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SCRUTINY OF ACTS AND REGULATIONS COMMITTEE

Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Final Report

Ordered to be Printed By Authority. Government Printer for the State of Victoria. N° 126 Session 2003-05

i Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Parliament of Victoria, Australia Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee Inquiry into Electronic Democracy Final Report Bibliography ISBN 978 0 7311 3038 X

Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Members Ms Lily D’Ambrosio MLA (Chairperson) Mr Murray Thompson MLA* (Deputy Chair) The Hon. Lidia Argondizzo MLC* The Hon. Andrew Brideson MLC* Mr Ken Jasper MLA Mr Michael Leighton MLA** Mr Peter Lockwood MLA* Mr Andrew McIntosh MLA Mr Jude Perera MLA* * Members and ** Chair, Electronic Democracy Subcommittee

Staff Mr Andrew Homer Senior Legal Adviser Dr Peter Chen Consultant, Inquiry into Electronic Democracy Ms Helen Mason Legal Adviser, Regulations Mr Simon Dinsbergs Assistant Executive Officer Ms Sonya Caruana Office Manager

Address Level 8, 35 Spring Street MELBOURNE VIC 3000 Telephone (03) 9651 4008 Facsimile (03) 9651 3674 Email [email protected] (Andrew Homer) Internet www.parliament.vic.gov.au/sarc

iii Functions of the Committee

The statutory functions of the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee as set out in section 17 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003 are — 17. Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee The functions of the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee are – (a) to consider any Bill introduced into the Council or the Assembly and to report to the Parliament as to whether the Bill directly or indirectly– (i) trespasses unduly upon rights or freedoms; (ii) makes rights, freedoms or obligations dependent upon insufficiently defined administrative powers; (iii) makes rights, freedoms or obligations dependent upon non-reviewable administrative decisions; (iv) unduly requires or authorises acts or practices that may have an adverse effect on personal privacy within the meaning of the Information Privacy Act 2000; (v) unduly requires or authorises acts or practices that may have an adverse effect on privacy of health information within the meaning of the Health Records Act 2001; (vi) inappropriately delegates legislative power; (vii) insufficiently subjects the exercise of legislative power to parliamentary scrutiny; (b) to consider any Bill introduced into the Council or the Assembly and to report to the Parliament – (i) as to whether the Bill directly or indirectly repeals, alters or varies section 85 of the Constitution Act 1975, or raises an issue as to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court; (ii) if a Bill repeals, alters or varies section 85 of the Constitution Act 1975, whether this is in all the circumstances appropriate and desirable; (iii) if a Bill does not repeal, alter or vary section 85 of the Constitution Act 1975, but where an issue is raised as to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, as to the full implications of that issue; (c) to consider any Act that was not considered under paragraph (a) or (b) within 30 days immediately after the first appointment of members of the current Committee and to report to the Parliament with respect to that Act on any matter referred to in those paragraphs; (d) the functions conferred on the Committee by the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994; (e) the functions conferred on the Committee by the Environment Protection Act 1970; (f) the functions conferred on the Committee by the Co-operative Schemes (Administrative Actions) Act 2001; (g) to review any Act in accordance with the terms of reference under which the Act is referred to the Committee under this Act.

iv Terms of Reference

The Lieutenant-Governor, as the Governor’s deputy, with the advice of the Executive Council, under section 4F of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1968, requests that the: Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee of Parliament inquire into, consider and report to Parliament on: 1) netcasting of Parliamentary proceedings; 2) online interactive and collaborative approaches to policy discussion, including citizen email and online forums; and 3) other technology solutions to promote access and participation.

And to this end consider the core issues of the: 1) potential impact of new and emerging technologies on the democratic processes of government; 2) options available to improve democratic processes through the use of such technologies (for example, through electronically enabled voting); 3) costs and benefits of new technologies that promote e-democracy; 4) equitable access of all citizens to e-democracy; 5) legal and regulatory factors; and 6) educational or social barriers to the implementation of e-democracy.

In order to review and make recommendations on any necessary or desirable amendments to the Electoral Act 2002, the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000 and any other relevant legislation to facilitate these opportunities. The Committee should have regard to experiences in Victoria and other jurisdictions as well as the evidence on e-democracy included in the discussion paper undertaken by the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee of the 54th Parliament. This Inquiry has been proposed to examine the above matters with a focus on public participation in democratic and parliamentary processes. It is not intended to examine issues relating to service delivery and government on-line processes. The Committee is required to report to Parliament by 31 March 2004. Dated 3 June 2003 Responsible Minister: STEVE BRACKS Premier BRIAN TUKE Acting Clerk of the Executive Council

Victoria Government Gazette, G23, 5 June 2003, p. 1314

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Extension

The Governor in Council under section 33 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003 amends the reporting date referred to in the Order in Council dated 3 June 2003 (amended 25 November 2003*) requiring the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee of Parliament to inquire into the Electronic Democracy by substituting the date by which the Committee must report to the Parliament on the inquiry from Spring 2004 Session of Parliament to 31 March 2005. The Order is to be effective from the date of gazettal. Dated 3 November 2004 Responsible Minister STEVE BRACKS Premier DIANE CASEY Clerk of the Executive Council

Victoria Government Gazette G45, 4 November 2004, p. 3070

Note

* Victoria Government Gazette, G48, 27 November 2003, p. 3017

vi Table of Contents

Committee Membership iii

Functions of the Committee iv

Terms of Reference v

Chairpersons' Foreword xi

Acknowledgements xiv

Recommendations xv

Guiding Principles xv Information Accessibility xvi Broadening the Reach of Government Online Information xviii Information Accessibility Outside of the State Government xviii Freedom of Information in an Information Age xx A Creative Commons xxii Accessing the Internet xxiv Electoral Information xxv The Electoral Transactions: Enrolling, Voting and Counting xxvi Consultation and Participation xxix Parliamentary Information Online xxxii Interacting with Parliament xxxiii Acronyms xxxvii

