IAB401 Enterprise Architecture Enterprise Systems Part A Assignment Brief | QUT

IAB401: Enterprise Systems Assessment Part  A

Assignment Brief: Service Delive ry for Social Welf are Support in Australia through the Departmen t of Human Serv i ces  

1. Overview:

Social welfare support through Services Australia  Governments worldwide provide social welfare through payments and services to support individuals, families, and other groups in particular circumstances that limit their ability to support themselves. Social welfare support includes unemployment benefits, study assistance, rental assistance, disability insurance, and childcare support.

Customer requests must be carefully assessed to determine the appropriate payments and services, depending  on  specific  conditions  and  the  nature  of  the  request,  e.g.,  income  level,  number  of dependents (such as spouse and children), and overall health status.

1.1. About the Department of Health Services

In Australia, social welfare services are available for citizens through the federal government’s Services Australia department (hereafter referred to as ‘the department’) under the Social Security Act 1999, Social Security Admin Act 1999, and New Tax System Family Administration Act 1999, which were passed through the federal parliament.  The department comprises several agencies, including Centrelink, Medicare, and Child Support, and is responsible for different areas of social welfare support. 

The services provided by the department from its agencies include:

• Payments (e.g., Youth Allowance providing financial support for those under 24, Austudy for study support, and job seeker payment providing financial support for those out of work and over 22)
• Concessions (e.g., discounts for travel and groceries)
• Other forms of services (e.g., health support).

The  department  is  responsible  for  providing  payments  and  services,  which  means  that  it  designs, develops, delivers, and monitors their usage.

1.2. Overview of the Department’s Service Delivery

The department is mandated to provide services that can be easily comprehended by customers (i.e., what services are available, who can apply, what the rules for accessing them are, how to apply, etc.). This  is  a  significant  factor  in  improving  the  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of  service  delivery,  as customers often have uncertainties about what support is available for them. There is an extremely high volume of customer interactions and processing steps for the services involved.

The following figures, drawn from historical data in the past, provide insights into the size and scale of service delivery required from the department:

• Around 720 million digital and online transactions a year (i.e., payments made to customers)
• Around 21 million visits from customers at its 350 service centres per year
• Around 169 billion dollars in payments to customers and providers
• Around 56 million phone calls per year.

Customers can access payments and services via a range of the department’s online, postal and staff-assisted channels (e.g., website, mobile applications and service centres). Payments and services are also  accessed  through  external  agencies  or  delivery  partners  responsible  for  supporting  customer needs (see below in this section). The department’s website provides full details of all the available online services. An impression of the customer segments related to payments and services is provided in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Impression of customer segments for DHS (Services Australia) 

For customer convenience when accessing services with the federal government, the department’s services may also be accessed online through the federal government’s myGov service centres and myGov  website. MyGov  provides  ‘one-stop-shop’  access  to  different government  agency  services, including those offered by the department.

As stated above, the department utilises several external agencies, or Delivery Partners, to support it in certain aspects of delivery. The delivery partners assist customers in their circumstances, helping them  address  these  issues.  An  example  of  delivery  partners  includes  agencies  focused  on  job placement (i.e., Job Active Providers), which assist customers in finding work and securing jobs. In this case, unemployed  customers  seek assistance  through  the department  for  unemployment benefits (e.g., through Newstart Allowance for those who are over  22 years old and under  the pension age of 65-67 years old) and utilise a ‘jobactive organisation’ as a delivery partner to find work and report on progress  in  terms  of  job  seeking  or  any  required  training  as  part  of  the  agreement  to  get unemployment  benefits  (called  mutual  obligation).  Customers  may  also  trigger  claims  for  services through delivery partners, which the partners forward to the department.

The department interacts with other Customer Stakeholders to obtain information about customers, to verify the identity of customers and their circumstances, and to make decisions about providing payments and services. Stakeholders include education institutions for the study being undertaken, employers  where  customers  work,  real  estate  for  property  related  to  customers'  residence  or investments, financial institutions where customers manage their money or investments, and other government departments that have  customers  in  their records  (e.g., the  Australian  Tax Office  has information about taxpayers).

The department interacts with Policy Agencies and Service Owners because it provides social welfare and  related  services,  not  an  owner  or  policy-setting  agency  of  the  services.  Other  agencies  are responsible  for  the  policy  and  service  ownership  of  the  department’s  payments  and  services. Specifically, the Australian Federal Parliament and other Australian State and Local parliaments pass laws  that  impact  the  kinds  of  service  payments  delivered  by  the  department.  Policies  provide regulatory rules for payments and services, i.e., rules for assessing these, citizens' obligations when granted,  and  penalties  that  could  apply  (e.g.,  related  welfare  fraud).  Policy  Agencies  and  Service Owners  interact  with  the  department  to  convert  policy,  new  payments,  business  rules,  etc.,  into business processes.  The impact  of  new  policy  settings  on  existing  processes  needs to  be  carefully understood, and change plans must  be implemented. Other Policy Agencies and Service Owners are Queensland’s Department of Energy and Public Works, where services provided by the Queensland Government might impact services provided by the department (e.g., if  a customer needs housing assistance support, there should be a clear understanding about which agencies they should apply to – e.g., Department of Energy and Public Works.

