Games in the Australian public sector

Knowledge, skills, and practices from video game play and development are increasingly prevalent within the Australian public sector. An article in the Australian Journal of Public Administration terms this gameful government and examines its application in five areas: recruitment; training and learning; public communication and policy education; engagement; and implementation and evaluation. The research suggests Australian practice is underdeveloped with limited information available about its impact. 

The building blocks of gameful government

Gameful government is underpinned by the following concepts: 

• A game or structured play consisting of rules, goals, and challenges that are undertaken for diversion or amusement. This includes non-digital as well as digital/video games. 
• Game-based learning and achieving defined learning outcomes through game content and play.  
• Games for impact which are games designed with the primary goal of achieving a positive outcome beyond entertainment. 
• Gamification and use of game elements in non-game contexts such as earning points or badges. 
• Simulations which mimic real world situations and provide authentic experiential learning a failure-safe environment. 

A gameful government typology

The article proposes a typology of games and gamification in the Australian public sector with the following categories:  recruitment; training and learning; public communication and policy education; engagement; and implementation and evaluation. The typology was informed by the purpose of game/gamification projects. Consideration was given as why pursuit of a game or gamification might aid the policymaking or public administration process. 

Table 1 presents the typology with examples. 

What the research found

There is an absence of any overarching strategy, assessment or scrutiny of gameful government. This raises the question of whether Australia is missing an opportunity to imagine improved policy options by not paying enough attention to gaming. Could more be done to encourage impact assessments to start an evidence base to scrutinise cost-benefit? 

The rise of gamification has been met with academic and gaming industry scepticism. It has been dismissed as ’exploitationware’, incentivising unwilling employees or customers to have more fun while completing mundane tasks ever quicker in a self-serving capitalist machine.  In this context, gamification is seen as unethical and superficial. Sold by gamification evangelists rather than as a genuine practice. 

There is another view of gameful government, one which emphasises the deeply human nature of the design processes embedded in game development. Gameful government can transcend the superficial if done right. This requires a commitment to viewing citizens as citizens (and players) rather than as customers or users. 

Effective gameful government requires money and time. Games’ potential for government is only being realised at a localised level. Even smaller projects can be resource-intensive, particularly where transition into delivery at scale is required. The risk remains of shallow, tokenistic implementation of gamification. Nevertheless, the research maps a significant emerging practice—and opportunity, if done right. 

The bottom line

The research suggests Australian practice is underdeveloped. Practitioners are pursuing innovation and experimentation without a clear understanding of impact. Even the purpose of using gameful government is unclear, largely because there is not enough publicly available data to inform a robust assessment. 

Gameful government is happening, with a balance of internal and external deployment. But the jury is currently out in Australia as to clarity of its use purpose and degree of impact. 

• Games and gamification projects in the Australian public sector – David Threlfall, Catherine Althaus, Australian Journal of Public Administration, September 2025

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