Tables xli

Figures xlii

Executive Summary xliii

Part I: Introduction xliii Part II: Access to Information xlv Part III: Political Participation xlix Part IV: Parliament li Part I – Introduction 1

An Electronic Democracy Agenda for Victoria 1 Victorian Democracy and Technological Change 2

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Context of the Inquiry 4 The Review Process 9 Electronic Democracy 10 Current Levels of Internet Use in Political Life 12 The Technological Context of the Inquiry 13 Part II – Access to Information 21

Introduction 21 Government Information Online 22 Accessibility Standards 22 Freedom of Information 40 Current Performance of the Freedom of Information Act 40 Current Review of the Act by the Ombudsman Victoria 42 Access to Freedom of Information 43 Disclosure Outside of the Freedom of Information Act 47 Email and Freedom of Information 49 Technology to Improve the Freedom of Information Process 54 Encouraging Community Developed Online Content 57 The Role of Public Libraries 58 Media Diversity Issues 60 Targeted Funding Approaches 63 Is A New Cultural Institution Necessary? 64 Extending Access to Public Internet Facilities 70 Public Access Terminals in Victoria 71 I@ – The Internet Access Database 75 Part III – Political Participation 77

Introduction 77 The Electoral Process 77 Voting Processes: Issues and Concerns 79 Specific Scope of the Committee’s Recommendations 87 A Limited Role for Networked ICTs 88 Voter Information and Informed Participation 105 Voter Registration 112 Remote Voting Systems 115 Electronic Voting Machines 118 Developments in ICT-enabled Remote Voting 128 Electronic Vote Counting 128 Consultation and Participation 132 Definitions and Directions 134 The Role of ICTs in Consultation and Participation in Victoria 144 Sustaining a Community of Practice for ICT-enabled Consultation and Participation 152 Encouraging Online Consultation Outside of Government 169 viii Inquiry into eDemocracy

A Victorian Consultation Portal and Notification Service 172 Online Resources for Community Strengthening 174 Part IV – The Parliament 177

Introduction 177 Parliament as a Content Provider 178 Accessibility and Reach of Parliamentary Content 179 Increasing the Depth of Parliamentary Online Content 181 Webcasting Parliamentary Proceedings 183 Parliamentary Processes 200 In-Chamber Voting 201 Interacting with Parliament 203 The Work of Committees 207 Information Technology and Members of Parliament 216 Members’ Personal Websites 217 Use of Non-standard Operating Environment Applications 219 Email Communications between Politicians and the Public 220 Bandwidth 226 Glossary 229

Bibliography 243

Appendix A – Submissions, Witnesses, and Discussion List Participants during the 55th Parliamentary Inquiry 257

Appendix B – Submissions to the 54th Parliamentary Inquiry 265

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x Chairpersons’ Foreword

The Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee has pleasure in submitting its final report on the Inquiry into Electronic Democracy.

The ways Parliamentarians conduct their work has changed dramatically during the time the Subcommittee Chair has been a Member of Parliament. Once concerned whether they could get sufficient access to the typing pool, MPs now demand they be allowed to join their Parliamentary notebooks to their home broadband network to permit them to work more efficiently and communicate with their colleagues and constituents.

The Committee conducted the Inquiry by the usual means such as written submissions, hearings, meetings and visits. In keeping with an Inquiry into the use of Information and Communications Technologies in the democratic process, the Committee made a point of also using newer technologies. These included Blogging by handheld devices, conducting an electronic discussion list, and holding a video conference.

The use of audio and video conferencing saved time and money in interviewing interstate witnesses and provided the Committee with valuable information. While we are able to treat this material as part of our research we were advised that we were not allowed to table this as evidence. This shows that in an area regulating how Parliamentarians work, the Law has failed to keep up with technological change and itself needs changing.

Governments around the Western World have become proficient in Electronic Governance, providing large amounts of information electronically and allowing citizens to conduct transactions such as making payments to Government online.

The challenge and the opportunity provided by electronic democracy are providing the means by which citizens can more fully participate in the decisions which affect their lives.

Professor Pippa Norris of Harvard University – in her book “Digital Divide” had this to say:

… the key issue when evaluating the role of digital technologies for democracy is how much governments and civil society can learn to use the opportunities provided by the new channels of information and communication to promote and strengthen the core representative institutions connecting citizens and the State.

The Information and Communications Technology Age is a time of excitement and wonderment at new possibilities offered by the latest technologies and devices. However, at the same time a sober assessment needs to be made of their nett benefit.

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So for instance, the Committee recommends the introduction of electronic voting machines for the vision impaired on the basis that it is a pilot, the machines are secure as they are not connected to the Internet, and there is a clear public benefit.

However the Committee does not recommend the introduction of Internet voting at this time because there are concerns about the integrity of the system while there is, in the Australian context, no demonstrable public benefit.

In the UK where voting is not compulsory the public attitudes are canvassed in an article at Silicon.com, “UK voters fear election fraud” Will Sturgeon, March 30, 2005 http://management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39129095,00.htm:

The UK public is losing faith in the integrity of general elections with more than a third of voters concerned about election fraud.

The greatest concerns focus on the proposed introduction of more high-tech methods of voting which will lose a demonstrable 'paper trail'.

Technologies such as SMS, digital television and the internet have all been proposed for e-voting and trials have already taken place in the UK with 70 per cent of respondents to a recent MORI poll saying they are aware of such advances.

Of those polled, 56 per cent said such technologies would make fraud easier to commit – with SMS most commonly perceived as prone to fraud (by 74 per cent) and email (66 per cent) a close second. However, the one silver lining on this otherwise bleak picture for high-tech voting is a likely decrease in voter apathy and consequent higher turnouts, particularly among the young.