2. Organisational structure

The department’s organisational chart provides an insight into the key actors and business capabilities that support its charter. A simplified summary of the key areas1 of the organisation is as follows:

• Service Delivery Operations: This area covers customer service delivery management across channels and core business processes and systems. It involves the following: 

- Planning for business  areas  and  departmental  channels  to  ensure  the  right  resources  are  available  to deliver payments and services.

o Service delivery processes begin with customers registering to obtain a customer profile (record).
o Discovery of payments and services for specific needs and personal circumstances.
o Assessing  eligibility  for  services  (whether  customers  can  receive  services  given  their circumstances, such as the income and assets they have)
o Assessing  entitlement  for  services  (determining  how  much  customers  are  entitled  to receive given their circumstances)
o Setting up services (e.g., setting up payments for fortnightly transfers to customers)
o Running/managing the services over the time that they have been set up  to deliver also involves interactions with the delivery partner for assisted services delivery.

• Payments Reform (Transformation): This area involves planning, design, and implementation of key systems that introduce new ways of undertaking service delivery. The teams in this area undertake ‘future state’ business strategy, business architecture, solution architecture, and solution implementation (including solution procurement from the market).
• Integrity and Information: This area is involved in analysing data generated through service delivery to manage:
  o Fraud  (when  payments  are  either  claimed  or  made  for  customers  reporting  false circumstances)
  o Compliance (to determine that customers are providing timely and accurate information and following the right processes for receiving services)
  o Debt resulting from when customers should not have received full or partial payment.
• Corporate  and  Financial  Services:  This  area  is  responsible  for  the  internal  processes  and systems supporting the department’s management.

This includes:

o Human resources management (i.e., management of staff)
o Financials (accounting)
o Product management (procurements and fulfilments)
o Vendor  management  covers  engagement,  funding,  and  tracking  of  product  suppliers (e.g.,  for  office  equipment),  delivery  partners  (for  assistance  in  service  delivery),  and other service providers (e.g., for engagement of property services such as cleaning).

• Chief Information Officer (CIO) Group: providing IT management for all the IT systems used by the department. This involves supporting various systems, including software applications, software platforms (e.g.,  database  systems, operating systems) and  systems  infrastructure (hardware). It covers planning, design, implementation and running of IT systems. Note, for designing and implementing systems, the CIO group works closely with the Payments Reform (Transformation)  area,  which,  as  described  above,  is  responsible  for  running  projects  that introduce key systems to the department.

3. Service deliver y busines s and IT s ystems

The department provides payments and services through  several government agencies. Centrelink is one of the largest, providing payment and support services to customer segments such as job seekers, seniors (no  longer  working  full-time), students  and  trainees,  families,  carers,  parents,  people with disabilities, Indigenous Australians, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

To deliver services, the department uses a range of customer management, claims lodgement, claims assessment, and service payment capabilities to deliver customer outcomes, as utilised through the Service Delivery Operations organisational area.

3.1. Customer needs, registration and service matching

Customers digitally access services  through the department’s website, interactive kiosks, and mobile applications.  The  staff-assisted  channels  comprise  service  centres  in  various  towns  and  cities nationwide, an integrated call centre with locations across different cities, postal mail processing in service centres, and mobile service centres (trucks) serving regional communities.

3.1.1 Online interactions

Suppose a customer wishes  to  lodge a claim  for  support online. In  that case, they first  access  the myGov portal, which is the federal government’s ‘one-stop-shop’ entity from which services of the federal  government  are  meant  to  be  accessed.  To  claim  social  welfare,  customers  will  need  a Centrelink online account, which is linked to their Customer Profile (Record) identified by a Customer Reference Number. With a profile in place, a customer can sign in to their account from myGov and connect to Centrelink (and other agencies) to gain access to services. If customers do not have an account  or  customer  profile,  they  will  have  to  visit  a  service  centre  to  be  identified  and  provide documents to identify themselves (e.g. driver’s licence, birth certificate). The department will issue a profile and account once customers are accurately identified.

A claim form for payments and other services can be filled in online2. This form is used as the basis to verify  customer  details  in  relation  to  their  requests,  perform  assessments  for  eligibility  (checking conditions that customers should satisfy to receive one or more payments/services) and entitlement (how much of one or more payments/services can be supported).

A  customer  will  be  requested  to  provide  all  relevant  details  (as  outlined  by  legislation  policy  and associated business rules).  The claim form will include customer information relevant to themselves and  their  claims  –  i.e.  Customer  Reference  Number,  their  names,  identities  (like  Tax  File  Number created through the Australian Tax Office), details of their dependents (e.g. spouse and children), and other circumstances. Circumstances include the details of income customers earn, savings, assets such as cars and houses owned, courses they are studying, etc.

