Victorian councils mobilise rate payment services

Some 38 per cent of Victorian local councils are enabling Web-based an mobile access to services for ratepayers over the next 12 months with 75 per cent reviewing their mobile strategies.

The move towards a mobile local government sector was revealed in a survey conduced by Blink Mobile at this month’s Victorian local government technology conference. Blink Mobile director Darren Besgrove says councils are generally more aware of consumer desire for mobile services.

“When it comes to all levels of government it seems to be councils who are more aware of the convergence in consumer behaviour and mobile technology capability, and how that will drive the mobilising of council information for the benefit of their ratepayers,” he said.

The survey also found mobilising council information has not been a priority for councils, with 29 per cent of those surveyed saying until recently there was a belief that a poor return of investment was associated with mobile devices.

The news comes as a recent survey of online retailers found most are hesitant to adopt mobile commerce.