Innovation in MARS can be divided broadly into the submission of applications, automated issuance of directions, paperless inspection process and automated invoicing of agents. MARS has delivered a range of innovations for officers, masters, and agents across the maritime pathway. These innovations have ranged from incremental policy changes enabled by the system to the radical innovations of the Biosecurity Status Document (BSD) and Vessel Compliance Scheme (VCS). BSD The development of MARS identified that the format and number of directions issued by the department, as well as the comprehension level required, hindered masters understanding the biosecurity message and their role in preventing the spread of pests and disease. MARS has revolutionized the way the department communicates with the shipping industry by introducing the BSD. The BSD is the single point of reference for all biosecurity-related directions, separated into each functional area of clearance with a traffic lights status display. BSD is a novel innovation in two ways.

Firstly, the use of traffic lights to indicate the status of each section is unique in the maritime pathway and greatly improves compliance as masters intuitively understand the meaning of the traffic lights. The traffic lights on the BSD have facilitated discussion between masters and officers about how to comply with the department’s requirements and is quickly becoming an iconic document in the maritime pathway. The VCS is an innovative new scheme that matches rewarding compliance with complete transparency over requirements. Historically vessel masters wanted to comply but did not have the tools to do so. The VCS introduced a demerit-based system, unique in the Australian maritime space, where a list of all issues and their associated demerit points are published.

All vessels receive a demerit action for each issue found on board, which is recorded and discussed with the master. Vessels with three or more voyages over 12 months are then eligible for a 60 percent reduction in physical inspections if they receive under 10 points in any one voyage or under 20 points over three voyages. The initial data indicates that in the first six months of MARS, the VCS has reduced physical inspections by six percent over the previous scheme and feedback from officers indicates that masters are more aware of the department’s requirements.

The process for vessels to announce the arrival in Australia to Biosecurity was paper-based, repetitive and provided a poor client and stakeholder experience. Vessel masters often stated that they didn't understand how to comply with Australia's Biosecurity requirements and subsequently found themselves attracting penalties. It was decided that compliance and biosecurity outcomes could be better achieved if a client/user-oriented approach was taken. The first goal was to provide a paperless process for clients and stakeholders and the second was to provide masters and agents with an easily understandable compliance status (the 'traffic lights' and demerits process).

The Maritime industry was consulted very early on to test the concept and once they showed approval, the project was scoped, funded and developed by the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. Success and failure have been determined by the significant financial savings for both Government and Industry, by the significant productivity savings for the department and agents, and by increased compliance rates as masters can see the requirements more easily and judge where they may have issues by the red or amber 'traffic light'. Other government agencies are looking to use the format of MARS for their compliance-related systems. The system itself is also being extended to other vessel types in Australia.

The collaboration was key to this innovation: The ICT area worked very closely with the business to understand what was needed and build the system. Their collaboration efforts were key to bringing the ideas to reality and is a great example of how projects should be developed and delivered. A key contributor to this project being delivered successfully was the strong management support provided across the department.

The project staff and very talented business analysts were given the authority and autonomy required for true innovation to be achieved. The efforts of the subject matter experts and all vessel inspectors from the operational areas should be recognized. By bringing the on-ground experience to the project they contributed greatly to its success. The openness of officers in adapting to the change is a great example to all project. Lastly, the advice and openness of the maritime stakeholders provided a valuable sounding board and a depth of experience that was invaluable.

The team leads the project in a collaborative co-design manner that produced significant results in the way the change was managed and communicated to staff. It really is a gold standard example of managing change and was achieved through the collaborative efforts across the department with communications, training and finance staff. External stakeholders had recurring involvement at the critical decision and design points. They understood the vision from the start and guided the design process from their point of view. The interaction of all members of the project including stakeholders, partners, project team and interested observers all impacted positively on the project. The final project was business ready and user uptake was beyond expectations from day one. User experience surveys have consistently provided results that say the new system is easier to understand and has taken much of the uncertainty away.

The department estimates that MARS has saved $6 million in the first year, including:

• $4.18 million per annum in cost reductions for the industry as a result of fewer physical vessel inspections under the Vessel Compliance Scheme.

• $1.34 million per annum in industry savings due to the automated processing of ballast water applications.

•$321,000 in cost reductions as a result of a more streamlined inspection process.

• 2,000 hours of time saved in the Maritime National Coordination Centre who is no longer processing pre-arrival reports, allowing increased time for risk-based targeting and help desk support. Further savings are expected as all vessel types are moved into the system.

There were some project setbacks around scope and funding but these were easily managed by rescoping and budgeting. Beyond that, there have been few challenges.

Good management, good leadership, the acceptance and embracing of innovation.

There is great potential. The department has already been approached by other government agencies and other business sectors who would like to explore its use in their areas. Many government regulators have similar situations of a need for complex or unique regulations to be understood by infrequent users or users with little host country language skills.

The greatest lesson is that of project focus. We approached the project from a completely different perspective from the way, we would usually - from the client's rather than the departments.

The innovation has been awarded the Institute for Public Administration Australia Innovation award for 2017.