29 July 2014 Media Statement

A better way to connect with government services

New Zealanders will now have easier, simpler access to government services with the launch of a new, cross-government website, Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne announced today.

“www.govt.nz is a revolutionary breakthrough in the way the public connects with government information and services because it’s designed from the outside-in – it’s based on real New Zealanders’ experience and feedback,” said Mr Dunne.

“It’s a radical departure from ‘traditional’ service portals because we have been guided by what users tell us they want, with content written in plain language and grouped by topic rather than agency.

“Our objective is to provide government information that is user-friendly without the usual jargon, making it easier for people to get what they need from government.”

Development of www.govt.nz was influenced by a similar site developed in the UK, www.gov.uk, which has proved wildly successful with UK users. The ground-breaking work by the New Zealand team is now in turn influencing government websites in Australia, Scotland and Canada.

Francis Maude, the UK’s Minister for the Cabinet Office, has sent New Zealand his congratulations on “reaching this milestone in its journey towards digital government”. He goes on to say: “We have learned a great amount from our co-operation with New Zealand and look forward to working even closer in future”.

“Changing the way citizens interact with government - and the ICT transformation needed to achieve this – represent the biggest reforms since the 1980s,” said Mr Dunne.

“When this Government laid out its expectations for a Better Public Service two years ago, we tasked Internal Affairs with achieving significant progress in Result Area 10: New Zealanders can complete their transactions with government easily.

“This is the latest step towards delivering on that challenge. The site will continue to change, based as always on user-testing and feedback, while the depth of content www.govt.nz holds for each service we provide will deepen, making it the central authoritative source of government information”.

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