The federal government a few years ago launched myGov, an online portal that was meant to be an easy, and secure, way to access services online with one login and one password. Those who have used it know that it has been anything but.
Through myGov, users can link Australian JobSearch, Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Centrelink, Child Support, Department of Health Applications Portal, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, HousingVic Online Services, Medicare, My Aged Care, National Disability Insurance Scheme, National Redress Scheme, State Revenue Office Victoria and My Health Record services.
It never had an app, and logging in to access these government services wasn’t exactly straightforward. This was proven when many Aussies were trying to retrieve their vaccination certificates late last year.
Many of us, too, only knew of myGov because of the absolute heart-attack it brought on when an email was sent saying something to the effect of “You’ve got a new message in your myGov inbox”, particularly during those awful robodebt times. But today, we’ve been told we’re getting a myGov app.
Fear not, the end to the ‘you have a new message in your myGov inbox’ is nigh – just download the new myGov app
The app is about convenience, security and accessibility.
Find out more at: https://t.co/13LexUrQSQ
Download it here: https://t.co/Qs9nLHA396— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) December 5, 2022
Seems like even the minister who has absorbed the issue-plagued myGov, Bill Shorten, understands just how ridiculous these emails are.
The myGov app is available on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. To use it, you need a myGov account to set up the app (if you don’t have one, you can create one fairly easily).
The myGov app will use a six-digit PIN or your phone’s baked-in biometrics, such as fingerprint or face recognition.
There’s not too much to it at this stage, but the whole pitch is that the myGov app makes it simpler to sign in to your account, easier to view Inbox messages and it gives you quicker to access services. There is also a digital wallet where you can store some of your government digital cards and certificates – which would have been fantastic last year, but progress is progress. Medicare isn’t ready yet, but it will be and more features will be added to the myGov app “over time”.
As highlighted by iTnews, the former government first flagged the idea of a native iOS and Android app as the interface to myGov in 2019. Services Australia then flagged 2022 as the timeline for delivery.
myGov is currently undergoing an audit that is taking a “fresh look at how well myGov is performing when it comes to reliability and functionality for a user-friendly experience”. There’s a two-year program for improving myGov underway that ends in mid-2023 and Shorten said the audit will help to inform next steps for the upgraded myGov platform. For now, we’ve at least got a myGov app.