Australian Government Consultation Blog Discussion Paper - Introduction
The Australian government frequently publishes discussion and issues papers and invites interested people and organisations to respond. Many of these consultations are made available, online through government departmental websites. The online entry point to the Australian government, australia.gov.au, provides links to consultation pages on Departmental websites.
AGIMO has published the Principles for ICT-enabled Citizen Engagement 1 which provide guidance to agencies engaging with citizens using information communications technology (ICT).
This Australian government consultation blog (consultation blog) discussion paper explores how all Australian government consultations could be made accessible and be promoted online via a single website.
A blog is a website which provides a list of text articles, videos or opinion pieces and allows people visiting the website to post their own comments on the articles.
Extending the blog concept to government consultations, the consultation blog is envisaged as a website that lists consultations and allows people to post responses, comments and feedback against each consultation. This paper also discusses a number of enhancements to the blog concept which have been proven in other internet contexts to encourage participation by people.
The final shape of the consultation blog will depend on feedback received to this discussion document, the cost to implement proposed features not available in existing software and the budget and resource allocations that may be made available for the project.
The implementation of the consultation blog will also consider the relevant government legislation and standards as summarised at webpublishing.agimo.gov.au [
] and includes consideration of, but not limited to, The Privacy Act 1988 and The Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
The new internet environment
People are using the internet to communicate with each other in new and unprecedented ways. They can communicate instantly with their circle of friends or publicly with anyone willing to spend the time to listen. Individuals can produce and publish content relatively inexpensively, which may reach and influence thousands of others.
This evolution in the way people communicate is supported by an array of simple technologies and ideas, that when brought together create unanticipated benefits for people. Technology makes it easy to create content but also empowers others to say whether the content is interesting or not.This includes simple ideas like encouraging people to recommend content, post their own comments, tell their friends or to promote content on their own websites.
The interest that people demonstrate in content by either viewing it or searching for it can be used to inform other people about the potential worth of that content, for example by displaying a list of the most viewed content or the most popular search terms.
People may use their real identity when communicating online, but many do not. They may publish content and communicate using an alias that is well known, with an established persona, whilst keeping their real identity secret. They may also communicate completely anonymously, perhaps using a one off alias established temporarily for that purpose.
The rapid advance in communication has not been without its challenges. People may say things they would not normally say, be offensive to others, or commit crimes when they normally would not. They may also reveal personal information allowing their identity to be stolen, or allowing their behaviour and relationships to be tracked. The ramifications of many of these drawbacks are yet to be fully understood and the resulting impact on how people utilise these services is yet to be demonstrated.
The government is assessing the possible development of a consultation blog that takes advantage of new technologies to better engage with people. The initiative offers new ways for the government and people to engage with each other.
The challenge for government is to leverage the positive advances in the ways people communicate, whilst managing the associated challenges, to encourage broader participation in the policy and service delivery development process.
1Principles for ICT-enabled Citizen Engagement
Contact for information on this page: consultationblog@finance.gov.au