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Define the scope, purpose and desired outcomes of your service offering and how it aligns with government priorities and outcomes.
Do this by identifying the outcome you seek and the value it will deliver to users and government. Document your service vision, goals and objectives concisely.
Use tools and methods such as:
- service design
- business analysis
- stakeholder engagement
- existing frameworks or strategies that are relevant to your service domain, such as the Digital Service Standard, or the Service Design and Delivery Process.
Describe the features and functions of your service offering and how they meet user needs and expectations.
To specify the requirements and functionalities of your service use methods such as:
- user stories
- scenarios/user journey maps
- value propositions.
Ensure that your service offering is accessible, inclusive, secure, and compliant with relevant policies and standards and prioritise the most important and essential features and functions based on:
- user research
- feedback
- testing.
Compare your service offering with existing or similar services across government and identify gaps, overlaps, or opportunities for collaboration or integration.
- use the Australian Government Architecture (AGA) (criterion 3) to find and analyse existing or planned services, platforms, and capabilities that are related to your service domain or target audience
- assess if any of these services, platforms, or capabilities can be reused, shared, or adapted for your service offering, or if your service offering can complement or enhance them
- engage with other agencies or delivery partners (criterion 5) that are responsible for or involved in these services, platforms, or capabilities to explore potential synergies or dependencies.
Document your findings and recommendations on how to apply criterion 2, to do this:
- make sure your proposal supports your decisions and shows how you have defined and differentiated your service offering based on user needs, government priorities, and existing services
- use the Digital Investment Overview (DIO) Data Collection form to report on how you have met the criterion
- use the Digital Capability Assessment Process (DCAP) template to report on how you have met the criterion.

Your responsibilities

To successfully meet this criterion, agencies need to:

understand available capabilities and services available for reuse
identify and apply any relevant whole-of-government requirements and policies
document how reuse has been considered in an agency's decisions.

When to apply

Apply Criterion 3 during the Discovery phase to help consider capabilities and services available to improve user experience and promote reuse.

Question for consideration

Has the Australian Government Architecture (AGA) been used to determine what capabilities can be reused?
Have you explored existing platforms that offer similar capabilities before considering a new one?
Have considerations been made towards whole-of-government identification and authentication?

How to apply criterion 3

Understand available capabilities and services available for reuse

Use the AGA: Review the AGA early in the design of the service to understand what is available to you.

Avoid unnecessary investment: Consider the capabilities available through existing portals and leverage existing government investment. Use existing whole-of-government resources and guidance to help build an understanding of what platforms and capabilities are available.

Connect and assess: Assess how well the existing capabilities align with the service’s requirements and objectives (Criterion 1). Engage other agencies to gain insights on ways to promote, use or plan for future reuse.

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Identify and apply any applicable whole-of-government requirements and policies

Know what’s required: Use the AGA to determine what requirements and policies apply to the service. Consider how to apply these across the service to enhance the user’s experience and support compliance.

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Document how reuse has been considered in your decisions

Compare your needs with existing capabilities: Clearly demonstrate how reuse has been applied in the decision-making process by documenting how the needs of the service compare with what existing platforms offer in terms of user experience, cost and efficiency.

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Use the AGA: Review the AGA early in the design of the service to understand what is available to you.
Avoid unnecessary investment: Consider the capabilities available through existing portals and leverage existing government investment. Use existing whole-of-government resources and guidance to help build an understanding of what platforms and capabilities are available.
Connect and assess: Assess how well the existing capabilities align with the service’s requirements and objectives (Criterion 1). Engage other agencies to gain insights on ways to promote, use or plan for future reuse.

Guidance to use the AGA to find reusable platforms and capabilities

Links

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Your responsibilities

To successfully meet this criterion, agencies need to apply the relevant decision-making framework.

When to apply

Apply Criterion 4 during the Discovery phase to help consider capabilities and services available to improve user experience and promote reuse.

This criterion requires agencies to apply and follow a set of decision-making principles to determine where a new service is best placed within the existing landscape of government digital services. The decision-making framework will apply based on the users of the new digital service:

citizen-facing services (for individuals)
business and provider-facing services.

Question for consideration

Are users accessing the new service as a private individual, as a representative of a business, as a representative of a service provider, or a combination of these roles?

How to apply criterion 4

Determine the target users

Determine the type of users for your new digital service.

Are they:

individuals
businesses
providers
or a combination of these.

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Decision-making framework

Select the relevant decision-making framework based on the user type.

use the relevant framework based on the users of the new digital service (citizen, business or provider facing)
apply the framework to assess if you can reuse an existing access point or if you need to create a new one
consider factors such as user needs, context, cost, feasibility, and compliance.

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Work closely with delivery partners

If you decide to reuse an existing access point, work closely with the delivery partners to establish a collaborative and trusted relationship.

engage with other agencies or delivery partners (criterion 5) that are responsible for or involved in these services, platforms, or capabilities
explore potential synergies or dependencies and explore the future pipeline of capabilities.

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Document your findings

Document your findings and recommendations on how to apply criterion 4, to do this:

make sure your proposal supports your decisions and shows how you have followed the decision-making framework to determine the best access point for your service offering
use evidence such as user research, cost-benefit analysis, or risk assessments
use the Digital Investment Overview (DIO) Data Collection form to report on how you have met the criterion
use the Digital Capability Assessment Process (DCAP) template to report on how you have met the criterion.

