​​Digital Service Standard now fully in effect​

The DTA’s Digital Experience Policy ensures that excellent service delivery sits at the centre of digital transformation. Through four standards, the policy provides a whole-of-government approach to unify the design and delivery of more cohesive and inclusive digital experiences.

As of 1 July, the Digital Service Standard has fully rolled out. This means applies to both:

• New and replacement public-facing and staff-facing digital services (in place in since 1 July 2024), as well as
• Existing public-facing digital services (from 1 July 2025)

Existing staff-facing services are excluded.  

Next steps for existing services

In 6 months’ time, on 1 January 2026, phase 2 of the Digital Inclusion Standard will also come into effect, applying to existing public-facing services. We understand that many agencies are working on uplift activities that tackle both standards simultaneously. Whether you are addressing both standards simultaneously, or one at a time, we are here to support agencies.

We’ve updated the Existing Services Checklist to help agencies navigate phase 2 of both standards. The checklist is designed to help agencies:

• Understand which of their services are in scope of the Service and Inclusion Standards
• Plan and prioritise uplift activities
• Audit existing services against the Standards’ requirements
• Identify where an exemption might be needed, and what steps to take next.

Updates to the checklist, in response to valuable feedback received from agencies in our co-design working group, include:  

• Examples of best practice approaches under each checklist item to show what good looks like
• Simplified the language to remove design jargon and make the checklist as plain-English as possible
• Information on next steps once the checklist activity is complete, including applying for an exemption
• Better alignment with the guidance already available on digital.gov.au
• Checklist items tailored specifically to existing services.  

This has resulted in a single, clearer, and more useful tool to help your teams plan and deliver service uplift more effectively.  

We have also updated our Compliance, reporting and exemptions guide by consolidating the two original compliance and exemptions documents into one streamlined guide, making key information easy to find.

Need more time? Apply for an exemption

If your agency is facing challenges with uplifting your services, we encourage you to apply for an exemption as soon as possible - if you meet the eligibility criteria. The exemption process is there to help accommodate those cases where compliance might not be feasible in a time manner. If you think you may need one, don’t wait too long to apply!

For more information on exemptions, please see the updated Compliance, Reporting, and Exemptions Guide.  You can also reach out to us at standard@dta.gov.au for more details on how to apply.

Additional support

At our recent presentation on uplifting existing services, we heard from agencies about the challenges and competing priorities they are facing. While many are progressing with uplift work, we acknowledge the resource-intensive nature of applying the Service and Inclusion Standards to existing services.

We are committed to working alongside agencies to help identify practical solutions and provide further support. If your agency needs tailored assistance or has specific challenges, please reach out to the team at standard@dta.gov.au