For specifying  their  welfare support requirements, the  customer  nominates several  payments  and services available through the department for their needs. A digital service called Payment Finder is available for customers to find payments and services relevant to their needs, to do a self-assessment about  whether  they  are  eligible  for  the  service,  and  to  simulate  how  much  they  are  entitled  to (Payment and Services Finder).

In some instances, information about a customer’s circumstances and other details is held in systems of other agencies or Customer Stakeholders. This may include information about their tax records, family members, courses studied, health care, jobs, etc. This information may be requested via the customer or through the department to Customer Stakeholders using an automated data exchange system (for further details, see section 4).

Certain aspects of making a claim may require sending in information. For example, claims-related documents can be sent to the department via scan/upload using a document lodgement service. The customer is also asked to verify their identification and claims. Alternatively, a customer may post or personally take documents to a service centre.

In  addition  to  the  Payment  Finder,  other  customer  services  available  online  are  customer management (including capture and update of identity and circumstance details), claims management (including  claims  lodgement,  assessment,  enquiries  and  tracking),  document  lodgement,  and customer feedback (related to the input they provide the department for service delivery).

3.1.2 Staff-assisted interactions.

In many instances, details of claim forms cannot be completed online, and staff-assisted processes are required. Customers may then be directed to provide further information at a service centre or by telephone at a call centre. Customers identify themselves via a service centre or by phone. In addition, they may provide updates about their circumstances, including existing payments and services they receive,  such  as  changes  to  their  address  or  part-time  work.  These  are  called  staff-assisted interactions.

Customers who attend a service centre will be ‘triaged’ on arrival by a Customer Liaison Officer to determine which Customer Service Officer (i.e., staff at the service centre) is best suited to assist them. This could be a generalist officer or a specialist, such as a social worker.

Once triaged, the Customer will be directed to the next interaction step. In some cases, this may be immediate, and in other cases, there may be a wait period before a required officer is available. In other instances, an appointment will be booked at a future time for a telephone or service centre meeting  with  the  customer  to  obtain  and  validate  more  complex  details  about  the  customer’s circumstances and social welfare needs.

In extreme  cases,  specialist social  workers  are assigned to  assist customers in  determining special needs and planning to assist them. An example of where a social worker is needed is where a customer may be homeless or has experienced domestic violence. In such examples, while running through the process  of  applying  for  a  claim  is  important,  the  department  recognises  that  customers  are experiencing  personal  stress  and  other  factors  and  need  proper  social  care  and  follow-up  when applying for payments/services.

4. IT systems used 

• The myGov agency has a ‘One-Stop-Shop’ System supporting:
  • The myGov portal 
  • Secure  Gateway,  which  supports  communications  between  myGov  and  other  agency applications that it provides access to (currently the department and the Australian Tax Office)

• The department has an integrated online web  application to support its website, a mobile application, and a kiosk application to support its online channels.
• The department has a Customer Relationship Management system that holds the accounts and  profiles  of  its  registered  customers  (uniquely  identified  by  a  Customer  Registration Number).  This  system  holds  details  of  customers,  such  as  their  circumstances  and  data obtained  from  Customer  stakeholders  (e.g.  Tax  File  Number,  QUT  Student  ID).  It  also  has details of customer payments/services accessed currently and in the past.
• The department has a Service Management System supporting:
  • Claims  Management  manages  the  capture,  update  and  tracking  of  claims  made  by customers.
  • Service Management  manages  the  service offers,  by  way  of  payment(s) and  service(s) over  a  time  period  that  customers  access,  the  obligations  that  are  put  in  place,  and interactions  that  take  place  regarding  services—payments/services  delivered,  reports made by customers to update their circumstances.
• The department has a Payment Engine that supports customer payments and debts.
• The department has a Secure Partner Gateway for data exchange with Customers.
• Stakeholders, Delivery Partners and outside agencies.  § Enterprise Resource Planning system used for production management.

5. Tasks

For details of the assignment tasks, please read the following and also refer to the Assignment Coversheet part of the document (above), in the section covering “Tasks & Marks”.

I. Develop a multi-level business capability and related value stream based on the “Assignment Brief” above. This  will involve developing the  Service  Delivery Management and  Customer Management Capabilities. A background of these capabilities is provided above (sections 2, 3 and  4).  As  the  overriding  context,  the  high-level  business  capabilities  (levels  0  and  1)  are provided  as  follows.  The  Service  Delivery  Management  and  Customer  Management.

The  above  capability  map  shows  capabilities  at  levels  zero  (L0)  and  one  (L1).  You  are  to develop levels 2 and 3 of each capability highlighted in red: Service Delivery Management & Customer Management.  Note that the highlighted capabilities are already at level 1; you will need to develop levels two (L2) and three (L3) for both capabilities.

As part of this exercise, the missing capability will need a graphical business capability model and a textual description of each capability. All assumptions made will also need to be briefly described.