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Links

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Determine the type of users for your new digital service.
Are they:
- individuals
- businesses
- providers
- or a combination of these.
Select the relevant decision-making framework based on the user type.
- use the relevant framework based on the users of the new digital service (citizen, business or provider facing)
- apply the framework to assess if you can reuse an existing access point or if you need to create a new one
- consider factors such as user needs, context, cost, feasibility, and compliance.
If you decide to reuse an existing access point, work closely with the delivery partners to establish a collaborative and trusted relationship.
- engage with other agencies or delivery partners (criterion 5) that are responsible for or involved in these services, platforms, or capabilities
- explore potential synergies or dependencies and explore the future pipeline of capabilities.
Document your findings and recommendations on how to apply criterion 4, to do this:
- make sure your proposal supports your decisions and shows how you have followed the decision-making framework to determine the best access point for your service offering
- use evidence such as user research, cost-benefit analysis, or risk assessments
- use the Digital Investment Overview (DIO) Data Collection form to report on how you have met the criterion
- use the Digital Capability Assessment Process (DCAP) template to report on how you have met the criterion.

Your responsibilities

To successfully meet this criterion, agencies need to:

seek out government delivery partners early
establish open communication lines.

When to apply

Apply Criterion 5 during the Discovery, Alpha, Beta and Live phases to include key delivery partners early.

Questions for consideration

What is the scope of services the delivery partner offers?
What are the onboarding and other requirements to join up with existing capabilities and platforms?
Can the delivery partner meet the delivery timeframes?

How to apply criterion 5

Identify delivery partners

Identify your potential delivery partners by reviewing the Australian Government Architecture (AGA) and the digital landscape of government services.

Delivery partners are other agencies or entities that provide relevant:

existing platforms
capabilities
policies.

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Contact your delivery partners

Contact your delivery partners as early as possible to establish a collaborative relationship and understand the scope of services, onboarding requirements and delivery timeframes.

Involve them in discovery activities, such as:

user research
journey mapping
problem definition.

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Communicate regularly

Communicate with your delivery partners regularly throughout the Alpha and Beta phases.

consider including them in your agile ceremonies, user testing, and feedback loops
define the roles and responsibilities of each party to ensure that you have clear and agreed governance mechanisms, do this through a memorandum of understanding, service level agreement or contracts.

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Integrate your new service with existing platforms and capabilities

Work with your delivery partners to integrate your new service with their existing platforms and capabilities.

make sure you meet any applicable technical, security, accessibility, or data standards
test and validate the end-to-end user experience and service performance with your delivery partners and users.

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Document your findings

Document your findings and recommendations on how to apply criterion 5, to do this:

provide evidence to support your decisions and show how you have engaged delivery partners in your proposal or business case
explain how engaging with your delivery partners has helped you to reuse existing access points, avoid duplication, reduce costs, and improve user satisfaction
use the Digital Investment Overview (DIO) Data Collection form to report on how you have met the criterion
use the Digital Capability Assessment Process (DCAP) template to report on how you have met the criterion.

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Links

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Identify your potential delivery partners by reviewing the Australian Government Architecture (AGA) and the digital landscape of government services.
Delivery partners are other agencies or entities that provide relevant:
- existing platforms
- capabilities
- policies.
Contact your delivery partners as early as possible to establish a collaborative relationship and understand the scope of services, onboarding requirements and delivery timeframes.
Involve them in discovery activities, such as:
- user research
- journey mapping
- problem definition.
Communicate with your delivery partners regularly throughout the Alpha and Beta phases.
- consider including them in your agile ceremonies, user testing, and feedback loops
- define the roles and responsibilities of each party to ensure that you have clear and agreed governance mechanisms, do this through a memorandum of understanding, service level agreement or contracts.
Work with your delivery partners to integrate your new service with their existing platforms and capabilities.
- make sure you meet any applicable technical, security, accessibility, or data standards
- test and validate the end-to-end user experience and service performance with your delivery partners and users.
Document your findings and recommendations on how to apply criterion 5, to do this:
- provide evidence to support your decisions and show how you have engaged delivery partners in your proposal or business case
- explain how engaging with your delivery partners has helped you to reuse existing access points, avoid duplication, reduce costs, and improve user satisfaction
- use the Digital Investment Overview (DIO) Data Collection form to report on how you have met the criterion
- use the Digital Capability Assessment Process (DCAP) template to report on how you have met the criterion.

Your responsibilities

To successfully meet this criterion, agencies need to:

consider diverse user needs from the outset
co-design the digital service and its accompanying artifacts
apply cohort-specific digital inclusion requirements (outlined below).

When to apply

Apply Criterion 1 during Discovery to make sure diverse user groups are considered from the start.

Revisit this criterion across the Service design and delivery process to cater for new user groups and evolving user needs.

Questions for consideration

Who will use this service?
How might we address the unique needs and preferences of individuals?
How will we make sure the service is inclusive and usable for everyone?
Have we conducted thorough user research to understand diverse user needs?
How might we demonstrate learnings from research and inform decisions?

Your responsibilities

When to apply

Question for consideration

How to apply criterion 3

Guidance to use the AGA to find reusable platforms and capabilities

Microsoft 365 Copilot evaluation report in full

Summary of evaluation findings

11. Internal review and next steps

Your responsibilities

When to apply

Question for consideration

How to apply criterion 4

Your responsibilities

When to apply

Questions for consideration

How to apply criterion 5

Your responsibilities

When to apply

Questions for consideration

How to apply criterion 1

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