Purpose of the Digital and ICT Reuse Policy

The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) has collaboratively developed this policy to ensure a whole of government focus on reuse of digital and ICT capabilities.

What is the Digital and ICT Reuse Policy?

The Digital and ICT Reuse Policy is part of a suite of whole of government digital standards to guide Government consideration of future digital and ICT proposals.

The Digital and ICT Reuse Policy applies to non-corporate Commonwealth entities subject to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. For corporate Commonwealth entities and wholly owned Commonwealth companies, the Policy represents better practice.

The DTA will assess Digital and ICT proposals against the policy. This assessment covers proposals to change or create all types of government services that meet the following criteria:

• are digital and/or ICT enabled and
• have a total whole-of-life ICT cost of $10 million or more.

Agencies are expected to apply the policy at each stage of the digital and ICT investment lifecycle.

Digital and ICT reuse requirements

The Digital and ICT Reuse Policy is underpinned by three high-level requirements. Agencies must consider the requirements when designing, proposing, or delivering new government capabilities with a digital and ICT component or improving existing ones.

1. Reuse whenever possible – your proposed investments must plan for and make use of any opportunities to reuse existing services or tools within your agency and across government.
2. Design and build for reuse – if your proposed investment cannot reuse an existing digital or ICT solution, you must ensure that the service you build, can be reused by other agencies.
3. Enable reuse by others – you must ensure anything you create is shared for others to reuse unless there’s a good reason not to.

What is Digital and ICT reuse?

Reuse enables simple, clear and fast government services through standardisation and reuse of common artefacts, processes, and/or solutions. For the context of this policy, digital and ICT reuse covers the following categories: 

Technology and architecture

Examples include:

• platforms and services, for example, Digital Identity, MyGov
• architecture frameworks, standards and patterns, for example, API standards
• common components and code.

Business capability and process

Examples include:

• business capability models and process designs
• governance models
• business requirements and rules.

Procurement

Examples include:

• commercial, legal and licensing agreements
• Whole-of-Government procurement resources, for example, Digital Marketplace and ClauseBank
• procurement processes.

Information and data

Examples include:

• user and customer research
• existing data sets
• skills and capability.

Digital and ICT skills and capabilities across agencies

Examples include:

• Digital Profession, platform development skills.

Why is it important?

Application of the Digital and ICT Reuse Policy will help to:

• reduce duplication of investment and lower ICT build and run costs
• increase speed and agility
• provide certainty of delivery and reduce delivery risk
• provide more joined-up services for people and businesses.

Who is it intended for?

This policy is relevant for anyone involved in:

• developing digital and ICT proposals
• designing or delivering government capabilities with a digital and ICT component
• improving existing government capabilities with a digital and ICT component.