Minister congratulates department's national online award
Friday, 15 May 2009
The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, today congratulated Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) staff on winning the 2009 Excellence in e-Government Award for the Visa Wizard and Citizenship Wizard project.
The department was short-listed for two places in the top 10 group of finalists, and its award presented at the CeBIT international business technology conference in Sydney.
Senator Evans said the award was a credit to the talented and hardworking staff involved in the development and implementation of the on-line project.
'The Visa and Citizenship Wizards are great examples of how the internet can be used to provide a quick and simple service to millions of people who wish to visit or migrate to Australia, or become citizens of Australia,' Senator Evans said today.
'I congratulate all staff involved in the project and encourage their continuing efforts to improve DIAC's performance,' he added.
Since September 2008, the Visa Wizard has received more than 1.6 million page views, while the Citizenship Wizard, which was launched in December 2008 is viewed by almost 1000 people each weekday.
The eVisitor service, for which the department was commended, is a new online, electronic travel authority service for European Union nationals wishing to travel to Australia for tourism or business purposes. eVisitor allows clients to quickly and easily lodge their application electronically and in 90 per cent of cases receive notification of an auto-grant within minutes of applying.
All three products have been delivered as part of DIAC's Systems for People business transformation program.
Photographs of the awards are available from the department's online newsroom at:
See: www.newsroom.immi.gov.au
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au
/media/media-releases/2009/ce09040.htm
Last update: 15 May 2009 at 16:50 AEST