The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Melbourne has implemented a digital Consular Counter Management System to provide efficient consular services to the large number of Sri Lankans in the Australian states of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. This “App” was launched to reduce the operational expenses of the Consulate General, falling in line with the government policy to reduce expenses, while delivering a better service.
The Consulate General in Melbourne receives around 150 passport applications, 50 applications for birth registrations, 100 attestations, 100 dual citizenship applications etc. per month handed by a small staff. Through this new system, applicants are able to obtain a prior appointment to visit the office and are able to check the status of their applications on their own. It has drastically reduced the application processing time as it has eliminated time consuming manual record keeping tasks.
With the launch of this system, back office processing and transmission of the applications, generating reports and keeping applicants informed of the progress of their applications have become fast and efficient. This system also includes applications submitted by post.
Following the government procurement procedures, the Sri Lankan software developer “Loons Lab (Pvt) Ltd” was selected to develop this software application, making it the first of its kind to be used in any Sri Lanka Mission abroad. Under the guidance of Consul General Kapila Fonseka, Consul Diana Perera led this initiative with a dedicated staff who made this difficult digital transformation possible.
