Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McGauran for his question. We have a program called Systems for People, which we expect will completely transform the way DIMA does business through technology. The objectives of this program were formed by some independent reviews that were set up following the Palmer and Comrie reports to give us good and independent advice on the information technology and record management systems that we ran in the department. It is a very important part of the far-reaching reforms that will ensure that DIMA is more open and more accountable, that clients are dealt with fairly and reasonably, and in particular that staff are well trained and—where the IT particularly comes in—properly supported.

DIMA’s people need IT systems that are very easy to use and that support their work, and we are developing IT systems and infrastructure to improve their access to important information. We all remember the difficulties faced by a number of high-profile clients when staff who were trying to do the right thing were given IT systems that made it very difficult for them to access the relevant information across the department. Currently, when staff want to verify identity and see records of someone’s history they need to access a number of different systems and records. Therefore the current technology limits the quality, completeness and accuracy of the data that a staff member is looking at at any one time.

Over this four-year program, we will be able to provide staff and clients with much better systems. Firstly, we will be able to provide a single view of a single client’s interactions with the department. Secondly, we will have comprehensive processing for all DIMA staff based on various business roles. The new IT will establish consistency in work processes and decision making across the department and dramatically improve record keeping and quality assurance. In that way we expect to improve our data quality, ensuring data completeness and accuracy. That is important, because I recall the occasion when a person who, by a failure of record keeping, kept her Australian citizenship and was consequently refused entry into Australia by the previous Labor government and by this government. This was because of poor record keeping within the department.