Inland Fisheries Service

This Tasmanian Government department had a patchwork of ageing offline databases which were costing too much time to maintain and limiting their opportunities to provide online services. They needed a modern business system. But they also needed to maintain two decades of important government records like their angling licenses.

Within six months we built IFS Online. A custom web application which encompasses their website, online licensing system and a suite of back-of-house staff tools. We migrated all of their historical records from FileMaker and set the foundation for the next two decades of the Service’s digital operations.

Where we started

For the launch of IFS Online, the primary focus was on the core business activities of the Service. This included:

• Building a new marketing site to align with their graphic design and branding specifications exactly.
• Migrating their previous website content into a new more intuitive page structure and navigation workflows.
• Building in content management tools to make it easy for non-technical staff to regularly update the site with new publications, news stories, angler resources, pricing changes, forms, water information and much more.
• An online licensing system to accommodate many different demographics, workflows and stakeholders.
  • Anglers purchasing their own licenses online, via the renewal notices they receive each year.
  • IFS staff selling licenses to anglers over the phone or in-person.
  • Registered IFS agents selling licenses to anglers over the counter at various fishing and tackle stores throughout Tasmania.
  • All of this while incorporating specific legislative requirements around what is offered to each angler e.g. age and concession-based discounts, seasonal price changes, short-term licenses, whitebait-specific licensing and much more.
• Ensuring that the system would fit within the broader context of the Tasmanian Government’s technology services and security requirements.

How it’s going

Software at this level of criticality requires regular maintenance and enhancements. Since the launch in 2018, Getbusi has continuously built upon the foundation of IFS Online to meet the evolving business goals of the Service.

The system features custom digital tools for:

• Compliance officers to record and issue fines and infringements.
• Fisheries managers to track, organise and publish stocking events.
• Scientific staff to run wide-reaching angler surveys each year.
• Administration staff to regularly import sensitive data from other govt systems.
• Plus many more we don’t have room to list.

Having the organisation’s entire digital toolkit ‘under one roof’ affords many opportunities for data synergies and automation. Broad changes can be implemented quickly, without having to coordinate with multiple vendors. For example, IFS were one of the first departments to integrate with Service Tasmania’s Tell Us Once initiative in 2025.