Almost half the voters aged between 18 and 34 said they would be more likely to vote if they could do so by text.

I would like to thank the current and previous Members of the subcommittee of the 55th Parliament for their work on this Report and their individual contributions to the Inquiry. These Members are the Hon. Lidia Argondizzo MLC, the Hon. Andrew Brideson MLC, Mr Peter Lockwood MLA, the Hon. Andrew Olexander MLC, Mr Jude Perera MLA and Mr Murray Thompson MLA.

I would like to recognise the work of the Members of the Committee of the 54th Parliament, which has been very useful in the preparation of this Report. The Subcommittee wishes to extend its appreciation to Mr Andrew Monaghan of Multimedia Victoria, who served as the project officer for the Inquiry of the 54th Parliament, and who provided the Subcommittee with considerable time and assistance in reviewing information collected during 2002.

Importantly, I wish to thank our Inquiry consultant, Dr Peter Chen, Visiting Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Public Policy, for his excellent research and analysis, and his organisational work during the course of the Inquiry and in the preparation of the report. Peter brought dedication, commitment and vast knowledge to the Inquiry. I believe the standing of this inquiry was enhanced by having as its consultant, an academic who is so highly respected by his peers. xii Inquiry into eDemocracy

Finally, I wish to thank the Executive Officer of the Committee, Mr Andrew Homer, for his guidance, advice and wise counsel. I also thank Mr Simon Dinsbergs for his outstanding work in assisting and supporting the Committee’s logistical needs, Ms Sonya Caruana for her administrative support and Ms Renée Otmar for her first-rate work in editing the final report.

The Subcommittee has found this Inquiry to be challenging, but interesting and worthwhile. I believe that the Subcommittee’s recommendations, if adopted, will make significant improvement to the democratic process in Victoria, enhancing the opportunities for civic participation from the Victorian community and improving the policy making processes of Government and the Parliament.

Mr Michael Leighton MLA Ms Lily D’Ambrosio MLA Chair Chairperson Electronic Democracy Scrutiny of Acts and Subcommittee Regulations Committee

April 2005

xiii Acknowledgements

The Committee would like to acknowledge the assistance of: • Professor R. Michael Alvarez, California Institute of Technology • Mr Andrew Arch and Mr Brian Hardy, Accessible Information Solutions, National Information and Library Service • Professor Bruce Bimber, University of California • Mr James Borg, Hitwise Internet Intelligence Service • Ms Jane Burrows, Infoxchange Australia • Professor Stephen Coleman, Oxford Internet Institute • Mr Gerry Cottle, Manager, Freedom of Information, Queensland Treasury • Ms Jane Daniels, My Connected Communities Secretariat, VICNET • Mr Frank Edwards, Manager of Administration, Clerk's Department, City of Markham, Canada • Assistant Professor Thad Hall, University of Utah • Mr Peter Hodgson and Mr Phil Nolan, Australian Bureau of Statistics • Dr Jim Johnston, Public Petitions Committee, Parliament of Scotland • Mr Neil Laurie, Clerk of the Queensland Parliament • Mr Stephen May, General Manager Marketing, Scope Vic Ltd • Professor Ian McAllister, Australian Electoral Study, Australian National University • Mr Andrew Monaghan, Multimedia Victoria • Ms Shelley Oldham, Program Manager, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Department of Premier and Cabinet • Mr Michael Rankin, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission • Ms Naomi Smith, Legal Officer, Civil Law Policy, Department of Justice • Mr Phil Turnour, Industry Reporting Team, Australian Communications Authority

xiv Recommendations

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Recommendation 1

Any electronic democracy initiative introduced by the State of Victoria, including the Parliament, should be assessed against the four principles of: 1. Majority rule through popular elections and the primacy of Parliament 2. Equality of participation in civic life for all citizens 3. Human rights of citizens to participate freely in public life 4. Minority rights of groups within the community See page 3 Recommendation 2

The responsible Minister, through data collection and aggregation by the Department for Victorian Communities, in partnership with its key stakeholders in the State and Local Government arenas, should produce a regular statement of Victorians’ attitudes to our democratic system and institutions, in a manner which builds upon similar national research and supports the effective evaluation of democratic initiatives at each level of government. • This statement should include both descriptive and diagnostic information, and be updated at least once per Parliamentary term, to form the basis for an effective, ongoing agenda of reform and modernisation of the Victorian democratic system. See Page 9 Recommendation 3

The introduction of electronic democracy initiatives should be undertaken with consideration in mind of fluctuations of public interest in politics. Where feasible, electronic democracy initiatives or pilot projects of the Parliament and Government of Victoria should be undertaken over a complete Parliamentary term, or terms, where appropriate.

See Page 13

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Recommendation 4

The adoption of any electronic democracy initiative by the Parliament or State Government of Victoria should not exclude conventional forms of participation. No existing method of political participation in the State of Victoria should be superseded by a method that relies solely on information and communications technologies.

See Page 18 Recommendation 5 The State Government of Victoria, and the Parliament, should recognise that information and communications technologies provide an empowering means of social and political participation for some segments of the community. Where appropriate, information and communications technologies should be employed to facilitate public participation in addition to conventional means. See Page 20 INFORMATION ACCESSIBILITY

Recommendation 6

The Office of the Chief Information Officer should ensure that the transition from Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 to 2.0 in the State of Victoria is undertaken in consultation across government and with relevant community stakeholders. • An appropriate public sector education process should begin prior to the formal adoption of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, in order to prepare for a smooth transition between compliance standards. • Where appropriate, reporting against both sets of guidelines should be required for Victorian Departments and Agencies as an interim measure, to improve understanding of changes in the compliance regime. See Page 26 Recommendation 7

Accessibility standards for the State Government of Victoria should be revised to move minimum requirements to level AA compliance under the existing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 and the equivalent level under the forthcoming 2.0 guidelines. Compliance to the AA standard should be phased in from June 2005 to encourage continual improvement practices in website design. • In recognition of the diversity of capacity and audience-specific needs, Departments and Agencies should be permitted to seek exemptions for certain websites (higher or lower than level AA) based on a clear business case justification. See Page 28

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Recommendation 8

Failure to comply with the whole-of-government standards for website accessibility should be identified and addressed by the Office of the Chief Information Officer as a priority. Implementation slippage should not justify the relaxation of existing minimum standards in Victoria.

