For the first time, a majority of New Zealanders' most common transactions with government now occur digitally, according to Peter Dunne, Internal Affairs Minister.

"The latest figures show that the average digital uptake for the December 2015 quarter is 52.9%. It's excellent progress; this latest figure is 6.6 percentage points higher than the same quarter in 2014, 6.2 percentage points above the September quarter, and well above the baseline 29.9 per cent in June 2012," says Dunne.

This progress result shows the Government is on track to exceed the Result 10 Target that by 2017, an average of 70% of New Zealanders' most common transactions with government will happen online.

"New Zealanders have become used to information, services and products being available online, on demand, anywhere, any time. It's perfectly reasonable for them to expect the same service from the public sector, as they would from the private sector.

"To that end, agencies delivering services to the public increasingly need to work together to provide services designed around the way New Zealanders live their lives, rather than based on government structures and outputs. This will produce payoffs over time by reducing per-transaction service delivery and longer term costs, ensuring more people receive what they're entitled to, and better compliance," Dunne says.

The Department of Internal Affairs measures a range of ten typical government services, now available online - booking a DOC asset, using SmartGate, renewing adult passports, filing an individual tax return, paying individual tax, applying for financial assistance, applying for an IRD number, paying for vehicle licence, paying a fine, and visa applications.