Digital given greater clout in NSW govt

Representation of the NSW government's digital service delivery efforts have been bolstered in the state's parliament with the appointment of a new assistant minister.

Former parliamentary secretary to premier Gladys Berejiklian, Catherine Cusack, was recently named the state’s first parliamentary secretary for digital inclusion.

Cusack will report to Finance minister Victor Dominello, who is responsible for the state government’s IT strategy and Service NSW.

A spokesperson for Dominello’s office said Cusack will work with Service NSW to explore how government services and transactions could be made more accessible to citizens, as well as looking at “opportunities to expand the current Service NSW offering”.

“Catherine is passionate about helping citizens to tackle cost of living pressures by making it easier to access government rebates, subsidies and price comparison tools such as FuelCheck,” the spokesperson said.

Service NSW is headed by Damon Rees, who was formerly the state's first-ever chief information and digital officer before he left to take on the top job at Service NSW.

Last year’s state budget saw a further $13 million investment in digital service delivery to bring more digital services and transactions to Service NSW users.

The government has a target of conducting 70 percent of government transactions through digital channels by 2019. The number of transactions completed digitally is forecast to reach 63 percent by this July.