Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

About This Project

A major government department required help with multiple large and complex projects for a New Policy Proposal. The program of work demanded high-quality outcomes with close coordination across multiple departments and stakeholders, all to be delivered to a strict deadline.

The Situation

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) was embarking on a major New Policy Proposal (NPP) – The Passport Redevelopment Program (PRP).

The client needed to replace their existing paper-based approach with a new digital platform that included a customer portal and an online application process.

In addition, they required close collaboration with other government agencies including the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Attorney General.

This was a very large and complex program of work, comprising multiple digital transformation projects, in addition to requiring close coordination across multiple departments and stakeholders.

This project scope included:

• Planning and delivery of a high-volume print facility with high-speed printers
• The development of a customer portal with digitised passport application forms
• Centralising data management across multiple departments
• Developing a system for performing passport interviews online
• Delivering a reporting platform that included fraud detection, analytics and biometrics
• A complex mainframe/midrange IT environment
• Developing a service-oriented architecture (SOA) to facilitate the consolidation of legacy systems into a single digital platform
• Development of ICT architecture focused on the customer experience

The Approach

Information Professionals Group was approached to develop the business case for the Passport Redevelopment Program. We worked with the client to develop a delivery framework and strategy that would deliver high-quality outcomes across all projects, on time, in scope and within budget.

With a project budget of $100+ million and a team of 65, we utilised agile management principles combined with MSP to enable efficient program delivery across four main streams.

We provided end-to-end project management, including critical release management, across all digital transformation projects, with key team members assigned to:

• Test management
• Quality management
• Functional and non-functional test roles
• System integration testing (SIT)
• Regression testing
• User acceptance testing (UAT)

We developed separate test plans to ensure non-functional requirements were tested thoroughly across all agents and architecture tiers.

As well as managing all aspects of the testing life cycle and facilitating program planning, we represented the DFAT customer effectively during each step of the project to ensure the implementation of the best possible services.

The project involved complex relationship management across stakeholders from multiple organisations including:

• DFAT
• Home Affairs
• AFP
• Interpol
• The Attorney General’s departments

The delivery teams included a large number of DFAT staff as well as project managers and vendors located both in Australia and overseas. We coordinated closely with all partners to ensure the success of the program.

Importantly, we worked closely with staff from across these organisations to implement appropriate change management strategies throughout the duration of this project. This included ensuring staff from APS, contractors and consultants were confident in using the new portal after project delivery.

The Impact

The Passport Redevelopment Program was concluded successfully and is currently in use — running smoothly without incident and with minimal external input.

From integrating multiple legacy systems to ensuring the consolidation of all present data into a single location for improved data management, the program delivered a large-scale suite of services.

Integrating these services within DFAT’s workflow meant the movement from paper to digital was seamless, with increased efficiency being achieved across all agencies.

Through our unique Information Professionals Group approach, all aspects of the customer experience were carefully considered and continually tested to ensure a successful delivery from end to end.