Built to
The standards behind the front door
Government service standards from the UK, Australia and international practice, and where each shows up in this service. Aligned where aligned; certified only where a certificate exists.
| Standard | Source | Requirement | Where it shows up here |
|---|---|---|---|
| GDS Service Standard (UK) | Points 1, 2, 5, 6, 10 | Understand users and their context; solve a whole problem; make sure everyone can use the service; join up across channels; measure what matters. | One request record across web, phone, email, counter, post and social; accessibility needs on the person record; outcomes measured before activity on the overview. |
| GOV.UK service patterns | Give a reference number; Confirm; Check a status | Every request gets a reference the person can quote and track without logging in. | SR reference issued at intake; /customer-service/track shows the person-visible timeline by reference and email. |
| Digital Service Standard 2.0 (Australia) | Criteria 1, 3, 5, 6, 8 | Have a clear intent; leave no one behind; measure performance; don't reinvent the wheel; innovate with purpose. | Request taxonomy shared across services; vulnerability and accessibility flags raise priority and route to a person; first-contact resolution and on-time rates reported. |
| Tell Us Once | Australian and UK government policy | A change told to government once is applied everywhere it is needed. | Record-change requests propagate to the owning services in one action and the person is told which records changed. |
| NSW Customer Commitments | Easy to engage, act with empathy, respect my time, explain what to expect, resolve the situation, engage the community | Tell the person what will happen and by when; resolve at first contact where possible. | Acknowledgement names the expected date; routine requests resolved by the resolution agent end to end; chases when an owning service misses its standard. |
| ISO 10002:2018 complaints handling | Clauses 4 (principles) and 7 (process) | Visibility, accessibility, responsiveness, objectivity, no charge, confidentiality, customer focus, accountability, continual improvement. Receipt, tracking, acknowledgement, initial assessment, investigation, response, decision, closure. | The complaint file: tier, stage, initial assessment (severity, safety, complexity, impact), a pack assembled without pre-judgement, a person's response with reasons, remedy and review rights. |
| Ombudsman complaint-handling model (AU, NZ, UK) | Three tiers: frontline resolution, internal review, external review | Escalation rights notified with every response; formal review is a distinct process. | Complaint tiers; escalation to formal review is a gated decision for a delegated officer because it starts a process with legal effect. |
| Privacy: APP 3, APP 5, GDPR Articles 5, 6 and 13 | Collection limitation, notification at collection, lawful basis and transparency | Collect only what is needed, tell the person why at the point of collection, record consent for identity matching and sharing. | Consent record with purpose, scope, channel and the notice text shown; no identity match without consent (guardrail GL-CS-03); flags never shown on the public tracker. |
| Identity assurance: NIST SP 800-63 and TDIF | Identity assurance levels | State how well the person is known; do not act on unverified identity where it matters. | Person records carry IAL1 (unverified) or IAL2 (verified); record changes on a verified identity only. |
| WCAG 2.2 AA and plain language (ISO 24495-1) | Perceivable, operable, understandable, robust; write for the reader | Every citizen and officer screen usable with assistive technology; responses in plain language. | Interfaces designed against WCAG 2.2 AA with conformance evidenced per deployment; agent responses drafted in plain sentences and reviewed against a readability guard. |
| Service standards (typical government practice) | Acknowledge within one business day; respond to information requests in two; service requests in five to ten; complaints in twenty; information-access requests on the statutory clock | Every request carries a due date the person can see; breaches are recorded, not hidden. | Request types carry acknowledgement and resolution standards; service-standard breach notes are written to the record and shown to the person. |