Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 8:57:23 to 9:04:30
Senators question the impact of ending Ask Izzy funding on community service navigation and the delivery of core social services metrics.
Topics: Social services, Procurement
Speakers: Hon Anne Ruston, Michael Lye, Hon Katy Gallagher
I'm just wondering whether given it the programme was originally designed to provide the services to a number of areas that sit within the social services portfolio area. Whether you gave any assessment into the impact of ending the contribution to Ask Isie on the delivery of some of the core metrics that social services deliver on in terms of the government.
So I mean the volunteer grants, I think are only one-off grants. So at the expiry of the Master Grant, which I think was more closely related to the technology that drives Ask Izzy. That obviously has been picked up by Services Australia. And that's a recognition of the use of that finder tool for one of the better words. And Service Australia undertook that licence on the basis that they were a large user of Ask. And so they picked up that licence agreement, which meant that if Service Australia DSS or any other Commonwealth agency were to throw funding into that would be duplicating what effectively what Service Australia were doing. And then just to be I mean, obviously this is a question really for Service Australia, but I appreciate we're at the end of the line of estimates here. So Service Australia have had a really close look at their usage of the tool. They use a range of ways in which they connect people to community services. And so we at DSS have had a number of communications with Service Australia about Ask Izzy. The organisation has a long history, obviously, and we have valued their service over time in the Commonwealth. But ultimately, Service Australia have looked at that and said. That they they couldn't find a value for money reason to continue providing that licence.
And I think I think that's why I'm I speaking to you instead of Services Australia, even though I'll come to it in a minute about why I think Services Australia probably maybe should have rethought it, but anyway, that's that's a matter for government and understand that. So Ask Izzy recorded 9.1 million searches in 25-26 in relation, you know, and and it was quite a significant increase in demand on the previous year. Um I'm just into understanding, given the services that Ask Izzy is connecting up and providing a navigation tool for. Um, did Services Australia when you found out that um not Services Australia, did the Department of Social Services take any analysis when Services Australia made the decision that they no longer were intending to enter into a service agreement with um uh ask Iszy um about the impact of the um you know the more than 500,000 service listings that are contained here, what was actually going to be the consequence to the delivery um partners that you fund, um you know, the food banks and the um you know the second bytes and and the myriad of of organisations that I know you fund this particular tool brings those all together as with an with a navigation tool, and I just wondered whether you'd given any thought as the Department of Social Services about the impact on um the delivery of your services given how much this tool provides the navigation.
Well, we obviously had a conversation with them, but I think that um with them, like with with that with Services Australia about this.
Did you have a conversation with Ask?
We didn't we didn't have an uh we didn't have a um uh an available source of funding to to put at this, but the judgment that they've reached would apply to the judgment to our judge, it would be very hard for us to reach different different judgment to what Services Australia have done, given the change in the way technology is working.
So is there another service that's available?
Yes.
Um I'm about to ask.
Well, I mean the question should really be I I can answer them. Not one question on this was asked in Services Australia, but I I can provide you with more information.
In a sense, though, Minister, um I'm actually more interested in the impact on the Department of Social Services.
But I can give you the stats on because services, so the history of this is Services Australia was using InfoExchange. They said you if you're using it, you you need to pay for it, fair enough. Services Australia entered into an agreement for an 18-month period, I think for the value of about $2.3 million. Um they did an assessment of their net Services Australia's needs on uh essentially, you know, five finder sites. Um now what and made a decision uh that they did not um see value for money in continuing that service.
Yeah.
So that was their uh their decision, and if they had taken a decision to continue that, they it would have had to go to a full procurement process. There was no capacity to just do another agreement with info exchange under the Commonwealth procurement rules, they would have had to go out for a broader procurement. But when I look down, uh so there's a number of different sites asking Money Smart, Services Australia, Service Finder, the National Help, Debt Helpline, Homelessness Australia, Family Relationships Lifeline 1800 respect. So there are a number of um sites that were um Services Australia did track the activity by about six-fold, it's Money Smart, is the website where if you um are checking outbound link clicks from Services Australia's website, that's uh the vast majority of where they're going. So I mean this really is a matter for Services Australia, and um I'm happy to do whatever I can to provide some answers on notice considering this wasn't asked during that session.