Bureau of Meteorology Website Redesign Faces Backlash, Prompting Urgent Fixes
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) is scrambling to address widespread criticism of its newly launched website, with farmers and politicians voicing concerns over missing features and usability issues.The rollout, intended to modernize the agency’s online presence, has instead ignited a debate over whether the changes represent a necessary upgrade or a disruptive misstep.
The controversy echoes similar reactions to redesigns by other major institutions, including Facebook and the Australian Broadcasting corporation (ABC). While the ABC’s website overhaul ultimately proved triumphant – remaining the country’s top-visited news site more then a year after the upgrade – the BoM faces a unique challenge given the critical nature of its services. As one audience member succinctly put it,”if it ain’t broke,don’t fix it.”
The BoM, however, argues the previous website was broken. Officials described the old site, last significantly updated during Kevin Rudd’s first term as prime minister, as “beloved” but fundamentally outdated. Development of the new site began in 2019, driven by the need to address vulnerabilities exposed by a “serious cyber intrusion” in 2015. the $4.1 million project aimed to create a platform that is more accessible, mobile-pleasant – reflecting the fact that more users now access the BoM via its app – and secure.
The new site underwent 16 months of beta testing, with limited access available to users who knew where to find it. The BoM maintains that feedback from this period was incorporated before the official launch. Despite these efforts, the rollout has been met with important resistance, even prompting discussion in federal parliament and from the Queensland premier.
David Littleproud, leader of The Nationals, has been a vocal critic, highlighting concerns from farmers unable to input GPS coordinates for precise location-specific whether data. Searches are currently limited to towns or postcodes. The BoM clarified to Guardian Australia that searching by latitude and longitude remains available through its MetEye service,both on the legacy website and the new platform. Residents have also reported difficulty accessing detailed rainfall measurements for their specific properties, describing the experience as “very complicated and very stressful.”
In a statement released Wednesday, Dr. Peter Stone, the BoM’s acting chief executive, apologized for the issues and emphasized that the new site’s radar function “provides one view of the current weather situation.” He clarified that it is not intended to replace the bureau’s official weather warnings, which are issued by expert meteorologists.
The agency points to the 2020 relaunch of its weather app as a precedent, noting an initial dip in user satisfaction that was afterward reversed. Still, Federal Surroundings Minister Murray watt has ordered changes to be implemented.
Why did the BoM redesign its website? The BoM initiated the $4.1 million redesign in 2019 to address security vulnerabilities exposed by a 2015 cyber intrusion and to modernize its online presence for improved accessibility and mobile use. The previous website, last updated during Kevin Rudd’s first term, was deemed outdated.
Who was involved? Key players include the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), led by acting chief executive Dr. Peter Stone, farmers and residents experiencing usability issues, politicians like David Littleproud, and Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt.
What changes were made? The BoM launched a new website intended to be more accessible, mobile-friendly, and secure. However, the rollout removed features like GPS coordinate
