Getting the big moments right: A spotlight on digital government support for life events
11 May 2026, 12:41 PMAuthored by: Courtney Rose Brown | Marketing Executive at Catalyst
For over a decade, the Department of Internal Affairs has led cross government collaboration to shape digital services around the moments that matter most to New Zealand citizens.
Major life events, like having a baby, losing a loved one, or starting school, come with big questions. They also come with obligations and engagement with government agencies you may not have dealt with before: forms to file, who you need to contact, and entitlements to find.
Before 2016, government technology wasn’t shaped around these moments; it was shaped around processes. That meant that it wasn’t uncommon for citizens to have to repeat information across agencies, and there was no shared understanding or approach to helping people navigate those moments. Research confirmed what people already knew - the more touchpoints a person had with the government, the more pain points they experienced.
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) decided to fix that – starting with a simple principle: put the people at the centre of the work we do. Build systems around the questions people actually ask when their lives change, not around how government departments are organised. What followed was more than a decade of work that changed how New Zealanders experience government at the moments that matter the most to them.
Multiple agencies, a shared goal
In 2015, DIA began creating the first life event service, SmartStart, designed around the birth of a child. Five agencies came together to make it work: Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ, the Ministry of Social Development, Inland Revenue Department, national non-profit organisation Whānau Āwhina Plunket, and the New Zealand College of Midwives. Each plays a vital role in the journey from pregnancy to a child’s first six months. The challenge was making the engagement with each other easier instead of fragmented.
DIA tested the service with families across the country, by having conversations with whānau in Whānau Āwhina Plunket rooms, playgrounds, and malls - refining it through direct feedback instead of assumptions. The result was a personalised timeline enabling expectant parents to track key dates, access health guidance, register their baby’s birth, and find support, all in one place.
This was the first cross-agency integrated and federated life event service in New Zealand. The decisions made here about the technology, how agencies could work together and not duplicate processes, would become the blueprint for future initiatives.
A foundation built to last
The technology behind SmartStart(external link) had to be trusted, resilient, and adaptable so it could meet community needs in the long-term and enable future delivery of digital services for life events. DIA worked with Catalyst to design and build the technical foundation on open source technology, which meant no vendor controlled the roadmap, so it could be extended and adapted as needed.
The result was a service that removed complexity for the citizen. Instead of jumping between websites, families could find personalised timelines, health guidance, and the ability to register their baby’s birth, all in one place.
SmartStart makes a big difference to parents who are time-poor. It's like a handbook - all in one place to find what they need, and it prepares them for that journey.
- Joanne Maxwell, Senior Business Adviser, Department of Internal Affairs
SmartStart went live in December 2016, giving New Zealanders access to a range of government services in one place. Within its first two years, hundreds of thousands of parents visited the service, finding online what had previously required multiple in-person visits across agencies. Today, according to DIA, statistics show that 99% of babies born are registered through SmartStart.
In 2017, GovInsider awarded SmartStart as ‘The best citizen engagement project’. It went on to win awards for innovation, public sector excellence, and design. DIA has made several presentations to governments around the world, such as Sweden, Estonia, Australia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Ireland and others who sought to understand how New Zealand was approaching life events and what made that model work.
Life event services grow
Because SmartStart was built on open source technology designed to connect government systems, each new life event had a standardised, proven, tested, and resilient technical starting point ready to be adapted to a new moment. The project focus could shift to what mattered most: the content, the community, and the moment being served.
SmartStart went live in December 2016, giving New Zealanders access to a range of government services in one place. Within its first two years, hundreds of thousands of parents visited the service, finding online what had previously required multiple in-person visits across agencies. Today, according to DIA, statistics show that 99% of babies born are registered through SmartStart.
It’s something to be proud of. You can actually see the difference you’re making and know you’re helping people.
- Joanne Maxwell, Senior Business Adviser, Department of Internal Affairs
That ability to innovate services has supported agencies in extending the platform even further.
2017 — Te Hokinga ā Wairua, End of Life Services: Built with specialists, including the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand, to help whānau respond quickly when a loved one passes away. The service also supports those who are near the end of life to create and share their own end-of-life plans.
2018 — Death Documents: Before 2018, funeral directors were legally required to view a handwritten medical certificate of cause of death completed by the attending medical practitioner, which was often illegible, before a person could be laid to rest. They also spent time chasing medical practitioners for these certificates, which caused real delays for grieving families. DIA collaborated with the Ministry of Health with technical support from Catalyst to move this process online, reducing delays for grieving families and increasing data quality and accuracy. Today, according to DIA, 99% of deaths from medical causes are certified digitally, with over half a million visits.
2019 — Whetūrangitia: Each year, over 1000 families in New Zealand experience the death of a child. DIA collaborated with the Ministry of Justice, Inland Revenue, and Sands New Zealand, which is a network of parent-run, non-profit groups supporting families who have experienced the death of a baby, to build an online service that could better support them in one place. Technical delivery was supported by Catalyst. Informed by community testing, Whetūrangitia guides families through the legal, practical, and emotional guidance needed to make informed decisions while grieving.
2020 – COVID Financial Help Tool: During the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealanders needed a fast Government response on how they could access financial support. In just two weeks, DIA deployed a fully working, trusted, connected service because the foundations had always been ready to respond fast. The team built this from scratch, using technology that was already available and configured it for the time it was required. This service was built in collaboration with the Red Cross.
2021 — Rapu-Ara (Early Learning Journeys): DIA and Ministry of Education worked together to design a service to help families evaluate early learning options: what different learning providers offer, how to access financial support and how to find providers nearby.
SmartStart built a strong foundation for success. Agencies wanted to keep working with us to help start the conversations, see the potential and make things happen.
- Gayle Roberts, Senior Business Adviser, Department of Internal Affairs
A platform built to be ready for what’s next
Over a decade later, SmartStart has grown from covering birth registration to supporting families from pre-pregnancy through to the child’s first six years, with over 4 million visits. It has accomplished this because shared community and agency goals can be achieved on standardised technology foundations. Those same foundations can be used to ensure more moments are designed around.
Whether that’s addressing a solution for the retirement population of New Zealand, which is expected to double in the next 50 years, connected healthcare services, starting a new job, or other life events. Agencies have a standardised, resilient and ready foundation they can use, extend, and endlessly configure for generations. Gayle reflects, “We’ve been lucky to be part of those success stories and continue to be part of them.”
DIA's Life Event services show what digital leadership looks like in practice: agencies that own their roadmap, innovate on their terms, and build across organisations. If you're thinking about what open source technology could mean for your organisation, send us a message.
Additional credits: Gretta Seebeck | Senior UX Consultant BA/UX Team at CatalystReturn to Catalyst blog
