The Digital Inclusion Standard is one of the key requirements agencies need to follow when building and delivering digital services for the Australian Government.

It builds on the Digital Service Standard’s “Leave No One Behind” principle but takes inclusion and accessibility further. Instead of treating it as something owned only by an individual team, it creates a broader whole-of-government expectation for inclusive service design.

The aim is more consistent, more inclusive digital services across government.

So, what does the Digital Inclusion Standard actually cover?

It’s mandatory for new or replacement public-facing services, new staff-facing services, and all existing public-facing services. It applies to both informational and transactional services. So that means websites, publications, e-learning, portals, claims processes, business services, and really anything where people need to receive or provide information to the government.

The timeframes are important. It took effect from 1st January 2025 for new and replacement public-facing and staff-facing services, and from 1st January 2026 for all existing public-facing services.

To meet the standard, agencies need to meet five criteria across the full service lifecycle. And importantly, this is not just about the digital interface. It also means thinking about the wider non-digital experience, because inclusion is more than digital.

Criterion 1 Embrace diversity

This starts early, in Discovery. Teams need to understand diverse user needs from the beginning, not as an afterthought. That means looking at different identities, characteristics, and lived experiences so services are usable by the widest possible range of people.

In practice, this means doing strong user research with diverse groups, including people with disability, blind and low vision users, Deaf users, neurodivergent users, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and people with lower digital confidence.

It also means using inclusive prototyping and co-designing both services and their supporting materials with users throughout design and delivery.

Criterion 2 Motivate digital use

This criterion is about reducing the barriers that stop people from confidently using digital services in the first place.

Teams should think carefully about whether the experience meets diverse user needs, and whether preventable barriers are pushing people into alternative service channels unnecessarily.

Good support content matters here. Step-by-step guidance, layered help content, and documentation that works for both beginners and more experienced users can make a big difference.

It’s also important to reduce unnecessary repetition, especially when users are being asked to enter the same information multiple times. That’s frustrating for everyone, but it can be especially difficult for people with cognitive disability.

Criterion 3 Protect users

This and accessibility are closely connected.

If users need to report a safety concern, those pathways must be clear, accessible, and easy to reach. They can’t be hidden behind confusing navigation, inaccessible forms, or difficult processes.

If those reporting channels are hard to find or hard to use, a person with a disability may be delayed or prevented from raising an urgent issue. At that point, an accessibility barrier can become a genuine safety risk.

Criterion 4 Make it accessible

This is the criterion most closely tied to accessibility in the traditional sense.

Digital services need to be accessible in order to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the latest version of WCAG, and the Australian Government Style Manual.

One challenge, though, is the updated Digital Service Standard no longer specifies a WCAG conformance level. Our recommendation is that agencies should still aim for WCAG Level AA, because it remains the globally accepted standard and provides a much more reliable target and better support for users.

Criterion 4 also needs to be applied across the full digital lifecycle. Including content, technology, procurement, team capability, and documentation.

Services should work with assistive technologies, provide alternate formats and multiple ways to access information, be regularly tested and improved, include accessibility requirements in procurement and contract renewals, and keep support materials and documentation current and accessible.

Criterion 5 Provide flexibility and choice

This criterion is about giving people more control over how they use digital services, while also making the overall journey smoother across channels.

This comes through in Alpha and Beta as features are designed and integrated. It includes responsive design across devices and screen sizes, adaptable interfaces, options for written, audio, and visual content, and features like save, resume, and auto-save so people can complete tasks over time without having to hurry.

It also means designing processes that are manageable. Introduce information gradually, allow enough time, break complex tasks into smaller steps, and provide clear instructions throughout.

And beyond the interface itself, users should be able to move between digital and non-digital channels without friction, with a consistent and supportive experience across websites, mobile apps, and in-person services.

Overall, the Digital Inclusion Standard is a positive step because it moves government services beyond narrow compliance thinking and toward a more inclusive whole-of-service approach.

But the real test is not what the standard promises on paper. It is whether agencies can turn broad principles into clear requirements, stronger procurement decisions, better testing, and release processes that genuinely protect accessibility.