn, are decomposed
in Records, Field Groups and Fields respectively.
The Income Security Integrated System stores data across approximately:
a)
635 files (containers in which M204 stores data);
b)
1,879 records (collections of M204 field groups);
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representation of Customers across the Welfare Payment System. Customers are identified using Customer
Reference Numbers (CRNs), covering both the individuals, children and organisations that consume
Payments or services from the department’s welfare programmes, or participate in determining Eligibility
or Entitlement.
Customer Circumstance data is used to determine Customer Eligibility for Payments and services, and the
amount of Payments and/or periods of services they are entitled to. Due to the highly complex business
rules, the system is required to hold a large range of Circumstance data, including data that is similar yet
different due to minor rule differences; for example, there are multiple definitions of income.
A major defining feature of the Income Security Integrated System’s management of Circumstance data is
the temporal nature of each Circumstance. As a Customer moves through their life, their Circumstances
(such as marriage and other relationships, residence, employment, birth, death and disability status)
change and in turn these changes affect the Customer's Eligibility and Entitlement. Circumstance changes
can potentially impact the Entitlements of related entities (e.g. family members) as well.
The current system supports the retrospective processing associated with current and prior legislative
requirements, (e.g. grandfathering of Entitlements). This has led to the creation and retention of historical
data, allowing retrospective assessments to be applied and rolled forward to produce the same outcome
as would have been achieved if the assessments and Payments had occurred at the time of Entitlement.
The Income Security Integrated System applies the concept of idempotence – operations being applied
multiple times without affecting the result – for retrospective, time-bound assessments to determine the
Entitlement calculation.
Unstructured data
In addition to formally structured data, the Income Security Integrated System also contains and links to
unstructured and semi-structured data including:
a)
case notes, referred to as DOCS, stored in the M204 database system. These contain case
information as well as data used to drive system processing and/or staff interaction;
b)
documents and images stored in the IBM FileNet product indexed by the Customer Reference
Number (CRN); and
c)
paper records managed using the HP Records Manager product.
Of the above only the M204 based Case Notes (DOCS) are within scope for replacement. The existing
document and record management capabilities will be preserved and integrated into any new System.
Customer data holdings
Currently Customer data is mastered in the Income Security Integrated System and is replicated into the
SAP CRM and ERP (Public Sector Collection and Disbursement (PSCD)) systems to support the additional
Welfare Payment System Components developed on the SAP platform.
15.5 Data reporting and analytics
Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW)
The current Welfare Payment System provides application clusters that allow M204 data to be extracted
for transformation and loading into the department’s EDW. The EDW is based on the Teradata platform.
The existing EDW capability will be retained and integrated with any new System.
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Business intelligence and reporting
The department has a wide range of business reporting and analytics solutions to support the reporting
needs of the department such as IBM COGNOS, SAS, SAP, Informatica, M204 programs, PERL scripts, COBOL
and others.
The existing capability does not fully support the evolving reporting, intelligence and analytical needs to
effectively support the business objectives such as agile policy development, policy research, national
statistics, compliance reporting and national economic planning. At present, there are information gaps in
the areas of management and operational information.
15.6 Data challenges
The WPIT Programme will seek to address the following, non-exhaustive list of current data challenges, in
order to help realise the WPIT Programme Outcomes:
Data volume – the Income Security Integrated System holds approximately 32.2 million
Customer records. The average Customer record contains approximately 32,000 data values;
Data gaps – a key issue facing effective business intelligence and management information
reporting is data gaps. The current Welfare Payment System is not collecting all data required
to support the diverse and evolving reporting needs of the department;
Third party data integration – there are challenges in ensuring the effective exchange of data
between systems and organisations due to the lack of a defined welfare information
taxonomy or common welfare data interchange standards;
Duplicate data – data is duplicated for performance and can lead to problems in identifying
master records for replication and/or extraction. Data duplication occurs across both
operational and reference data;
Data variation – complexity in business rules has driven complexity in data design where
similar (but not identical) variations exist for common data such as the definition of income;
Data standards – there is variable adoption of data standards (e.g. there is a proliferation of
point-to-point integration using a variety of data formats and standards);
Historic data – due to complex business rules, including the support for grandfathering
provisions, the Income Security Integrated System keeps significant volumes of historical
data including Customer Circumstance and transactional data. This is required to support the
aforementioned retrospective processing. This has resulted in a complex data model to
manage variations in data structure and values over time as business rules have evolved. The
need to support both old and new policy has resulted in extensions being incrementally
added to the data model, resulting in complex data processing logic; and
Data relationships – as M204 is a non-relational database system, references between logical
data entities are implemented through a wide variety of techniques such as, but not limited
to positional data references, in-source-code logic, and specialised data fields to relate logical
entities.