See Page 29 Recommendation 9

Under the Website Management Framework, the Office of the Chief Information Officer should establish a formal, regular reporting mechanism for compliance to the five Whole of Government Website Standards, with a minimum of one-third of all Government websites surveyed on an annual basis to determine their compliance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and activities in place to advance to the next level of compliance. • This report should be tabled in Parliament on an annual basis by the Minister, including information showing improvements by key agencies over time and highlighting agencies that have failed to progress towards Government targets. • This report should be developed in partnership with relevant community stakeholders. See Page 29 Recommendation 10

All Victorian websites should move towards a consistent user-experience design standard, developed by the Office of the Chief Information Officer as part of the overarching web strategy of the Victorian Government. • Variations to this requirement should be permitted for websites that have a specific user need. See Page 31 Recommendation 11

All Victorian documents published by the Victorian Public Sector as Portable Document Format (PDF) files should also be provided in an alternative accessible format (such as Hypertext Markup Language, Rich Text Format or plain text). • This recommendation should not be used to limit the level of information published online. See Page 32 Recommendation 12

The Digital Archive project under development by the Public Record Office Victoria should investigate and adopt, where possible, software to extract information from Portable Document Format (PDF) files stored under the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy standard for use by users who do not prefer this format.

See Page 33

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Recommendation 13

The minimum web standards for online publication of government information should be revised to systematically phase in accessibility of online information via devices with unusual screen sizes.

See Page 34 BROADENING THE REACH OF GOVERNMENT ONLINE INFORMATION

Recommendation 14

The minimum web standards for online publication of government information should be revised to ensure that a consistent policy exists to support and encourage the use of systems to syndicate online content by the whole Victorian Public Sector.

See Page 36 Recommendation 15

All State Government syndicated content feeds should be registered with Victoria Online and a central list maintained on this website to increase the discoverability of these feeds by Internet search engines.

See Page 36 Recommendation 16

Information Victoria should investigate the possibility of developing a print-on-demand service for Government publications that are not provided in print.

See Page 37 INFORMATION ACCESSIBILITY OUTSIDE OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT

Recommendation 17

The Office of the Chief Information Officer, in conjunction with relevant Local Government association(s), should investigate ways by which Local Government in Victoria can take advantage of the content management system tender currently being let by the State, to access advanced website management and web accessibility standards through aggregated tendering. • Based on this assessment, the Office of the Chief Information Officer should report to the Minister for Local Government on the appropriateness of targeted subsidisation for content management system acquisition, implementation and management in the Local Government sector. See Page 38

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Recommendation 18

The Office of the Chief Information Officer, in conjunction with the relevant Local Government association(s) and Local Government Division of the Department for Victorian Communities, should determine whether existing website management best practice guides developed under the Networking the Nation project require revision and increased distribution throughout the Local Government sector.

See Page 38 Recommendation 19

The Minister for Local Government should introduce a regulation requiring that Local Governments include within their annual reports a statement of the Web Content Accessibility Guideline compliance of websites maintained by the Council once per the term of Council.

See Page 39 Recommendation 20

The Victorian Government, through Multimedia Victoria, should introduce an annual accessibility awards program for Victorian companies and community organisations, in order to encourage greater compliance with web accessibility standards and promote the awareness of online accessibility issues outside of government. • These awards should be developed in conjunction with relevant stakeholders as partners, such as Vision Australia. • These awards should focus on the recognition of best practice and improvement, with the capture of quality case example information for distribution to other organisations. See Page 40 Recommendation 21

Multimedia Victoria should enter discussions with the relevant Local Government peak bodies about participation by Local Government in these awards.

See Page 40 Recommendation 22

Multimedia Victoria should provide a comprehensive report on the overall success of these awards in improving commercial and community based organisations’ compliance with accessibility standards within five years of their initiation, in order to gauge the value of this approach.

See Page 40

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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION IN AN INFORMATION AGE

Recommendation 23

Given the importance of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 to democratic accountability, Recommendations 24 to 32 should be considered in conjunction with the outcome of the current review of the Act by the Ombudsman and in light of possible recommendations contained in the report on an investigation concerning allegations that departments are unduly delaying responses to Freedom of Information requests. • Where appropriate, Recommendations 24 to 32 should be incorporated into a reform package by the Attorney-General. See Page 43 Recommendation 24

Section 2 of the Freedom of Information Act should be amended to require Victorian departments and agencies to: • Require all agencies (as defined in the Freedom of Information Act) to publish the information listed in section 7 on the World Wide Web. • Amend the existing requirement for this information to be published in their annual report, to state that a summary of this information should be provided in the annual report, with clear references to means by which the public can gain access to the complete list. See Page 45 Recommendation 25

Participation in FOI Online should be extended, with the objective of incorporating those agencies that collectively receive more than seventy-five percent of total applications under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, based on statistics from the last reporting year. • This recommendation should not be interpreted as precluding the participation by agencies in smaller annual Freedom of Information requests based on their own business case assessments. See Page 46 Recommendation 26

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 should be amended to require each Government department and agency to introduce and maintain a “publication scheme” as per the United Kingdom’s Freedom of Information Act 2000, with the following modifications: • The relevant Minister should approve the publication scheme. • The publication scheme should be revised and modified on an annual basis, with variations only permitted after a publication has been listed for one calendar year.

