The latest results from Adobe’s overhauled Digital Government Index (DGI) report has seen Australia slip in the rankings with a 2024 score of 67.7, down from 68.4 in 2023.

Formerly known as the Government Digital Performance and Inclusion Benchmark, Adobe’s Director of Digital Strategy Group APAC, John Mackenney, said in the report that its “evaluation of how effectively government websites deliver intuitive, equitable and user-friendly citizen experiences” had now been “expanded”.

Despite recording a year-on-year decline when considering the previous 12-month period, Australia’s score has risen from 58 points recorded in 2021, moving the nation out of the ’emerging’ category and up to ‘intermediate’.

Australia was second only to the United Kingdom, which was attributed to, in Adobe’s report, the nation’s falling digital equity score (76.4 in 2023 compared to 73.6 in 2024) and slight drop in site performance (63.2 in 2023 to 62.8 in 2024).

“A common objective across departments and agencies is to encourage the uptake of digital services while removing barriers, which can benefit citizens and government. To assess and quantify the economic impact of delayed digital service adoption, Adobe commissioned research from Mandala [in the 2024 report, Assessing the benefits of accelerated digital delivery of government services],” Makenney said in DGI report.

“Mandala’s modelling found that accelerated adoption could reduce government service costs by $12 billion over the next decade, saving citizens 800 million hours through improved access and potentially contributing a further $19 billion to the economy.

“However, increasing the rate of digital participation is only achievable under certain conditions. Mandala’s analysis shows that citizen usage climbs only when online services are efficient, accessible, reliable and secure.

“At an aggregate national level, Australian government agencies have recorded a moderately lower score this year, including a fall in key measures that suggest it’s now harder for citizens to find and read the information they need.”

The DGI report also revealed that while New South Wales once again led the pack of states and territories in their digital government success (72.55), Western Australia (71.17) and Tasmania (70.23) were beginning to catch up.

The report indicated that NSW’s Digital Equity (85.98) and Customer Experience (71.72) scores just managed to help the state maintain its top spot, as WA, Tasmania and the Northern Territory were the only states to record an uplift across all four scores when compared to 2023:

• Western Australia
  • Total average: 72.17 (up from 58.11 in 2023)
  • Customer Experience: 64.80 (up from 57.75 in 2023)
  • Site Performance: 69.88 (up from 59.90 in 2023)
  • Digital Equity: 81.83 (up from 56.70 in 2023)
• Tasmania
  • Total average: 70.23 (up from 58.24 in 2023)
  • Customer Experience: 69.79 (up from 58.68 in 2023)
  • Site Performance: 64.52 (up from 59.20 in 2023)
  • Digital Equity: 76.38 (up from 56.85 in 2023)
• Northern Territory
  • Total average: 61.36 (up from 58.64 in 2023)
  • Customer Experience: 69.24 (up from 62.20 in 2023)
  • Site Performance: 49.30 (up from 48.53 in 2023)
  • Digital Equity: 65.55 (up from 65.20 in 2023)

“The field of DGI scores across Australia’s States and Territories has narrowed in the past 12 months, as last year’s leaders dipped while lower-ranking states quickly gained ground,” the report said.

“Western Australia and Tasmania have moved to second and third place, respectively, after sitting at the bottom of last year’s rankings. Both fast-moving states scored improvement across all measures, with WA seeing the greatest gains in Digital equity—a result that aligns with the implementation of its Digital Inclusion in WA Blueprint initiative.

“For Tasmania, an increase in the Customer Experience score may be supported by the progressive deployment of its Our Digital Future strategy. This aims to foster securely managed IT systems and technology to support efficient and effective delivery of public services.

“After a rapid uptick in 2023, Queensland has fallen back to fifth place behind the ACT, thanks to sizeable Customer Experience and Site Performance declines.

“South Australia, Northern Territory and Victoria all posted modest improvements, though the latter two showed a significant decrease in Digital Equity.”