15.7 Current Welfare Payment System Metadata
The Repository, is a bespoke developed metadata repository that holds metadata on the majority of the
system data definitions, transactions, reusable M204 software Components referred to as ‘core
Components’, web services and environments. The information within the Repository is used to generate
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code modules for Income Security Integrated System to reduce the degree of manual code development
effort and enforce certain standards and integration points. For example, all update access to underlying
data is code-generated off the Repository to create consistent data access Components for Customer
Circumstance data, referred to as Data Modifiers. A web-based user interface can be used to interrogate
the Repository to better understand the structure and relationships that exist between the current Welfare
Payment System Components.
In addition to the data structure and Component relationships, the Repository also controls the Application
Lifecycle Management (ALM) including software version management and is integrated with the
department’s release management processes.
15.8 Information management
In line with the principles of the Target Business Model, the department has recognised the need to mature
its current information management capability in line with WPIT Programme and whole-of-Government
objectives. It also recognises the need to leverage experience from previous cross-organisation data
exchange efforts, such as Standard Business Reporting (SBR). This necessitates a change in focus from the
current Welfare Payment System and technology-driven approach, to a Customer-centric approach in
which the department provides services as part of a broader Ecosystem of Government and non-
Government organisations, including federal and state agencies, financial institutions, educational
institutions, child care centres, aged care centres, employers and Jobactive providers.
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RFT for the procurement of a Systems Integrator Panel
Part 4 – Target State
16. Delivering the WPIT Programme Outcomes
This part of the Attachment sets out the core objectives of the WPIT Programme, and describes the
proposed future state for the delivery of welfare payments and services by the Department.
By 2022, the Government will have the capability to deliver Payments and services to Customers in a
streamlined and cost-effective manner through the use of the national infrastructure asset delivered by the
WPIT Programme.
There are six key outcomes that will be achieved through the WPIT Programme:
a)
more agile, responsive and transparent policy implementation
b)
less red tape and better digital service delivery;
c)
capable and engaged people;
d)
increased opportunities for innovation in service delivery;
e)
better Real Time data and analytics; and
f)
greater technical integrity and compliance.
16.1 More agile, responsive and transparent policy implementation
From – Limitations today
Today, it can be costly to implement new policies or make simple changes to existing welfare policies.
Business processes and rules are hard-coded into current systems that have been added incrementally over
time, creating silos, additional workloads for staff, unnecessary duplication and inconsistencies. The design
of new policy and Payments is highly customised and fragmented rather than being guided by standard re-
usable templates and common definitions and business rules, resulting in unnecessary complexity and cost
for Government.
To – Benefits in the future
In the future the department will be more agile and responsive to policy changes for welfare Payments and
have greater transparency about the costs and time required to implement changes. Designing for policy
agility, flexibility, and transparency has been a major factor in not only the design of the business
transformation programme and proposed features of the solution, but also in the WPIT Programme
implementation approach.
In addition, changes to policy design, such as incorporating amendments made during the passage of
legislation, will be made quickly without resorting to costly manual processes. This will be achieved by the
development of a modular and interoperable Payments System with standard definitions and business
processes, common welfare data standards, and re-usable components and functions. New Payments and
changes to existing policies will be made and rolled out quickly through configuration or parameter
changes.
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Policy agility will also be enabled through the use of a standardised template based approach to
implementing policy, supported by changes in the way the Department collaborates and interacts with
policy agencies. The Department will work with policy agencies to inform how specific requirements could
be implemented in line with standard templates and patterns, providing policy agencies and Government
with options and projected costs for addressing the necessary requirements.
16.2 Less red tape and better digital service delivery
From – Limitations today
The Department currently delivers welfare payments and services via face-to-face, smart centre, phone
self-service and digital channels. A ‘no wrong door’ policy allows Customers to choose the access channel
of their choice regardless of the cost and the time it takes staff to process individual requests.
