Victoria to set up central gov services department

Victorian premier Dan Andrews has announced an ambitious expansion of the state’s digital program, along with a reorganisation of backoffice services, to be overseen by Danny Pearson.

Under the new cabinet sworn in yesterday, Pearson will be in charge of a new ministry of government services created to undertake the project.

He retains his job as assistant treasurer, and will be minister for Worksafe and the Transport Accident Commission, and for consumer affairs.

Andrews said Pearson's new ministry will be tasked with centralising government backoffice operations and expanding the reach of the Service Victoria app.

“We will centralise … corporate services, for central agencies in the first instance, but then [also create] a proper home for Service Victoria,” he said.

Backoffice services for the departments of Premier and Cabinet, and Treasury and Finance, are set to be the first centralised.

Over time, the government will be “taking component parts of other government departments and centralise them in one place”.

“Putting all that in one place means we’ll get much greater efficiency," Andrews said. 

Andrews said the expected efficiency means the project “will be in large part a self-funded exercise.”

About the Service Victoria app, he said he wants “a proper home for Service Victoria, and for so many other touchpoints where Victorians reach into the Victorian government for the support they need, and for things they need to do like licensing.”

Eventually, Andrews envisages the single touchpoint model to stretch across government. The aim, he said, is that every time a Victorian family or business has to interact with government, “they do so in a seamless way.”

This, he said, would give Victorians a “much more reliable day-to-day service”.

Service Victoria was criticised last year for missing its potential to deliver savings. Since then, the Andrews government expanded its budget by $115 million.

The agency has been central to Victoria’s pandemic response, leading to a sixfold expansion of its engineering team since 2020.