ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

Finance provides access to Government information by developing policy frameworks and managing whole-of-government information programmes and products.

In 2000–01, Finance contributed to an overall increase in access to Government information. The principal area of growth was access to online information, with an estimated overall increase of 18 per cent in visitor numbers to our key online information products:

• www.gov.au—access to Australian Federal, State and Territory governments entry points;
  
  
• www.fed.gov.au—access to Australian Commonwealth Government information;
  
  
• www.fedinfo.gov.au—access to information for Commonwealth public servants;
  
  
• http://law.agps.gov.au—Scaleplus: legal information retrieval system;
  
  
• www.lawsearch.gov.au—Lawsearch Online.

New Products

The website www.gov.au was launched during 2000–01. It provides access to government entry points for Commonwealth and State and Territory jurisdictions. Visitor numbers to the site have grown rapidly, from 9,700 a month after the initial implementation in November 2000 to 45,800 in June 2001. Since its implementation, www.gov.au has proven to be a valuable referral site and resource for users seeking an easy way to obtain detailed Government information.

In 2000–01, Finance capitalised on emerging technologies to re-engineer the Endorsed Supplier Arrangement, an online pre-qualification scheme for suppliers to Government in the IT, major office machine, commercial office furniture and auctioneering industries. Use of an endorsed supplier helps to minimise risk for agencies in the procurement process as comprehensive financial checks are made on each supplier before endorsement is granted, and the financial viability of each supplier is continually monitored.

Suppliers are able to complete and lodge their application for endorsement online in a secure environment, while Government buyers can search the database of more than 900 suppliers and 5,000 dealer outlets to source their requirements. The site had just over 600,000 hits during 2000–01.

Improved Products

Responding to user feedback, Finance updated the design of www.fed.gov.au, the Commonwealth Government entry point website. This included new navigation and discovery features. As a result, visitor numbers to the site grew from 99,000 per month to 146,000 per month by June 2001. This site offers search capabilities and access to 560 Commonwealth websites. It has also attracted a strong and growing international visitor flow, in many cases referring users to Commonwealth sites featuring tourist or immigration information.

The Government bookshop went online at www.bookshop.gov.au in June 2001, complementing existing ways of accessing Government information.

13 million website hits pop-up window | Text-only

AusInfo Service Charter

The objective of the AusInfo Service Charter is to ensure Australians have access to Commonwealth Government information. The service is delivered through physical bookshop outlets and a teleinfo and mail sales service. Under the Charter, publications must be dispatched within four days of receipt of the order. All publications available at the time of order were dispatched within 24 hours. Monthly reports are used to monitor customer feedback and complaints. All complaints were resolved satisfactorily within seven days.