With Customers continuing to use channels outside of the digital offering, and limited end-to-end digital
offerings, there is still, in some instances, the requirement to complete lengthy forms and submit copies of
many documents, sometimes multiple times, to get things done, much of which could be improved by use
of the digital channel and process simplification.
To – Benefits in the future
The WPIT Programme will support broader Government priorities in deregulation through reducing red
tape for individuals and businesses. Simplifying business processes and introducing a modern ICT Welfare
Payment System will streamline activity enabling staff to focus more on meeting the needs of Customers
with complex needs or circumstances.
The WPIT Programme will enable smarter, more effective use of information, including collecting
information once and re-using data where possible to streamline Customer interactions (subject to privacy
and other legal restrictions).
The WPIT Programme will also deliver enhanced digital service channels that are easier to use and more
appealing for Customers. The WPIT Programme will deliver changes that allow Customers to start,
complete, and manage ongoing transactions in the digital channel by making it possible for Customers to
access online services quickly and easily, and to stay online.
16.3 Capable and engaged people
From – Limitations today
Current business processes rely heavily on manual work arising from checking eligibility for payments,
managing ongoing payments or managing customer compliance. A significant amount of staff effort is
spent preparing and checking paper and digital forms prior to claims being assessed. Similarly, significant
staff effort is involved in the ongoing management of a customer including customer compliance
activities.
To – Benefits in the future
By reducing red tape, enhancing digital service delivery and automating business processes, the WPIT
Programme will reduce staff effort spent on low value processing tasks, allowing staff focus to shift
towards supporting those customers with a high level of complexity or risk (of incorrect payment).
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Migration towards digital channels will reduce demand for face-to-face support staff, while increasing
demand for digital support. The Department’s ability to manage fraud and increase compliance will be
enhanced through better data and analytics and inbuilt tools, leading to less manual staff intervention
and more skills required in data and analytics. Changes to the business model will be reflected in the
transformation of staff roles to support the new way of operating.
16.4 Increased opportunities for innovation in service delivery
From – Limitations today
Welfare payments today are largely delivered through the default option of government owned and
operated channels. This is partly due to complexities with current policy and technology that make it
difficult for third parties to connect with the Department to support service delivery.
At present, the department is constrained by disparate and duplicated business processes that manage
multiple instances of the same service. The current technology solution is also highly complex, requiring
custom developed forms and data replication into the current system, increasing the cost and time of third
party integration.
To – Benefits in the future
The WPIT Programme will develop a platform-based architecture, common utilities, standards, open
protocols and patterns which will facilitate fast, easy and replicable connections between the department,
other Government agencies, and third parties. This will increase opportunities for the department to work
collaboratively with industry to deliver the required services in accordance with Government policy.
16.5
Better real-time data and analytics
From – Limitations today
The Department manages an enormous volume of Customer data, which is stored in a number of different
systems. This makes it both difficult and time consuming to extract contextual and time sensitive Customer
data for policy analysis or operational improvement. The current gaps in the collection of management and
operational information also impede the Department’s ability to perform effective analytics.
To – Benefits in the future
The WPIT Programme will enable smarter, more effective use of information, including collecting
information once and re-using where possible to reduce rework (subject to privacy and other legal
restrictions). In the future, data held in the Welfare Payment System will be available in Real-time through
easy-to-use tools, allowing policy makers to model the implications of their choices.
This will be used to help achieve policy intent and monitor service delivery outcomes, maximising the
value of data as a ‘national asset’ to be owned, managed and used across government and the
Department.
The enhanced analytics capabilities will also drive efficiency as it enables resourcing levels to be
monitored and adjusted based on shifting channel demands. Better access to data and enhanced analytic
capabilities will also enable the Department to undertake detailed risk profiling and customer
segmentation, tailoring service offers to achieve better outcomes for both government and customers.
Better Real-Time data and analytics will also be achieved through the implementation of:
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a)
a scalable, secure, flexible and interoperable data System handling data in accordance with
the
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth);
b)
seamless data exchange with third parties;
c)
an intuitive, accessible real-time data portal for policymakers;
d)
customer profiles and public view of service delivery data; and
e)
customer profiling, and monitoring to lower the risk for fraud and compliance control.
In implementing this enhanced capability, the department will create the foundation for trusted and secure
data connections to be used with third parties to streamline processes (in line with the
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)), improve monitoring and quality of data entering the System.
