NSW gov digital champion Victor Dominello to retire

NSW minister for customer service and digital government Victor Dominello will not contest the state election next year, and will instead retire from politics.

Dominello cited a “family health issue” as the reason for his decision.

State premier Dominic Perrottet said Dominello had spent over a decade helping “lead the NSW government into the digital age”.

“He has also overseen the transformation of Service NSW, which has fundamentally changed the way people interact with the NSW government,” Perrottet said.

Dominello said that he would “continue to put my heart and soul into delivering on the state’s digital transformation agenda” until his retirement from politics.

“I intend on seeing through a number of important projects over the next seven months including the roll out of the digital birth certificate, the education wallet, verifiable credentials and eConveyancing reform,” he said in a statement.

Dominello noted the decade of digital progress within the NSW government, and the work “across all agencies of government to fundamentally transform service delivery in NSW, making things easier and saving time for the people of the state.”

“We created a world-first Department of Customer Service and led a significant evolution of Service NSW,” he said.

“We have seen an incredible era of digital transformation and uplift across NSW in which we have led the nation and, on occasion, the world. 

“Better still, we have laid the foundations for a successful future in the digital era.”

Service NSW would become a model for similar digital government service delivery vehicles at the federal level, and also in other states and territories.

Dominello was said at the time to be “relieved” to see the NSW model replicated, particularly because it opened the possibility of cross-jurisdictional digital services.

In recent years, Dominello - through an active social media presence - positioned his department as digital agents of change, often flagging suboptimal customer experiences and publicly committing to fix the processes.