Online Consultation with Australian Government

The Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) have released the report: "Consulting with Government - online". This recommends an Australian Government online consultation forum for community consultation. They are now inviting agencies which are already using Web 2.0 for online consultation to come and talk about it. A later event will be held for agencies keen to use Web 2.0 for consultation.

AGIMO are not advocating scrapping existing agency consultation forums. They are to be commended for their cautious approach, compared with the UK Government's over hyped "Power of Information TaskForce".

The 32 page report is available in PDF and RTF versions. Curiously the PDF version is 2.3 MB, whereas the RTF version is only 138 KB. One of the practices I would like to see, and which AGIMO normally follows, is to produce small efficiently formatted electronic documents. In this case it appears someone pushed the wrong button when generating the PDF. A genuine web version (in HTML) would be better, but if the PDF could be made a reasonable size that would be good. Below is the executive summary and the recommendations from the report, converted to efficient HTML:

Executive Summary

The convergence of broadband and Web 2.0 technologies is transforming the way people use the internet to communicate and interact. As people embrace the interactive internet they expect to be able to interact with the Australian Government (the Government) using these new technologies. The increasing use of information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance government service delivery provides opportunities for agencies to engage and involve citizens and communities in new ways.

While traditional ways of engaging will continue, agencies are exploring online approaches for involving the community. To assist development in this area, the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), a business group of the Department of Finance and Deregulation, conducted a public consultation on the proposed development and functionality of an Australian Government Consultation Blog.

The consultation sought the public’s view on online consultations and aimed to identify the public’s reaction to the concept of online consultation and whether people were interested in participating in such consultations. It also explored the motivational factors for participation and asked the public about general expectations of online consultations with government.

The consultation was conducted in three phases; a public discussion paper, focus groups and an online survey. The consultation was also discussed in popular Australian blogs.

In all three phases of the consultation there was overwhelming support for the concept of a Government consultation blog and discussion forum. Respondents expected that online consultations should form a part of the Government’s policy consultation process. However, when it came to actually participating in a Government forum, there was evidence to suggest that people who are not already engaged in online and political discussions would not actually participate. Respondents who had a positive interest in an Australian Government consultation forum indicated they would read and contribute to a blog.

Respondents provided a range of opinions on registration, moderation, the functionality of an online consultation website and privacy and security. The topic of moderation attracted the most debate amongst respondents. While the principle of automatically scanning comments for offensive language, and removing it automatically, was supported by the majority of respondents, many respondents rejected attempts to censor fringe but substantive opinions, however they were expressed. Respondents were enthusiastic about real time ‘web chats’ with Ministers, where people could pose questions and see them answered online. The idea of direct and immediate interaction with the top decision makers was of high importance to respondents.

Generally the public consultation indicated support for the development of a government online consultation web space that includes blogs, online discussion forums and details of public consultations. The findings suggested ways that the Government could encourage the public’s participation in online consultations. Respondents said they would be more likely to participate in government consultations if:

• the discussion topic were relevant to their personal circumstances;
• they had the opportunity to nominate the topics for discussion;
• discussion forums included the participation of Government officials;
• a range of registration options were available;
• the site was well designed, easy to find and use;
• participants were free to express their opinion without censorship; and
• it were unbiased in its operation.

Recommendations

ONE: To foster greater citizen participation in government policy making, the Australian Government should consider establishing an Australian Government online consultation forum, to complement existing forms of community consultation. It should:

• be accessible from a single online entry point - www.australia.gov.au; and
• progress in a phased approach with a few initiatives as a trial of the proposed functionality and to test and address some of the issues around registrations, participation and moderation.

TWO: Following an initial trial period, the Australian Government consultation forum should evaluate citizen and government participation and usage and, if appropriate, consider progressing to an interactive consultation forum. The interactive forum should:

• include a range of consultation mechanisms like blogs to generate ideas to inform the shaping of public policy and discussion forums to generate discussion around specific topics;
• include the ability for users to suggest topics for discussion;
• be easy to find and use and be comparable, in functionality, to existing online forums;
• include mechanisms that acknowledge contributions, allow users to rate other comments and provide email alerts of upcoming consultations;
• include policies for acceptable use, registration, participation, privacy and moderation guidelines; and
• include a feedback and evaluation section for users, both the community and government, to allow users to shape the site and for the continued improvement of the consultation forum.

From: Executive Summary and Recommendations, Consulting with Government - online, AGIMO, 2008

We are pleased to announce that the report, Consulting with Government - online , has been released this week and is available from

http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/consulting-with-government-online/index.html

The report presents findings and recommendations of our public consultation and research work on the Australian publics interest in consulting with Government online.

To further our work in this area we will be organising some roundtable events for agencies who are already consulting online using Web 2 technologies. If your agency is one of those and we have not yet spoken to you and you would like to participate please let us know.

It is anticipated that a second event will be held later in the year for agencies who are exploring the use of web 2 technologies and online consultation. If you are interested in attending this event we would also like to hear from you.

Please feel free to pass the report onto anyone you think may be interested....

Web Policy & Online Technologies
Australian Government Information Management Office
Department of Finance & Deregulation
Minter Ellison Building
25 National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600