Status update: NLIS Uplift Project

The National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) Uplift project continues to progress. The three-year multi-stage project will deliver a new national system with improved traceability, optimised real-time data flow, and a seamless user experience.

This significant project is being supported by a $22.5 million funding grant which was announced by Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on 15 September 2023. This funding forms part of the Australian Government’s ‘Bolstering Australia’s biosecurity system’ package.  

To ensure the new system responds to industry and user needs, one of the project’s first actions was the development of NLIS Project Governance Framework which has now been finalised and implemented. An essential part of this governance framework is the establishment of, and regular consultation with, a number of reference and co-design groups.  

The first two stages of the project have now concluded, with work on the architecture and design stage due to commence later this month. Outlined below is a brief update on progress to-date.

Identifying strategic objectives

Insights from industry experts and end users were sought during the first stage of the project. This Strategic Discovery stage identified pain points with the current NLIS database. Objectives for the new NLIS database were then determined from this process.

Key strategic objectives included delivering an intuitive and user-friendly interface, cloud-based infrastructure that delivers near real-time data and reduced maintenance costs, seamless integration with both contemporary and legacy systems, and a scalable and flexible platform that responds efficiently to changing needs.

These findings were then used to inform the extensive stakeholder consultation conducted during the next phase of the project.

Stakeholder consultation

Work on the second stage (Detailed Discovery & Define) concluded at the end of last year. This involved a significant amount of stakeholder consultation with both existing users and potential future users, such as retailers and ag-tech providers.

More than 200 stakeholder interactions took place via interviews, focus groups, reviews, surveys and working sessions during this stage.

Christine Iverson, Program Director – NLIS Database Uplift, said this feedback helped shape the project’s thematic insights by uncovering existing pain points and identifying future system needs. These findings were then validated through a series of workshops with more than 90 stakeholders from across both government and industry.

“The most consistent finding across all stakeholders was that the future NLIS needs to address existing user pain points in the core system,” Christine said.

“Addressing these will lay the foundation for the NLIS to evolve and innovate.”

Designing the user experience

Christine said that in addition to the key project themes, the consultations enabled the project to capture the “voice of the NLIS user”, ensuring the architecture and design work taking place during the third stage will meet the needs of both current and future users.

“The voice of the user captures their desired experience, goals and behaviours. Responding to the user voice will be critical to the success of the new system and the project’s design principles reflect this,” she said.

These design principles include creating customised and tailored experiences, simpler and more user-friendly user interfaces, intuitive design with clear and connected steps, self-service options that provide greater clarity and control, as well as automation and ease of use.

“As the project progresses to the next stage, these design principles will guide the development of the future NLIS user experience,” Christine said.

“We’ll continue to consult and seek feedback to ensure we remain aligned to user experience as we begin exploring future user experience and interface design in stage 3.

Stay informed

The NLIS Uplift Project page on the ISC website provides more information about future stages of the project and this will be updated regularly to reflect any significant developments.

Or contact the NLIS Uplift Project team at NLISUplift@integritysystems.com.au with any specific questions or feedback.