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• This publication scheme should be published on the department and agency websites, and referenced in their annual reports, and be reported to the Department of Justice as part of the Department’s annual Freedom of Information reporting requirements. See Page 48 Recommendation 27

The Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee should undertake a review of the effectiveness of the proposed amendments to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 after five years of the operations of publication schemes. This review should consider: • The effectiveness of the introduction of this approach • Means to support public access to information under the provision • The need for a third-party regulator of the content of these schemes. See Page 49 Recommendation 28

The Public Record Office Victoria should issue the whole-of-government email storage and retention policy and guidance document proposed in 2002 as a matter of priority. This document should: • Clearly state the relationship between email and Freedom of Information and the importance of a systematic retention strategy for these documents. • Note the relationship between the policy and Victoria Electronic Records Strategy compliance (interim). • Provide the user with a clear “best-practice” template policy for customisation at the departmental or agency level. • Provide line managers and staff with clear checklists for action. See Page 52 Recommendation 29

No Victorian Government email server should automatically purge email. An officer responsible for the account prior to deletion should review all sorted email on Government servers. See Page 53 Recommendation 30

As part of the implementation of Recommendation 29, the Public Record Office Victoria should consider developing an interim guidance document for Victorian Government departments and agencies on the storage and archiving of Instant Messaging log files. • The growth in use of Instant Messaging should be monitored by the Office of the Chief Information Officer to determine whether a more comprehensive policy approach is required. See Page 54

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Recommendation 31

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 should be amended to require that documents released under Freedom of Information application be included in the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy Digital Archive where: • The inclusion of these documents is not in violation of the Information Privacy Act 2000, and • The documents exist in electronic format.

The implementation of this requirement under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 will need to be staggered, by regulation, as departments and agencies reach Victorian Electronic Records Strategy compliance.

See Page 56 Recommendation 32

The current application of electronic redacting software in the Department for Victorian Communities should be reviewed by the Department of Justice, in co-operation with Public Record Office Victoria, the Ombudsman Victoria and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Should a positive benefit to the administration of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 be identified through the use of this technology, the Office of the Chief Information Officer should be tasked with co- ordinating State-wide implementation. • The outcomes of this assessment should be communicated to the Local Government sector. See Page 57 A CREATIVE COMMONS

Recommendation 33

The work of the State Library of Victoria in identifying and preserving online information of importance to the cultural and political life of Victoria should be recognised and supported. The Library should maintain and develop its current level of work in this area to support the retention of valuable online information.

See Page 59 Recommendation 34

The Libraries Act 1988 should be amended to define “library materials” as “information”, moving technology specific references in the existing definition to a subset of library materials and incorporating two additional definitions in the Act as per the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000: • “Information” means information in the form of data, text, images or sound. • “Information system” means a system for generating, sending, receiving, storing or otherwise processing electronic communications. See Page 60 xxii Inquiry into eDemocracy

Recommendation 35

The State of Victoria has a clear interest in maintaining a diverse media environment for all Victorians, particularly for the creation and distribution of news and current affairs broadcasting. The Government of Victoria, through the Premier, should monitor any proposed national legislative changes to media ownership laws and the funding of national public broadcasters, and act where appropriate to ensure that minimum local content creation rules are adhered to by licence holders and funding is maintained for public broadcasting of news and current affairs.

See Page 62 Recommendation 36

The Government of Victoria should continue to support the MC2 initiative. However: • Future funding agreements with VICNET to continue this service should focus on training through the variety of online communities services available, and not restrict training to a specific focus on the MC2 content management and hosting portal. See Page 63 Recommendation 37

Any future decision to discontinue the My Connected Communities content hosting service should be undertaken in conjunction with a clear migration plan for these resources to one or more alternative hosting environments.

See Page 63 Recommendation 38

The current approach to targeted funding for community organisation information and communication technology capacity building projects should be continued, with specific focus on communities under-represented in the information economy and who are socially excluded.

See Page 64 Recommendation 39

The Minister for the Arts should develop an initiative to network existing public, private and community content developers, with the objectives of ensuring Victorian content developed can be captured electronically – where appropriate – that this content sees the widest possible distribution and content of significant value to the social and political life of Victoria is archived appropriately. • Following due consideration, the Minister for the Arts should advise the Parliament whether the Arts Victoria Act 1972 should be amended to include specific reference to the development of an information commons under the objectives of the Act. See Page 65

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ACCESSING THE INTERNET

Recommendation 40

Multimedia Victoria should commission a revised and comprehensive version of the research conducted by Centre for Community Networking Research and Whitehorse Strategic Group on a biennial basis. This research should be used to track changes in usage patterns to public access terminals and gauge the success of these programs in reaching targeted community segments. Data gathered from this longitudinal research should be used to integrate public access terminals with services and programs across Government, targeted towards groups with low usage rates. • The new research should include a greater focus on data collection to track technology obsolescence for corrective action (targeted funding, program rationalisation, resource sharing) by providers. See Page 75 Recommendation 41

The I@ service should be extended to include a State-wide local call number that provides access to the venue database via an interactive service. • Multimedia Victoria should investigate how this service could also serve to refer users to relevant training opportunities. • This telephone service should provide multilingual options. See Page 75 Recommendation 42

The I@ service should be extended to allow for the syndication of the database query form through other websites (such as Local Government).

