DVA [Aust.] On-line help for veterans

[Wazza]

The Department of Veterans' Affairs [Aust.] is expanding the way it delivers services, using the Internet. Veterans, ex-service organisations and the general community can already use the Internet to access information or forms from the Department of Veterans' Affairs web site [www.dva.gov.au]. Soon visitors to the web site will be able, to perform more complex dealings with the depart-ment over the Internet, using on-line services. In 1997, the Prime Minister announced that the Commonwealth Government would make all appropriate services available on-line by the end of 2001. The Government's On-line Strategy encouraged government agencies to make better use of technology to make services more flexible, and tai-lored to individual needs. The DVA has made good progress in moving towards on-line; complimenting the traditional means of face-to-face and over-the-phone delivery. There is now a comprehensive range of information available on the DVA web site, ranging from Fact Sheets, containing information you need to know about benefits administered by the DVA, to printable application forms for these benefits, media releases and photographs and information about com-memorative events. The web site includes a feedback function to allow people visiting the site to provide comments or sugges-tions. A recent Internet sur-vey gathered information from users on how we could improve the site. DVA's on-line services are designed to supplement, not replace existing service delivery methods. The choice to do business with the department by means of a phone call, a visit, a letter or an e-mail remains an individual one. However, on-line services are likely to be of par-ticular benefit to people living in rural areas, who do not have easy access to a DVA or Veterans Affairs Network office, or who prefer to do business out-side normal business hours. Do other governments around the world provide services of this quality to their veterans or are we 'dragging the chain' in Australia?