Service NSW

A platform which makes it easy for NSW citizens to find and access government support.

Social Impact

Service NSW’s Cost of Living initiative exists to ease the increasing financial burden faced by NSW families & citizens.

Collaborating with front-line teams, policy makers, and a diverse range of citizens, we launched a service which makes it easy to access support – giving $1.5 billion back to NSW residents.

What we made.

Collaborating with front-line teams, policymakers, and a diverse range of citizens. we designed, built, and launched the savings finder website.

Audience validated 3 year strategic roadmap
Development of (successful) Business case for department funding
Design, development and launch of the new website in 3 months

Key Outcomes

(in the first 6 months alone)

$1.5+ billion in benefits claimed through the website
1.5+ million NSW residents have used the platform

“Thanks to this service, I was able to put my little one into ballet classes that I wouldn’t have been able to afford.”

— Cost of Living Pilot Participant

The problem

NSW households are facing overwhelming financial stress, with a 1/3 households unable to access $500 in an emergency.

The Government provides over 70+ benefits and rebates to help with the cost of living, but people aren’t claiming them.

“Provide families with access to an individually tailored one-stop shop service to help them claim NSW Government rebates and refunds.”

— Victor Dominello, Minister for Finance, Services and Property

The key insight.

Disparate, hard-to-find services, existing social stigma, and high-effort processes prevent people from accessing the help they need. This leads to hardship, scarcity, and reduced quality of life.

We need to make it easy for customers to access help by connecting them with vouchers and rebates relevant to them - $550 back to someone experiencing this level of scarcity will change lives.

The solution

We designed, built, and launched Savings Finder – a platform which makes it easy to find and access government benefits, as well as discover others they may not have been aware of.

The approach

Over 12 weeks we worked with Government leaders, managers, policymakers, and a diverse group of citizens.

In addition to building the digital product, we set up a Pilot team to trial the service in a real-world environment, building service capability and capturing evidence to improve the experience.

To ensure lasting change, we defined a future vision and a 3-year roadmap of improvements – and in mid-2020, we worked with Service NSW to continue building out the product in line with this vision.

The impact.

Over $1.5 billion went in the pockets of 1.5 million citizens who need it most, including $297 million to low income households. Since launch, citizens saved an average $550/year, with up to $2,000 for some households.

The tool also enabled the Government to fast-track their response to disasters such as COVID-19 by leveraging the same principles and experience to accurately connect citizens to the help they need.

For Service NSW, this project demonstrated how design can result in a smarter, more empathetic, more responsive Government, while generating evidence for real policy change.