How legacy tech investment is impacting local council services

Local councils will never be able to rival tech giants’ budgets or skills, as building the systems that support seamless, flexible and intuitive interactions can be incredibly complex, especially for most local councils where tech is outside of their core expertise.

Local councils additionally have a lot of legacy investment, which creates both ‘tech debt’ and ‘process debt’ making it even harder to offer the interactions residents expect.

Modern, cloud-based technology has helped. It’s revolutionised the way local governments engage with their communities, giving users secure, flexible access to systems from anywhere, at any time. According to a recent IBRS report, most citizens believe local government services are convenient (64%) and save time (56%).

Yet technology alone can only do so much. In fact, ineffective design of tech services can result in disengagement from the very people who need them the most.

Vulnerable residents are disengaging from online services

The report found that local digital services were used significantly less than central government services (50% vs 70%). People in disadvantaged socioeconomic groups were three times more likely to report getting 'no benefits' from online services than in-person service delivery.

Interestingly, many of the pain points highlighted by these disengaged residents focused on human-centric elements.

Navigating online forms, for instance, does not come naturally to everyone, and many council websites are not compatible with screen readers for residents with visual impairments. Official documents and webpages are often filled with complex language or legal terms that residents find hard to understand.

This online process can be intimidating and overwhelming for someone who simply wants to apply for food assistance.

Tech services with a human touch

To bridge this divide, the IBRS recommends local councils enhance their customer experience by complementing their tech services with ‘empathic citizen-centric service design’.

This design approach goes beyond pure functionality. It shifts the emphasis towards building services with a more ‘human touch’.

Effectively, that means creating services that resonate with real human needs and prioritising the experiences of society's most vulnerable groups to make digital services inclusive and accessible.

This means stripping away jargon, making services compatible with accessibility tools, and ensuring residents can get appropriate support at every step of their online journey.

Driving efficiencies for communities and council employees

Rather than trawling council webpages or waiting on hold for information, the best citizen-first services empower residents to simply type the council service they are looking for into Google or speak to a real person if and when the digital tools fall short.

Done well, empathic citizen-centric service design not only bridges the gap between people's expectations and local government's unique challenges but can also strengthen data security and improve operational efficiency.

Digital self-service channels, for example, can save councils $90 - $350 per complex transaction and $20-$50 per simple transaction. These funds can then be poured into programs for the most at-risk members of the community.

Automation can also remove the admin burden on council staff, freeing them up to focus on the human aspect of service delivery, allowing them to provide the personalised and empathetic solutions residents need to solve their unique challenges.

Council services at the cross-section of empathy and innovation

At its core, empathic citizen-centric service design represents a fundamental shift in how local councils can and should engage with their communities.

Yes, it’s about improving customer experiences and meeting the demands of today’s digital-first residents, but it’s also about reimagining public services to be equitable, accessible and intuitive for all.

By bridging the gap between traditional processes and consumer brands' seamless, user-focused interactions, councils can meet the growing demand for more empathetic digital experiences that feel human and responsive.

This is the future of service delivery – where empathy and innovation meet to build trust and inclusion at every level.