16.6 Greater technical integrity and compliance
From – Limitations today
In the current Welfare Payment System, Payments may be made incorrectly when claimants deliberately
claim money to which they are not entitled, there may be Customer errors when claimants make mistakes,
or administrative errors where errors can be attributed to the legislation, policy, system design, business
practices, or simply human error on the part of staff.
Compliance associated with managing incorrect Payments is costly for the department today. The
department has been developing the capability to intervene earlier in the cycle of non-compliance,
including the ability to ‘risk rate’ transactions as they occur. New light touch interventions that prompt early
self-correction are increasingly being influenced and informed by the department’s research into Customer
behaviour.
To – Benefits in the future
Payment integrity is core to the department’s strategic priorities. To maintain the continued integrity of
Government outlays, the department needs to continue to effectively manage the risks associated with
achieving Government outcomes.
By 2022, the department will, in line with the
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and Government policy, use advanced
and real-time analytics to support risk-based processing and monitoring, with Real-time detection and
interventions to improve assurance over outlay integrity. Payments under the new System will be more
accurate, assisting with early intervention to assist Customers with reduced rates of under and over
Payment. The System will:
a)
have embedded capability for real-time prompts to Customers to self-correct before
processing;
b)
allow large amounts of data to be rapidly analysed for compliance and other purposes
(compare against other data sources, run checks, etc.);
c)
have a tiered suite of responses, ranging from proactive automated prompts to directing
Customers to staff assisted channels;
d)
allow for targeted and proactive management of compliance and fraud reduction of over
Payments and Customer debt. The WPIT Programme will enhance capability to proactively
target compliance and fraud management at an individual Customer and activity level, based
on real-time analytics and Customer risk profiles that will be used to define tailored and
targeted servicing models; and
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18. The Target Business Model (TBM)
18.1 TBM overview and purpose
The department’s business transformation will not be easy due to the scale, scope, complexity and
timeframe of the WPIT Programme. The department has recognised the need to engage and collaborate
with industry to form strategic relationships. This activity will see the department augment its own
capability with industry based experience, skills, specialist technical resources, and capacity through the
selection of suitable implementation Partners.
Although the department has commenced designing a TBM, the Partnership with the CSV and SI will inform
the refinement of the TBM, its design principles and individual components.
In defining the TBM, the department has also considered how Customers will interact differently with the
department in the future through components of the broader welfare Ecosystem or through specific
channels. Some of the key features that will be delivered include:
Circumstance based approach to managing Customers – the Circumstance based approach
for Customer management will see the Department utilising data exchanges to populate
customer profiles, ensuring they remain up to date with the latest information, reducing the
risk of receiving under or over Payments, in line with relevant legislation and policy;
Customer segmentation and risk profiling to target service delivery – this will enable the
department to target service delivery based on an assessment of the individual risk, access
needs and complexity of Customers, tailoring service offers to match customer
circumstances;
Self-managed experience for Customers enabled through natural data connections – the
Circumstance based approach will help Customers self-manage their interactions where
appropriate and will help Government automate processes to deliver a more efficient
Welfare Payment System;
Whole-of-Government approach – the department will be able to better connect across
whole-of-Government and non-Government organisations, and work collaboratively with
the DTO to uphold the Digital Transformation Agenda, Policy Partners (e.g. Department of
Social Services) and Clients (e.g. DVA) to drive a consistent approach to service delivery;
Ease of servicing through the digital channel – digital channels will be the primary channel
for all Payments and services and the entry point to accessing welfare outcomes;
Automation of service and benefit processing – this will maximise the number of
transactions that will be processed without any staff intervention;
Real-Time debt prevention and compliance detection – this will allow for over Payment and
compliance management through Real-Time prevention, detection and risk assessments;
and
Standardised template based approach to Payment and service design – this will help
achieve policy agility, and to identify and design opportunities for greater policy
simplification across Payments.
The key features will be specifically achieved through a number of steps including:
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a)
identifying Customer groups and how they will interact with the service channels available
to them with a strong emphasis on digital being the channel of preference. The department
will seek to deliver services to Customers with minimal manual staff intervention;
b)
standardising Payments and services, and developing supporting templates, to achieve policy
agility when implementing new or changed policy, and to identify design opportunities for
greater policy simplification;
c)
future state organisational design and a standard service delivery model to support the new
way of doing business. This will include the way in which the department delivers services,
the skills required in the future workforce, organisational structures, individual roles,
responsibilities and performance metrics; and
d)
simplification, where possible, of legislation, policy and standardisation of enabling core and
supporting business processes through consultation with our Policy Partners.
