Mav3rik helps DJCS adopt state-wide case management system

When the Department of Justice and Community Safety wanted to implement a new state-wide case management system for Freedom of Information requests, Sydney-based technology consultancy Mav3rik was called in.

The Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS) administers the Freedom Of Information Act across Victoria, providing public access to personal information and activities undertaken by the department.

More than 10,000 FOI requests are lodged through the department’s Freedom of Information (FOI) unit each year, connecting the public to 23 government agencies in accordance with the Act.

The DJCS engaged Mav3rik to implement a modern, state-wide solution to make it easier for both the public and the department to manage requests for information.

Mav3rik’s project team included six specialists who worked closely with DJCS system administrators, who manage the relationships between the department and the 23 government agencies. This set up provided the Mav3rik team with insight into the unique challenges and requirements from a number of stakeholders, in order to build a fit-for-purpose solution.

The challenge

The DJCS’ legacy platform was reaching end of life and causing a number of internal roadblocks, partly due to its outdated security protocols limiting its ability to integrate with the payment gateway. As it was a custom-built solution, it also required external technical expertise to maintain, which negatively impacted workflows and budget allocation within the department.

Due to the volume of requests and expected growth, it was important that the interface maintained a sense of familiarity for the end user, with the view that the portal will become the most popular method for members of the public to submit Freedom of Information requests.

The Mav3rik team were asked to replicate as much of the functionality of the existing system on a modern user interface, in order to maintain (and where possible, enhance) the user experience.

The Solution 

The Mav3rik team, led by Certified Technical Architect Emily McCowan, used a hybrid-agile approach. Two weeks of planning and architecting the solution were followed by fortnightly sprints for deployment. During these sprints, the team combined the platform build and test simultaneously, with regular playbacks to seek and incorporate feedback as the build progressed. The project was complete in seven sprints, with deployment in May 2023.

Arun Acharya, Product Manager from the DJCS said, “I was very impressed with Mav3rik’s team of qualified professionals and their ability to deliver outcomes in a short time, which was one of the challenges of this project”.

The case management system uses Salesforce public sector solutions to host the new FOI online request service, incorporating migrated historical data from the legacy platform, as well as direct integration with Westpac using QuickStream Trusted Frame. It has now replaced the existing service, using out-of-the-box, configurable functionality to support workflows, accelerate processes and reduce friction.

Through an authenticated multi-stage online form for FOI requests, members of the public can quickly and easily upload requests and payment, then receive an automatic confirmation email. The integrated payment gateway, allows the department to remove roadblocks to securely accept fees associated with requests.

Results 

The new system enables the FOI team to manage requests in a scalable and cost-effective way, which reduces overall risk and the platform’s total cost of ownership. The new system has also resulted in the legacy platform to be decommissioned, reducing the technology risk of dealing with outdated applications. The portal is accessed by nominated staff within the 23 agencies relevant to the request, as well as providing daily reconciliation reports to each of those agencies.

For users in both the department and agencies, information is centralised and easy to find, increasing the overall productivity and ensuring an increased number of requests can be fulfilled.