The worst services platform in the known universe is finally receiving a government audit, after years of single-handedly plunging the country into a rage-fuelled meltdown every tax season.

Former Telstra CEO David Thodey has been tapped by Bill Shorten to lead a panel of experts overseeing an expansive user audit of myGov, to “ensure it delivers outstanding service for Australians.”

The audit will begin in the coming weeks, and will result in a report by the end of the year.

The myGov website has 25 million linked accounts and more than one million sign-ins each day.

It’s also painfully slow, terribly inefficient, and requires a web of interlinked sign-ins in order to access even the most basic of information. It is counterinitiative, signs users out for no discernible reason, and looks like it was built on the GeoCities platform.

Shorten said the audit is delivering on now-Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s April election pledge, and that the former Telstra boss will be continuing work started in 2019.

“Mr Thodey has extensive global experience across technology, innovation, research and the public sector and a strong interest in the customer-centred transformation of business,” Shorten said.

“Mr Thodey led the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service in 2019 providing a vision to better use digital technologies to deliver outstanding government services.

“That review recommended three key principles for service delivery. Putting people at the centre of design, having a single access point to all government services and creating a seamless user experience. myGov is central to all three of these pillars.”

Thodey will be joined by eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant; former Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow; social epidemiologist, Professor Emily Banks AM; and
Amit Singh, former Head of Global Economic Policy at Uber.

“We’ve moved quickly on our election commitment to identify the changes needed to improve myGov’s reliability, functionality and deliver a more user-friendly experience,” Shorten continued.

“We’ve recently seen the first significant updates to myGov in a number of years, but the evolution of myGov into a service that truly unifies government digital services – to make life easier for Australians – will be constantly improved.”

The recommendations made in the final report will inform future improvements to myGov.