See Page 76 Recommendation 43

New and renewed funding agreements between the State Government and public Internet access providers should require that I@ be updated by the provider as a term of the funding agreement. • The I@ database should be extended to capture technology age and renewal by providers. See Page 76

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ELECTORAL INFORMATION

Recommendation 44

The Minister for Local Government should amend the relevant regulations to permit and require the online publication of Candidate Statements, authorised how-to-vote cards, and a candidate photograph by the Victorian Electoral Commission.

See Page 108 Recommendation 45

The Local Government Act 1989 should be amended to incorporate the provision of Candidate Statements, authorised how-to-vote cards, and a candidate photograph in all Local Government elections, regardless of voting method (postal, attendance) employed.

See Page 110 Recommendation 46

The Electoral Act 2002 should be amended to incorporate the provision of Candidate Statements, authorised how-to-vote cards, and a candidate photograph in all Parliamentary elections.

See Page 110 Recommendation 47

The Victorian Electoral Commission should develop a centralised election portal for candidates’ statements for future elections. • The provision of this information through the portal should allow for the syndication of this content. See Page 110 Recommendation 48

The Victorian Government should provide targeted funding to relevant community bodies to provide access to voter information in a wide range of accessible formats and major non-English linguistic communities for the next State election. • This funding should be provided through the Victorian Electoral Commission, which should be tasked with the process of contract management, oversight and reporting to the Parliament. • The Victorian Electoral Commission should develop and provide a policy manual for the collection and distribution of this information, including information about Victorian electoral law and issues of defamation, and should require equal access to all candidates. See Page 112

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THE ELECTORAL TRANSACTIONS: ENROLLING, VOTING AND COUNTING

Recommendation 49

The Victorian Electoral Commission should provide advice to the Parliament and Government prior to the next State election as to the appropriateness of facilitating the delivery of scanned voter registration and postal vote applications via email or similar method.

See Page 114 Recommendation 50

The Victorian Electoral Commission should provide advice to the Parliament and Government prior to the next State election as to the appropriateness of facilitating the delivery of signed voter registration and postal vote applications using pen-interface technologies.

See Page 114 Recommendation 51

The Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the existing enrolment form maintained on the Victorian Electoral Commission website should be supplemented with: • An additional version in an accessible format. • An online form allowing users to enter their enrolment details online, but still requiring a printed version to be posted to the Victorian Electoral Commission for verification of the signature. See Page 115 Recommendation 52

Parliamentary elections should not be conducted remotely via information and communications technologies in the near future. • This decision should be reviewed by Victorian Electoral Commission following each State election, unless requested to do so earlier by the Minister. • Within 12 months of a positive review by the Victorian Electoral Commission, the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee table a report in Parliament concerning the desirability of introducing Internet-based voting, either generally or for a limited purpose. See Page 118

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Recommendation 53

The Victorian Electoral Commission, in consultation with relevant stakeholder groups, should develop and implement a system of electronic voting machines for local and general elections in Victoria. These machines should: • Permit the casting of a private, unassisted vote for the blind, those Victorians with limited vision, and Victorians with low levels of English literacy • Provide the same voting instructions as appear on the paper ballot in a range of languages other than English • Produce a voter-verifiable paper trail to be retained by electoral officials • Allow for the electronic tabulation of votes cast • Be restricted to a closed local area network under the complete physical control of electoral officials.

The implementation of this electronic voting system should be undertaken with consideration of: • The use of open-source software to provide maximum public oversight of the source code used in these machines • The capacity to collaborate between jurisdictions over the development of hardware and software • The capacity of the Victorian Electoral Commission to pilot the system on a limited basis, and expand provision of these machines based on community need and demand. See Page 127 Recommendation 54

The Victorian Electoral Commission should maintain an appraisal of developments in the area of electronic and online voting, and be provided with the resources to send staff to participate or observe the conduct of electronic and online elections internationally and around Australia.

See Page 128 Recommendation 55

The Victorian Electoral Commission should be required to provide independent technical certification of its current electronic vote-counting software. • Certification should be required following each modification of the software used. See Page 130

xxvii Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Recommendation 56

The Victorian Electoral Commission should be required to ensure that future acquisition or development of electronic vote-counting software be open-source software. This requirement should also specify that: • This source code be released by the Electoral Commission via its website. • A process for the collection, review and incorporation (where appropriate) of comments and bug reports from the public be developed. See Page 130 Recommendation 57

The Victorian Electoral Commission as a matter of priority should undertake a risk assessment of the practice of using leased computers for electronic vote counting. This risk assessment should include: • A third-party technical audit. • A review of the administrative practices surrounding the leasing, cleaning, preparation and use of these machines in the counting of votes.

This risk assessment should be tabled before the Parliament at the soonest possible date.

See Page 130 Recommendation 58

The Victorian Electoral Commission should prepare a business case for the Victorian Government on the use of automatic ballot-scanning technology on a pilot basis. This review should consider: • Models for the implementation of these systems (acquisition, lease, etc.) • Means by which acquisition costs can be shared with other jurisdictions • Costs and benefits of implementation • Effectiveness of the technology and minimum thresholds by which recounts should be required by law (margin-of-error assessments). See Page 132

xxviii Inquiry into eDemocracy

CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION

Recommendation 59

The Victorian Public Sector should consider adopting approaches to licensing data held that have traditionally been used for commercial purposes on a cost-recovery basis, whereby the release of this data is necessary to provide for contestable policy consultation and upon request. Where possible, alternative licensing schemes, such as a localised version of the Creative Commons licensing scheme, should be applied to data release to allow for public interest use, and should retain the commercial return.

See Page 142 Recommendation 60

All Parliamentary and Government consultation and participation processes should include, where feasible and appropriate to the target audience, the use of ICTs. • ICT-enabled consultation and participation processes should be developed in conjunction with key stakeholder groups and academic institutions in order to develop relevant frameworks for participation and evaluation. • These processes should be undertaken to provide an evaluation of effectiveness, both qualitative and quantitative.

