BUDGETEERS 💰

Team Name

BUDGETEERS 💰

Team Members

Project Description

1. Identifying Vulnerable or At-Risk Groups
   Data Utilization: Leverage open government data sources such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australian Taxation Office (ATO) reports, and the Department of Social Services (DSS) data to identify demographic, economic, and regional patterns of vulnerability. Key data points could include:
   Income levels: Low-income earners or those on government assistance.
   Geographic location: Remote or rural communities may face access issues.
   Age: Older Australians might struggle with digital literacy and using online tax tools.
   Cultural and linguistic diversity (CALD): Migrants or non-native English speakers may face language barriers.
   Small business owners: Particularly those in sectors with complex tax obligations (e.g., sole traders, contractors).
   Solution: Develop a heatmap or risk index that highlights areas or groups with low tax compliance or super engagement based on this data.

2. Solutions: BUDGETEERS - a Mygov add-on function
   For many vulnerable Australians, navigating taxes, benefits, and government services can be an overwhelming experience. The information is scattered across multiple platforms, resulting in a fragmented, complex, and time-consuming process. This disorganization creates opportunities for scammers to exploit the system. In fact, nearly 94,000 cybercrime reports were submitted to ReportCyber, with small businesses suffering an average financial loss of $46,000.
   Despite efforts by the government to address public concerns, the challenges persist. In 2023, Centrelink reports showed that only 23% of calls reached a service representative during peak times. This means that less than 1 in 4 calls were answered, leaving 9 million callers unable to even join the queue due to overwhelming congestion.

Introducing Budgeteers—a MyGov add-on tool. One platform, one click, total control. Budgeteers connects Centrelink, the ATO, and Medicare, offering a personalised, streamlined experience to simplify government services for the user.
From the MyGov app, the user can simply navigate to the Budgeteers menu to discover unclaimed benefits they may have.
Three but One: If the user has linked all three services—ATO, Centrelink, and Medicare—Budgeteers will show what benefits they are eligible for. Using generative AI, it analyses the user's existing portfolio and suggests personalised benefits. Budgeteers becomes the user's first stop in discovering what they're entitled to, making the benefits process easier than ever.
Filling out incorrect tax or personal information increases the workload and stress for government teams. Budgeteers solves this by pre-filling forms based on details from the user's linked services. Update the MyGov profile once, and all information is synced across the platforms.
The user can choose which benefits to display in Budgeteers for easy tracking and management. All emails from different sources now can be consolidated into one mailbox for convenience, reducing the risk of scams and fraud.
Helping Users Stay Compliant with Obligation: Small business owners, sole traders, low-income earners, and casual workers often find tax management challenging. Budgeteers sets reminders, suggests tax-deductible items based on the user's occupation, and provides real-time tax estimates, ensuring they never miss a deadline or deduction.
Living in a rural or remote area? No problem—Budgeteers works offline, allowing users to complete forms, search benefits, and manage taxes anytime, anywhere.
Clear, Accurate, and User-Friendly Government Content:
For older Australians, navigating complex systems can be daunting. Budgeteers provides a simplified interface with voice assistance and larger text, making tax management accessible to everyone.
For those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Budgeteers offers simplified english, clear icons, real-time translations and multilingual support, ensuring language is no barrier to accessing benefits.
Inclusive Platform: For people with disabilities, Budgeteers leverages AI to offer customised service recommendations based on user profiles, including accessibility needs and government service requirements. The app also features voice-assisted navigation for visually impaired users, screen reader compatibility, and text-to-speech options.
Supporting Young People: Understanding available financial support from Centrelink can play a key role in helping young people start and complete their studies by reducing financial strain. Tools that outline repayment schedules and debt management strategies reassure students that loans won’t become overwhelming after graduation. Additionally, knowing which expenses are tax-deductible can ease financial concerns and make educational paths more accessible.
With Budgeteers, vulnerable tax residents aren’t just managing public services—they're unlocking personalised, seamless benefits and services, Now from one platform.
For the government, Budgeteers offers an efficient way to manage data, improving ethics, increasing public trust, and boosting transparency.
Budgeteers: One platform, one click, total control. Simplify life and take control of taxes, benefits, and more—starting today.

Data Story

Budgeteers is an innovative MyGov add-on tool designed to transform the fragmented and complex experience of managing taxes, benefits, and government services. By integrating data from Medicare, Centrelink, and the ATO, Budgeteers leverages AI to offer a seamless, personalized experience for vulnerable Australians.

One of the primary challenges facing vulnerable groups is the overwhelming complexity of government services. Information is spread across multiple platforms, creating confusion and opportunities for scammers. Budgeteers simplifies this by connecting Centrelink, ATO, and Medicare data in one platform. For users, this means that with just one click, they can access unclaimed benefits, track their entitlements, and stay compliant with tax obligations.

By utilizing open government data, such as demographic insights from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and regional data from the Department of Social Services (DSS), Budgeteers identifies vulnerable or at-risk groups, including low-income earners, rural residents, older Australians, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, and small business owners. The AI-powered platform then customizes recommendations, guiding users to the benefits they are entitled to, while ensuring all personal information is synchronized across services for accuracy.

Budgeteers addresses digital accessibility challenges by offering a user-friendly interface that includes voice assistance, large text, multilingual support, and offline functionality, ensuring that all Australians, regardless of background or location, can easily navigate the system. This not only simplifies the user experience but also improves data accuracy for government teams by pre-filling forms and syncing information across services, reducing the risk of errors and fraud.

In addition to helping individuals, Budgeteers strengthens government operations by utilizing open data to increase efficiency, enhance transparency, and build public trust. It reduces the workload on government staff, streamlines service delivery, and offers an inclusive platform that makes navigating taxes, benefits, and public services easier for all Australians.

In short, Budgeteers turns disconnected government services into one unified, personalized platform that helps users take control of their taxes and benefits while supporting government transparency and efficiency.