Revenue NSW, the principal revenue management agency for New South Wales (NSW), is responsible for collecting revenue, administering grants, and resolving fines to support over 8 million citizens. Committed to becoming the world’s most customer-centric revenue agency, Revenue NSW relies heavily on data analytics to guide empathetic actions, develop policies, ensure compliance, and promote transparency through public insights.
The Data Challenge: Complexity and Scalability
With data coming from internal systems, government departments, and real-time APIs, Revenue NSW faced major challenges in data transformation and analysis. The variety of formats and technologies caused inefficiencies, especially in time-sensitive scenarios. On top of this, their on-premises analytics infrastructure had reached its limits—lacking both scalability and cost-efficiency.
To overcome this, Revenue NSW partnered with AWS to create a unified, scalable, and modern cloud-based data environment. The goal was to consolidate data pipelines, offer a single source of truth, and provide secure SQL access regardless of the original data format.
Proof of Concept with Amazon Redshift
After evaluating multiple cloud options, Revenue NSW launched a proof of concept using Amazon Web Services (AWS) tools—primarily Amazon Redshift. This solution showed promising results with query performance improving up to 100 times compared to the legacy system. Redshift also outperformed other cloud-based alternatives by delivering up to 6 times better performance.
Encouraged by this success, Revenue NSW extended its collaboration with AWS to develop a full-scale prototype.
Simplifying Ingestion and Automating Workflows
To migrate and ingest data from different sources like Oracle, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL, Revenue NSW used AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS). For real-time data from Salesforce, they implemented Amazon AppFlow. Hundreds of structured and semi-structured files stored in Amazon S3 were managed using AWS Glue, which automated ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes using event-based triggers.
They also deployed infrastructure-as-code (IaC) and CI/CD pipelines to ensure scalable, repeatable, and efficient deployments.
Unified Access, Scalable Design, and Human-Centric Strategy
The new environment didn’t just improve technical efficiency. By standardizing access via SQL and supporting Python in AWS Glue, the system ensured smooth onboarding for developers and analysts alike. The modular architecture—built with serverless and managed AWS services—allowed the agency to start small and grow without major rebuilds.
As a result, Revenue NSW now accesses near real-time data to fulfill critical use cases like compliance and public data requests. Teams that once spent months processing data now complete tasks within days, allowing more time to focus on innovation.
Empowering People and Fueling Future Innovation
Central to this transformation were the cross-functional Revenue NSW Analytics teams. Equipped with extensive training and AWS guidance, these teams were empowered to experiment, learn, and evolve the platform iteratively.
This collaborative effort has not only delivered a robust cloud-based data environment but also laid the foundation for future innovation. Revenue NSW and AWS are now exploring advanced tools such as machine learning and generative AI to enhance citizen services even further.
