2018 Public Sector Innovation Awards Finalists

The twelve finalists in the 2018 Public Sector Innovation Awards have been announced. A joint activity of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and the Public Sector Innovation Network, with the support of EY, the awards are now in their third year.

There were 51 nominations from across the Australian Public Service and the ACT Public Service. Finalists will present to a panel of judges on 21 June with winners to be announced during Innovation Month in July.

See also: 2016 finalists and winners; 2017 finalists and winners.

Furthermore, July is Innovation Month and the PSIN events calendar is starting to populate.

Category 1: Citizen-Centred Innovation

Innovation which has the citizen at the centre….

	Solar Panel Validation Pilot Clean Energy Regulator The Solar Panel Validation Pilot is an innovative co-designed solution between Government and industry, ensuring consumers are buying genuine solar panels and Commonwealth entitlements are protected.
	Australia says “Yes”- Australian Marriage Postal Law Survey Australian Bureau of Statistics Delivery of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, a national survey designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was completed in only 99 days in late 2017.
	Extended Throughcare program – ACT Corrective Services, Justice and Community Safety Directorate ACT Government The ACT Corrective Services (ACTCS) Extended Throughcare Program is a targeted initiative working with eligible detainees released from the Alexander Maconochie Centre prison, designed to support their community reintegration and break the cycle for reoffending.
	Simplified GST for Non-Residents Australian Taxation Office A new quick and easy way for non-residents to register, report and pay their GST, which delivers an efficient and client-centric system to manage obligations around the international movements of goods and services.

Category 2: Culture and Capability

The people part – the key to innovation…

	Cultural Change that Sticks! Department of Industry, Innovation and Science The Single Business Service embedded a culture of continuous improvement and innovation across the program, to achieve the best possible outcomes for the department and its customers.
	AUSTRAC’s ASEAN-Australia Codeathon AUSTRAC Australia’s first ever intelligence Codeathon – where regional partners, government, industry and academia collaborated to generate novel approaches to solving Australia’s most complex law enforcement and intelligence problems.
	Removal of the Outgoing Passenger Card Department of Home Affairs Removal of the Outgoing Passenger Card while retaining the critical data collected, delivering over one million hours of time back to the travelling public.
	Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet An APS-wide collaboration to establish BETA, delivering the application and rigorous evaluation of behavioural insights to public policy and administration.

Category 3: Digital and Data

Digital, data and technology to innovate…

	The Move of Sentinel Hotspots to the Cloud Geoscience Australia Moving Sentinel Hotspots, a national bushfire monitoring system, to the cloud to deliver an improved service with reliability and scalability.
	Digital Library Infrastructure Replacement Program National Library of Australia Replacement of digital infrastructure underpinning online library services, to deliver a world-leading digital library service.
	Tupaia: Improving Access to Healthcare in Asia-Pacific – Harnessing Untapped Resources Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Using digital technology and human-centred design to deliver improved medical and health care facilities to developing nations across the Pacific.
	Alex: the Australian Government’s First Integrated Virtual Assistant with Web-Chat Digital Experience and Advanced Machine Learning Capability IP Australia A key component of IP Australia’s digital transformation, Alex helps customers get the information about intellectual property they want at a time that is convenient for them.