With regards to online consultation: • Any consultation undertaken without an online component should include in the methodology of the final report of the consultation a statement outlining the reasons against undertaking an element of the consultation online. • The inclusion of online participation should not be limited to restrict participation in offline forms. • Where possible, online consultation should allow citizen-to-citizen communication, moderated only to prevent incidence of defamation or legal risk to the State or Parliament of Victoria. See Page 147 Recommendation 61

Online consultations should be undertaken using the best available technology and techniques available, and the design of these systems should be undertaken in conjunction with key stakeholder groups. Where appropriate, these consultation and participation processes should be based within community organisations.

See Page 150

xxix Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Recommendation 62

The State Government of Victoria should identify and develop a number of policy areas where demonstration online-consultation projects can be conducted.

See Page 152 Recommendation 63

The moderation of online consultation and participation processes needs a clear policy statement for staff that provides direction as to: • The purpose of moderation • The degree of moderation appropriate, depending on circumstances • Policies or procedures for resolving disputes • The necessity for the policy statement to be available to participants. See Page 161 Recommendation 64

Online consultations should provide detailed reports on outcomes, including problems, to encourage learning across Government and the civil society.

Where possible and feasible, online consultation systems should be developed in open source, with the source code widely available to other Government agencies and civil society groups.

See Page 164 Recommendation 65

An electronic democracy co-ordinating body should be established in the Department for Victorian Communities.

See Page 166 Recommendation 66

The Department for Victorian Communities, through the electronic democracy co-ordinating unit should: • Forge and maintain ongoing networks of practitioners and scholars, from across all levels of Government. • Develop a set of evolving benchmarks and performance measures for online consultation, to assist in establishing and advancing best practice. • Include seconded membership from across the public sector. • Be advised by industry and academic experts.

xxx Inquiry into eDemocracy

• Have active participation from key Local Government organisations, either directly or through relevant peak bodies. See Page 166 Recommendation 67

The Department for Victorian Communities should establish a best-practice reference guide for public consultations in Victoria, with supporting documentation, references and check lists, to provide an ongoing resource for the successful and effective conduct of consultation processes in the State. • This reference should be regularly reviewed and updated, and should form the basis of ongoing improvement in best practice throughout the State. • This reference should be supported by a professional network of public servants engaged in the conduct of consultations, as reference points for other agencies and officers. See Page 169 Recommendation 68

The use of online consultation by Government departments and agencies should consider the value of these experiences for technology and skills transfer to stakeholder groups in the community, in order to develop and expand the use of online consultation within their governance practices. • Where practical and feasible, consultation processes should encourage stakeholder groups to poll or solicit member responses using the technology appropriate to solicit the widest possible participation. See Page 170 Recommendation 69

A centralised portal and subscription service for Government and Parliamentary publications, consultations and legislative work should be established, allowing free public access to Government policy processes in a timely manner, in order to encourage public participation. • Local Governments should be allowed to contribute relevant material into the subscription service. See Page 173 Recommendation 70 www.communitybuilding.vic.gov.au should adopt a moderated citizen-to-citizen discussion forum to develop and deepen linkages between community groups within Victoria.

See Page 176

xxxi Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Recommendation 71 www.communitybuilding.vic.gov.au should further investigate methods by which the relationship between this initiative and similar initiatives around Australia (such as communitybuilders.nsw) can be strengthened to: • Syndicate relevant content between these services • Redirect Victorian users to relevant Victorian resources (where they exist). See Page 176 PARLIAMENTARY INFORMATION ONLINE

Recommendation 72

A redevelopment of the website of the Parliament of Victoria should be undertaken with consideration of the means to ensure: • The capacity of publishers in the Parliament to provide content that can be syndicated • The use of appropriate authoring and content presentation tools to allow the Parliamentary website to be accessible on devices with unusual screen sizes • The use of a consistent user-experience model for website design • The capacity of the Parliament, as a distributed publishing environment, to sustain Web Content Accessibility Guidelines level AAA compliance. See Page 180 Recommendation 73

The Department of Parliamentary Services should provide to the Presiding Officers, for tabling in the Parliament, an annual certification of compliance by the Parliamentary website with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. • This document should note, where appropriate, areas of, and for, improvement and actions to be taken to improve and sustain compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. See Page 181 Recommendation 74

The Parliament of Victoria should systematically introduce webcasting of both Chambers of Parliament. The webcasting of public meetings of Parliamentary Committees should be available at the discretion of each committee’s chairperson. This system should allow: • Viewers and listeners to select a level of transmission quality suitable to their Internet service • Archiving of two Parliamentary terms of webcasts for online retrieval • Indexing of the webcast through the Hansard database. See Page 190

xxxii Inquiry into eDemocracy

Recommendation 75

Archived streaming video older than two Parliamentary terms should be archived with the Public Record Office Victoria, in consultation with relevant preservation specialists.

See Page 192 Recommendation 76

The Parliament of Victoria, through the Presiding Officers, should enter discussions with relevant broadcasters to determine the possibility of broadcasting Parliament through their existing networks.

See Page 193 Recommendation 77

The Parliamentary webcasting service should be developed in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Information Officer, in order to determine whether this type of online publication service should be developed as an enterprise-wide service to facilitate low-cost access by other Government departments and agencies, Local Government and community organisations.

See Page 200 INTERACTING WITH PARLIAMENT

Recommendation 78

The Parliament, through the Presiding Officers, should undertake a pilot of electronic chamber voting systems to assess the advantages of the introduction of these systems in the reduction of time taken to undertake legislative business.

See Page 203 Recommendation 79

A Parliamentary information subscription service should be provided as part of the proposed centralised consultation gateway and subscription service for the whole of the Victorian Government.