The Competitive Dialogue activity will define the iterations of the business model and supporting change
artefacts. The change artefacts will be used to articulate how the department will transition from the
existing business model to each of the defined release interim models throughout the change journey
through to the TBM, by 2022.
For this Competitive Dialogue activity to be successful, the department will need to work collaboratively
with industry partners to create the future way of working, supported by activity plans to progress the
existing business model to the level of capability required at the end of each Tranche.
18.2 TBM design principles
The TBM design principles have been created to inform and test the individual components of the TBM and
as such the design principles align to the TBM components. The principles provide the conceptual
foundations for the TBM and are based on the strategic intent for the WPIT Programme. They underpin the
model, and will act as the enabler for current and future business model design.
Figure 7 is an illustrative representation that shows the TBM components and design principle categories.
The design principles will be used to:
a)
guide and govern design decisions throughout business design and subsequent releases;
b)
enable the sustainment and/or alignment to the department’s strategic intent and priorities
across stakeholder groups, and establish a clear and common understanding of the WPIT
Programme for the department throughout the change journey;
c)
form the foundation of how the department will operate iteratively over the next seven
years; and
d)
provide the baseline that drives strategic top-down design traceability.
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Wholly Dependent Partner Payments
Eligible Young Persons Payments
Other Dependent payments
Attendant Allowance
Rent Assistance
Income Support Supplement
Funeral Benefit
Death/ Bereavement Payment
Remote Area Allowance
Vehicle Assistance
Loss of Earnings Allowance
Temporary Incapacity Allowance
Clothing Allowance
Recreation Transport Allowance
Decoration Allowance
Victoria Cross Allowance
Reimbursement for Financial Advice
Veterans Children’s Education Scheme
MRCA Education & Training Scheme
Veterans’ Pharmaceutical Reimbursement Scheme
Travel Assistance
Essential Medical Equipment Payment
Medical Expenses Privately Incurred
Attendant Care and Household Services compensation payments
Senior Health Cards
Veterans’ Health Cards
Pensioner Concession Cards
Commonwealth Seniors Health Cards.
Early analysis indicates that there is significant commonality between these Payments and the
department’s income support payments and add-ons, which would enable DVA to leverage the WPIT
solution.
19.
Capability framework
Over the years, the department has continued to mature the delivery of social welfare Payments and
services, core business functions, and ICT systems. In doing this, significant progress has been made
in reducing the cost to serve, implementing policy and legislation changes faster and delivering more
digital services to Customers. To sustain this evolution and ongoing transformation of social welfare,
the department has identified a consistent set of business functions and services to underpin its
enterprise Business Capability Model.
The department will use the Business Capability Model to bring consistency to the design and
development of the department’s ICT services and Systems. It enables the department to manage
ICT and business process complexity by identifying and reusing commonly used functions as a basis
for new Systems and processes. It will also guide system enhancements to enable the department to
respond quickly to changes in policy, legislation and business requirements.
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20. The Customer and channel strategies
20.1 Purpose of the Customer Strategy
The Customer Strategy aligns to the broader
Department of Human Services (DHS) Strategic Plan
2015-2019, Government policy and the DTO’s Digital Transformation Agenda. It defines Customer
cohorts based on their Circumstances and captures Customer’s complexity and level of financial risk.
Key components of the Customer Strategy are:
a)
clearly defined Customer strategy for the WPIT Programme;
b)
conceptual segmentation framework that provides the mechanism to identify micro-
segments based on an assessment of a Customer’s complexity and level of financial
risk; and
c)
Customer experience principles to guide design and deliver the future Customer
experience under the WPIT Programme.
20.2 Value for Government and Customers
The WPIT Customer Strategy articulates the department’s approach to connecting Australians
quickly and easily to the services they need to improve social and economic outcomes.
The Customer Strategy provides a number of outcomes for Government and Customers:
a)
through a Circumstance based approach to service delivery, more of the Customers’
Circumstances can be taken into account, including the customer’s risk profile;
b)
reduced red tape as Customers are able to self-manage their experience through
digital touch points and assistance is better targeted for those who need it most;
c)
automated services will enable more efficient service delivery by enabling straight
through and light touch processing; and
d)
better connections across Government and non-Government organisations will
enable a more collaborative approach to service delivery.
