The minister for digitising government has given us all an early Christmas present. Shanti Mathias tears off the wrapping paper.
New Zealand is deep into the silly season; people aren’t replying to emails (productivity crisis alert!) and there are a lot of Christmas trees all over the place. But the best present has come early, at least according to Judith Collins.
“People are going to love it,” the minister for digitising government has promised. “Just like I love my banking apps.”
Wait, what? Yes, Collins is talking about an app. Called Govt.nz, it’s designed to connect people to all government services. In an interview on RNZ last week, the minister couldn’t suppress her festive glee. Govt.nz “is for people like me who love apps and want to do all my work on them”, she said exuberantly.
Collins wants everyone to know that this is that white whale, the budget gift you’ll be using for life. “This whole app and all those incredible services was delivered for under $5 million, which is a big deal considering how many government agencies were involved.”
Call me a grinch, but I am not someone who wants to do all my work on apps. I will go into desktop mode on my phone browser to play YouTube videos or use transcription software, just to avoid getting the apps. I certainly do not love to use banking apps, not least because half the time it takes multiple tries for the banking app to recognise my fingerprint. To be fair, I’m not sure I’ve ever loved anything as much as Judith Collins loves apps.
But as I listened to Collins talk to Ingrid Hipkiss about the Govt.nz app, looking out the window at my lettuce seedlings withering in the heat, I wondered if it could help me get in the festive spirit.
The app is a beefed up version of www.govt.nz (word to the webmaster: make sure https://govt.nz redirects properly!). There’s a homepage where you can “explore services”, a menu that also takes you to those services, and a wallet, which is currently empty – but will be able to hold digital driver licences once legislation allowing this is passed next year. You can pin particular services on the homepage for quick access.
The list of services is long, but I can’t take a screenshot of them because of the app’s security protocols. It serves as a reminder about all the areas of our lives where we interact with the government. You can browse alphabetically or by life stage: having a baby, starting a job, enrolling to vote, moving house, being over 65 and end of life.
Having moved house this year, I could see how useful that menu would be; all in one place, you have links to a home energy savings calculator, finding a school or preschool, a list of places where you might need to change your address (like voting enrolment and the NZ Post mail redirection form). There’s also a link to tenancy services. The “having a baby” section has the numbers for Plunket and Healthline and links to antenatal classes and midwife options. If you’re not quite there yet, there’s a link to the Smart Start page for “trying for a baby”, which has fertility and nutrition advice and details about what to ask your doctor for if you’re having trouble getting pregnant.
Like a nesting doll, the app sometimes prompts you to download other apps. In the outdoors and recreation section there is a link to Pocket Maps, which documents publicly accessible land through the Outdoor Access Commission. There’s a link to the NZeTA app in the visas and travel section (although I’m not sure why a tourist would download Govt.nz), and a link to the NZTA app for wofs and regos in the driving section (weirdly, driver education app Drive Go is not linked).
There are some obvious gaps: the only te reo I could find in the app, other than He Ara Hāngai on the title page, is the word “whānau”, and it would be difficult to navigate for someone who isn’t fluent in written English. The design is very plain, with minimal use of colour in the icons. Parents who want their children to look up from their phone and access government entitlements would do well to remove all apps except this one; it is not in the least distracting. Getting married, moving out of home and buying a house would be obvious life stages to add. The number of external links where you have to log in separately is annoying: it’s an app designed to make you leave the app.
Right now, Govt.nz’s average rating on Google Play is 3.3 stars, which is brought down by a handful of one-star reviews from people whose phones didn’t meet security requirements or are frustrated the app doesn’t have the option of secure logins through RealMe yet. At least some reviewers are picking up what JuCo is putting down. “I wanted to be one of the first to install it 😁” reads one review. Another reviewer on the Apple Store, where the average rating is four stars, can’t lay off the exclamation marks. “I had no idea this information was available until I looked through this app! Well done Nz govt! I can’t wait for the wallet!”
Even to an app sceptic like myself, I can see how useful it could be. In other countries, government websites look like they haven’t been updated since 2004. Whole third-party services exist to make a profit from helping citizens navigate arcane tax websites or voting forms, just to fulfil their civic duties or receive entitlements. Most New Zealand government departments have put at least some effort into their digital systems and the Govt.nz app effectively connects many of those services.
Some government services like toll roads and postal services are targeted by scams, while SEO and AI slop can make getting accurate information on search engines untenable. Having a hub with simple icons and language, filled with information verified by the government, makes sense. If the app continues to receive investment – Collins suggests there will be updates every six to eight weeks – it could become even more useful.
Unlike most apps I’ve downloaded for a story I’m writing, I won’t be deleting this one as soon as this piece is published. Whenever Judith Collins gets sick of digitising government and is browsing careers.nz for a new job, she can forget the law degree. She has a bright future writing persuasive affiliate link prose to accompany products for gift guides.
