By Paul Hemsley

South Australian smart phone users will be able to access vehicle registration services via mobile apps.

The Android and iPhone smart phone apps for the EzyReg online and mobile look-ups for vehicle registrations were delivered for $85000.

Finance Minister, Michael O’Brien said the initiative delivers savings and caters for the public’s growing demand to have services provided online and on mobile devices.

“The EzyReg iPhone application is the first of its type for an Australian government agency, providing real-time vehicle registrations and registration lookups from a purpose built mobile application,” Mr O’Brien said.

Mr O’Brien said the iPhone app has a barcode scanning option, allowing customers to use the phone’s camera feature to pre-load vehicle and client information by scanning the barcode on the renewal notice.

According to the South Australian government, the elimination of vehicle registration labels will save $5.7 million over four years.

Acting chief information officer, Rick Seaman said the EzyReg online lookup systems and apps support the South Australian Government's elimination of registration labels by providing a way for customers to check vehicle registration and undertake renewals.

“The major savings achieved are through reductions in printing labels, mailing, envelopes and staff reductions due to both a shift to online transactions and the use of Australia Post outlets,” Mr Seaman said.

According to Mr Seaman, the EzyReg vehicle registration lookup transaction was developed collaboratively in government by Service SA.

Mr Seaman said eGovernment developed the smart phone apps in a joint project with Deloitte Online for the iPhone and user interface design.

He said eGovernment collaborated with the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure for the Android version.

“The delivery of EzyReg transactions optimised for mobile web browsers which are accessible to all smart phone platforms is currently being investigated,” Mr Seaman said.

Mr Seaman said Service SA developed the EzyReg vehicle registration look up transaction in-house as part of an overall package of changes.

“The apps have been designed to meet the State Government’s comprehensive Information Security Management Framework (ISMF) that was developed in broad consultation with industry and the Commonwealth Government,” Mr Seaman said.

According to Mr Seaman, there are no immediate plans to develop further apps specifically for any other smart phone platforms.