Systems for People—the department’s four year business transformation program plays a critical role in supporting the department’s operations and providing better services for clients by making improvements in information and communication technology.

This year, new features were introduced in the Compliance, Case Management and Detention Portals which support the New Directions in Detention policy and reflect the principle of ‘one client, one case, many services’. High on the list of this year’s achievements were the award winning visa and citizenship wizards and the eVisitor service as well as the successful introduction of the new Superyacht Crew visa.

The health assessment portal was also established which enabled case officers to electronically determine health requirements for temporary visa applicants.

The Client Search Portal—which contains more than 110 million name records—and other business portals were better integrated to ensure a single and complete view of the client. In addition the Central Movement Alert List system, the Border Security Portal and the department’s biometric capabilities were also enhanced.

The successful delivery of the Security Referral Service marked the end of almost two years of design, analysis and development, and improved the way visa information is referred to other government agencies for security checks. This has resulted in faster visa processing times in some areas and provided robust auditing and reporting capacity enabling better record keeping. More than 500 staff were involved in the delivery of the referral service and in a first for the department, 1500 staff were trained using virtual classroom technology.