Information technology and digital communication

We are committed to improving the way we communicate and do business through the use of technology and to making our information and online services accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of ability. This helps us streamline our processes to ensure consistency in service delivery and enhances the experience and engagement of our clients and customers.

This subsection describes our information technology and digital communication, including how we comply with relevant legislation and accessibility requirements.

Our enterprise systems

We rely on robust information and communications technology systems as repositories of corporate and client information. The systems support service delivery and the resulting hundreds of thousands of interactions every week with our customers, contractors, lessors, staff and government.

Ongoing and consistent use across the organisation is steadily growing a knowledge base for staff to use. Workflow systems aid in monitoring, tracking, escalating and reporting complaints, enquiries, maintenance requests and other information.

In 2015–16, we continued to evolve our online systems based on direct and indirect feedback from stakeholders. Enhancements have been geared towards self-service and shifting all services to become digital by design (as defined by the DTO).

Our digital information technology maturity was recognised when we achieved a score of 4.28 (out of a possible 5) in the National Archives of Australia's Check-up Digital survey, ranking us sixth out of 165 agencies. We are justifiably proud of this outstanding result.

In the reporting period, we also continued to upgrade our mobile technology capability for staff, customers and contractors. Through a controlled rollout, all staff in head office and our Canberra (ACT) and Parramatta (Sydney, NSW) regional offices were issued Microsoft Surface Pros. This technology will be rolled out to all other offices throughout 2016–17 following network upgrades.

Purpose 3 in Section 2 of this report provides more information about our performance in relation to developing our business model, system delivery and the major projects and initiatives delivered in 2015–16.

Our website

Our website, including our Online Services portal, has been designed to meet Australian Government standards and the recommendations of the DTO. Features include:

• displaying compatibility with all commonly used browsers, as well as on personal computer, laptop, tablet and smart phone devices
• instructions on our website to increase or decrease the size of text in three web browsers
• information in HTML format where possible
• some documents available in portable document format (PDF) to assist download and content sharing
• alternative formats, including rich text format (rtf), Microsoft Word (doc) and basic text (txt), available for some documents
• the ability for a user to download a document and read it in their web browser or save to their computer to read offline.

We acknowledge that this area is constantly evolving and we have the opportunity to improve our current offering. We are aiming for our website to conform to Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium. We have also commenced a project to develop an extensive framework of our digital services to ensure we comply with the government's Digital Continuity 2020 policy.

Users are encouraged to contact us to provide feedback or request assistance with accessing information online.

Our digital communication and social media

We engage with our clients, customers, contractors, prospective purchasers and staff through a combination of digital communication and traditional media.

Targeted direct emails are used for a range of purposes, including but not limited to:

• informing ADF members and their families about suitable housing solutions
• informing contractors of works allocated to them for quoting or completion
• informing prospective purchasers of properties available through our sales programs
• updating staff on business activity and operations
• inviting ADF members and lessors to complete surveys.

We also use SMS to send important, time-critical notifications, confirm appointments and send reminders.

Social media platforms give us the opportunity to directly engage with interested parties, to promote our activities and achievements, and cross-promote other Defence-related organisations, such as DFA and DCO.