Refining guidance on investments into agency operations

15 February 2024

The Australian Government Architecture (AGA) guidance has been refreshed across key management, planning, and process elements. Read on to learn how these updates encourage flexibility while making the most of existing government investments.

The AGA helps the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) and government agencies navigate through the Australian Public Service’s (APS) complex and vast digital landscape. The AGA helps assess solutions to inform government and agency investment agendas. Freshly updated materials, now available on the AGA website, provide deeper guidance on four specific capabilities, each of which are the subject of current technology and investment priorities. They are:

This range of new and updated content sets an expectation that government investments and technology are reused and shared, while embedding new levels of flexibility to ensure each agency’s unique processes and needs can be met by their chosen solutions.

Streamlining government approaches to grant management

The Australian Government administers an enormous scope of grants, tenders and auctions to deliver policy and programs. Updated materials on the AGA’s Grant Management capability prioritise consistent user experiences, best practices, and opportunities for reuse. They provide new insights into the government’s flagship platforms (the Community Grants and Business Grants Hubs), explore alternative technologies, and showcase future opportunities for consolidation.

To deliver policy and programs, the APS administers an enormous scope of grants, tenders, and auctions. Their lifecycles include application criteria, processing, finance management, administration, and evaluation. The changes made, combined with the right grant management technology, can support effective program delivery and reveal useful insights for future grant programs.

You can explore this new content on the AGA’s Grant Management capability.

Recognising the complexity of APS case management

New material on the Case Management capability acknowledges the variety of requirements across the APS, outlining new standards based on:

  • system archetypes and stakeholder interactions
  • scale, volume, and frequency of case interactions
  • existing technology environments
  • solution and investment reuse
  • ensuring ongoing viability of solutions.

Case management is a critical part of the APS day-to-day, as public servants engage and address the needs of people and businesses by assessing, coordinating, and evaluating a diversity of activities and events.

Explore the latest content on the AGA’s Case Management capability.

Shaping efficient workflows and workload management

Various business process and workflow systems help the APS process the needs of clients, suppliers, and partners. A revised definition of the Business Process and Workflow capability recognises that either an enterprise or rules engine lies at the heart of these systems.

The guidance encourages agencies to comprehensively understand the existing workflows and decision-making gates they seek to automate. When investigating solutions, it encourages the reuse of systems already in use across government or, if developing a new one, ensuring it’s enabled for reuse and low levels of maintenance complexity.

You can explore this new content on the AGA at Business Process and Workflow.

Balancing needs with reuse in Enterprise Resource Planning

New guidance on the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) capability recognises that organisation requirements can be complex and aligns to the new APS ERP approach.

Like any employer, government agencies undertake corporate services. They’re typically underpinned by four processes:

  1. plan-to-report
  2. hire-to-retire
  3. source-to-pay
  4. governance, risk, and compliance

The updated guidance helps agencies determine the suitability of existing solutions, identify re-use opportunities, utilise whole-of-government contracts or panels, and ensure the ongoing viability of any chosen ERP solutions.

This guidance can be discovered on the AGA’s Enterprise Resource Planning capability.

Consultation

AGA content is developed in consultation with representatives from across Government via the Australian Government Architecture Content Advisory Forum (AGA CAF). Government entities looking to become involved in the AGA CAF, or to provide feedback/input on any content (including suggestions for future focus), can contact architecture@dta.gov.au.

For media enquiries email us at media@dta.gov.au

For other enquiries email us at info@dta.gov.au