For the purposes of the Customer Strategy, Customers are defined as those individuals and/or
organisations that use the department’s services with the aim of receiving social welfare or services
for themselves or those they are acting on behalf of (as an authorised representative).
20.3 The Channel Strategy
The Customer Strategy informs the Channel Strategy Customer characteristics and approach to
delivering Circumstance based customer management.
The Department has delivered significant channel performance improvements across all channels
over the past few years. The Channel Strategy will build upon these improvements and, align to the
DHS Strategic Plan 2015-2019.
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20.5 The department’s Customer approach
Tailored service delivery
Tailoring service delivery based on the individual risk, complexity and access needs of Customers will
allow the department to leverage understanding of Customer circumstances to proactively target
risk of payment inaccuracy, non-compliance and fraud in line with Government legislation and policy,
reducing incidences of customer debt.
The department is focused on achieving the following four outcomes when delivering Payments and
services to Customers, aligning with relevant legislation and policy, and enabling cost-effectiveness
for Government:
Simple and customised – the department aims to provide Customers with a simple and
customised experience when interacting with the department. The future state will provide
them with a customised service, tailored to their Circumstances;
Timely – the department wants customers to be able to interact in a timely way; whether it
be waiting to talk to a staff member, discovering the outcome of a Payment they have
registered intent to receive, or receiving a Payment or service;
Connected and accessible – future design will ensure Customers are able to easily access
the services and Payments they are eligible for, and be effectively (and where possible,
naturally) connected to enable their business with the department; and
Informed, trusted and secure – The department wants to ensure Customers are kept
informed and that they feel valued and that their circumstances are understood. They also
want to ensure that each Customer is dealt with fairly and that Customers trust their
information is secure.
Tailored experience based on Circumstances
Tailored service delivery is enabled through the Circumstance based approach to customer
management, which relies on the exchange of data with third parties based on an appropriate
consent model (in line with current legislation and policy). This approach triages Customers through
early profiling based on their level of risk of payment inaccuracy, complexity and access needs,
determining suitability for digital or other services offers, and straight-through processing.
The Customer Strategy provides the foundation for delivering the Circumstance based approach to
Customer Management and performing Customer Segmentation and Risk Profiling to inform tailored
service offers. In the future a Customer may inform the department about a change of Circumstances
(either directly, or through a data exchange with a third party) and through undertaking discovery in
the authenticated digital channel, be directed to the Payments and services that meet their needs.
By undertaking discovery in the authenticated space, the department will be able to perform an
Enhanced Eligibility Assessment, drawing on known customer data and confirming the Customer’s
Eligibility for certain Payments upfront, then automatically processing claims for Payments and
services, in line with Government strategy, legislation and policy. In the future, the department will
also utilise data from trusted Third Parties to process Circumstance changes such as changes in
income, for example, through the ATO via implementation of the single touch payroll system. This
information will also enable targeted management of mutual obligations in line with Government
legislation and policy.
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A high-level view of the Circumstance based Segmentation and Risk Profiling model is provided in
Figure 11 below.
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The strategy describes how a Customer is identified as part of a micro-segment according to their level of
complexity, access needs and preferences, and level of risk. This is measured through indicators and
Circumstances (both reactive and proactive) that can be observed by the department.
Examples include:
a)
reactive Circumstances, such as:
-
having unstable income;
-
experiencing health issues;
-
risk of financial hardship;
-
changing family Circumstances;
-
lost capacity to work; and
-
loss of job.
b)
proactive Circumstances, such as:
-
starting/changing or ending study;
-
getting older;
-
living arrangements/address has changed; and
-
having a child.
A Customer is then provided a tailored experience based on the micro-segment they are attributed to and
the relevant policy. Examples of tailored experience elements include:
a)
Payment/service types;
b)
access points;
c)
interactions; and
d)
value proposition.
Conceptual segmentation framework supports a Circumstance based view of the Customer. This framework
includes understanding predictors of a Customer’s risk, complexity and access needs ranging from urban
versus regional or rural needs, access to services, Customers in receipt of one or multiple benefits to
characteristics based on behavioural patterns through multiple service interactions.
