Australia
The Australian Government Management Information Office (formerly NOIE) is working to identify barriers that prevent equitable access to the Internet. In cooperation with other Commonwealth agencies, State/Territory and Local governments and private and non-profit organisations, the Office is developing policies and practices to address these barriers, and a work programme that is designed to explain, encourage and facilitate access to the information economy.
Examples of initiatives are -
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Federal Developments The Australian e-government work programme for access, participation and skills includes: Equitable online access Save@Home (examines the benefits of home Internet access across a range of household types, showing that Australians can derive significant benefits from Internet access) State Developments The Citizens and Civics Unit (CCU) in Western Australia has developed a Citizenship Strategy "A Voice for All: Strengthening Democracy" in consultation with the community, public sector, local government, regional interest groups and business/industry. The Strategy promotes an environment in which the various stakeholders named above can work as partners, building and shaping the future together - refer to illustration below. The CCU has also developed a website called 'Citizenscape' as a source of information on the democratic processes and how governments work; and to encourage greater public participation in government decision-making The Queensland Government has had an E-democracy policy framework since November 2001. This framework has led to extending opportunities for community participation in the democratic process via the Internet. Various e-democracy initiatives have been implemented such as ConsultQld. Queensland is also about to publish an evaluation framework (Dec 2004). The Victorian Government conducted a Committee of Inquiry into E-Democracy in 2002: "The Committee is investigating how the community can have more say in Policy. The Inquiry is looking at using email and the Internet to allow people to voice their concerns and opinions to Parliament and Government. This will allow everyone to take a more active role in the democratic process. It will make Parliament and Government more responsive and accountable. Voting by Internet in State elections will also be considered. The Committee is to report to Parliament by 31 December 2002. |
Figure 3: The Western Australia Citizenscape website
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