Context
The Once-Only Principle ensures that citizens and businesses provide data to public administration only once, while public bodies exchange this data when requested and in compliance with the relevant regulations. This principle has recently been implemented in the Austrian Government’s IT procedure regarding family allowance. It is a widely automated verification of entitlement to family allowance based on external data matching (e.g. universities, schools). Thus, the Once-Only Principle is applied in the area of family allowance and citizens benefit from less bureaucratic work to provide evidence needed for the entitlement to family allowance.
Objectives
The main objectives of the application of the Once-Only Principle in family allowance are that citizens benefit from less bureaucratic work to provide evidence needed for the entitlement to family allowance. There is also less time needed by those working in the Financial Administration as there are fewer steps due to automatisation, and the citizens benefit from quicker responses and information.
Implementation
This project was implemented without the need to exceed the budget foreseen for the content, which amounted to €1 391 000. In addition, a network of registers and systems was introduced, which deals with a central data core. As a result of this implementation, redundant disclosure of data is avoided, and the relevant information is available at all times without the need for further action on the part of the applicant.