This framework provides the definition of the Customer segment components – defining the level of risk,
complexity and access needs. The three key definitions are:
Customers with complex needs - refers to any Customer with complex needs, including
vulnerable Customers including:
-
people who have (or are at risk of) limited access to resources (economic, financial or
social);
-
people who are experiencing life events that they are not able to manage
independently; and
-
those living in a community or context where they are isolated from formal or informal
support;
Risk Profile - refers to characteristics or indicators that a Customer may be over or under
paid either unintentionally or as a result of deliberate fraudulent behaviours. This may be
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d)
simplified business processes, modern Systems and digital identity:
-
processes need to be simplified and designed for digital so that Customers are able to
easily and quickly complete end-to-end processes using digital touch points;
-
Systems need to be easy to use and flexible to allow for innovation and changing
Government and Customer needs; and
-
leveraging whole-of-Government digital transformation initiatives such as myGov and
digital Customer identity management and standards for data sharing.
21. The value chain and business process model
The current state business process model poses a number of key challenges in the current environment for
Customers and staff, including significant amounts of red tape and an interrupted digital offering that is not
end-to-end, forcing Customers into the call and face-to-face channels and not considering their level of
financial risk, complexity or access needs.
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22. Business Scenarios
As a key enabler of the department’s ongoing business transformation, the platform, in addition to
its technical and architectural qualities, must be capable of supporting the core business of the
department within the scope of the WPIT Programme as defined in the TBM. This support is required
for the current core business and as it may develop in the future. The Tenderer will need to show
the ability to be able to incorporate all principles and components of the TBM and the Customer
value chain for the example business scenarios within this Attachment.
22.1 Business Scenarios
The following twelve business scenarios have been created to show the capabilities the department
believes are required from the System as part of its business transformation and detail how they
might be used in day-to-day operations. The scenarios are intended to bring the TBM and Customer
Strategy and Channel Strategy changes to life by showing how service design, service delivery,
Delivery Partners and data analytics combine to produce outcomes for Customers and Policy and
Delivery Partners. These scenarios are intended as representative illustrations of expected business
situations that change the way the department does business.
Below is the list of business scenarios that are detailed on the following pages.
Discovery to Delivery – the end-to-end journey for a typical Customer (Amy) receiving
Youth Allowance, describing the potential for straight-through processing and to
management and delivery.
A Regional Customer – illustrated the process for a remote Customer (Nigel) with
complex needs discovering a student support Payment via a remote service to being
triaged in a Smart Centre based on complex needs.
Transition Between Payments – illustrated the process (for Amy) who has completed
university studies and now transitions from student support Payments to job seeker
Payments based on naturally sourced information from third parties.
Complex, Inter-linked Assessments – Customers (Xavier and Neve) are receiving
Income Support and Family Assistance and additional supplements. They have
complex Circumstances and are being assessed against a complex rules set. This
scenario illustrates information sourced from third parties via a preference framework
and ‘grandfathered’ and ‘cross-dependent’ rule sets.
Retrospective Assessments – illustrates the process of assessing a Customers’ (Ted
and Jess) Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Child Care Benefit (CCB) Entitlement
retrospectively including automated determinations based on historical Customer
information and older rule sets.
Customer Debt – illustrates an end-to-end debt management process from identifying
a FTB Customer debt (Sam), automatically determining how (and if) the debt will be
recovered, to conclusion.
Fraud Management – illustrates a situation where the department has detected and
intervenes on a potential instance of Customer fraud (Frank).
Providing a Social Services Platform – a state Government agency is planning to use
the department’s welfare Payment Platform to support delivery of an income support
Payment. This scenario illustrates the end-to-end service delivery process for
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Customer Payments from identifying the Customer needs, reusing business functions,
to off-boarding.
Delivering with a Client – illustrates how the department will manage and monitor
Customer service delivery on behalf of another agency through a Platform supplied by
the department. This includes performance and compliance in service delivery against
service level agreements.
Policy Agility – illustrates the process for the department to implement a policy
change including the use of standard templates to execute the change and analytics
to model the impact to Customers and outlays.
Case Management and role security –
illustrates how the department will use role
based security on a Customer Profile and case management through a Delivery
Partner organisation.
Multilingual – illustrates the process of managing a multi-lingual Customer with
cultural barriers.
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