See Page 204 Recommendation 80

The Parliament of Victoria should introduce an online petitions facility on a trial basis, subject to ongoing evaluation as to the benefits offered to Victorians. The Victorian online petition system should include a moderated discussion facility, similar to that provided by the Scottish Parliament. • This system should be developed in open source, if possible, with access to the code available (at minimum) to the Local Government sector in Victoria. See Page 207

xxxiii Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Recommendation 81

The Parliamentary template for paper petitions should be amended to allow for optional collection of email addresses or other electronic means of communication, in order to allow the petitioner to receive information about the status and tabling of their petition from the Parliament. • The Parliament should pilot a postal feedback system. See Page 207 Recommendation 82

The Parliamentary commitment to the introduction of ICT-enabled consultation and participation processes must be matched with a tangible investment in staff, training, tools and promotional resources.

See Page 209 Recommendation 83

Committees of the Parliament should be authorised to take evidence by electronic means and recognise recordings of these meetings as evidence when taken by a constituted Committee (with quorum). This includes: • The submission of evidence via email and instant messaging • The collection of evidence via telephone or like service • Use of videoconferencing facilities.

This authorisation should not extend where: • The respective Committee has resolved not to accept evidence provided electronically as a general determination of the Committee • The Committee feels it will not be able to verify the identity of a witness using electronic communications technology • There is the possibility that “in-camera” confidential evidence will be presented. See Page 212

xxxiv Inquiry into eDemocracy

Recommendation 84

The Parliamentary Committees Act 2003 should be amended to permit the constitution of Committee meetings with Members participating by audio or video link where: • The quality of this link is such that Members of the Committee attending physically can verify the identity of the absent Member. • The participation of one Member remotely does not prevent the participation of another via a similar means (multiple participation by Members remotely). • The Committee has resolved unanimously to permit the use of these technologies for Committee business. See Page 216 Recommendation 85

The Parliament should provide Members with a specific funding allocation for the establishment of a personal website. This funding should be provided with guidance from the Parliamentary webmaster regarding: • Issues of accessibility • Means to select an appropriate provider (including means to manage online content efficiently and with minimal technical expertise) • Best practices regarding the syndication of content through the Member’s site (including Parliamentary information and information from third parties). See Page 219 Recommendation 86

The Information Technology Unit of the Parliament of Victoria should develop and publicise a clear application and approval process for non-Standard Operating Environment applications.

See Page 220 Recommendation 87

The Information Technology Unit of the Parliament of Victoria should: • Implement and maintain any SPAM filtering system with the utmost care to limit, to the greatest possible extent, “false positive” outcomes. • Advise and inform Members about the advantages and limitations of applying these systems. • Provide a clear means for Members to “opt out” of the use of these systems. See Page 224

xxxv Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Recommendation 88

The Information Technology Unit of the Parliament of Victoria should provide Members, upon request, with an additional email address.

See Page 225 Recommendation 89

References to Members’ of Parliament email addresses should be replaced with online forms, if requested by the individual Member. These forms should provide for: • Means to conceal the Member’s email address from web crawlers • The capacity to provide a receipt, via email, to the author of the message • The capacity (at the discretion of each Member of Parliament) to capture additional information from the author, such as telephone contact details, preferred means of communication, address, etc. See Page 226 Recommendation 90

The bandwidth available to all Members’ Electorate Office should be improved to a minimum level required to provide for access to streaming video (download) and application software grade videoconferencing services (upload and download).

See Page 227

xxxvi Acronyms

3G Third-Generation Mobile Telephony AAP Australian Associated Press ABA Australian Broadcasting Authority ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ACA Australian Communications Authority ACCC Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ACLU American Civil Liberties Union AEC Australian Electoral Commission AES Australian Electoral Study AGIMO Australian Government Information Management Office AIMIA Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Association ANU Australian National University ARC Australian Research Council AusCERT Australian Computer Emergency Response Team AVC Accessible Voting Centre BCA Blind Citizens Australia BBC British Broadcasting Corporation CCNR Centre for Community Networking Research CCTV Closed-Circuit Television CMS Content Management System CSS Cascading Style Sheet DDoS Distributed Denial of Service DET Department of Education and Training DHS Department of Human Services DNS Domain Name Service DoS Denial of Service DVC Department for Victorian Communities E1C Everyone Counts EAV Electronic Assisted Voting EDMS Electronic Document Management System ESA Economics and Statistics Administration (USA) eVACS Electronic Voting and Counting System FoI Freedom of Information HDTV High Definition Television HoC House of Commons HREOC Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission HTML Hypertext Markup Language I@ Internet Access service website

xxxvii Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

IAP2 International Association for Public Participation ICT Information and Communication Technology IIA Internet Industry Association IM Instant Messaging IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6 ISP Internet Service Provider LAN Local Area Network LOTE Language Other Than English MAV Municipal Association of Victoria MC2 My Connected Community MMV Multimedia Victoria MP Member of Parliament MSN Microsoft Network NILS National Information and Library Service NOIE National Office for the Information Economy1 NTIA National Telecommunications and Information Administration (USA) OCIO Office of the Chief Information Officer ODR Online Dispute Resolution OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OS Operating System OSS Open Source Software PC Personal Computer PDA Personal Digital Assistant PDF Portable Document Format PIAP Public Internet Access Program PIN Personal Identification Number PKI Public Key Infrastructure PROV Public Record Office Victoria RRSDC Rural and Regional Services and Development Committee RSS Really Simple Syndication RTF Rich Text Format SARC Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee SBS Special Broadcasting Service SCAG Standing Committee of Attorneys-General SDTV Standard Definition Television SERVE Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment SLA Statistical Local Area SLV State Library of Victoria SMS Short Messaging Service SOE Standard Operating Environment SPRG Security Peer Review Group USB Universal Serial Bus VCAT Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal VEC Victorian Electoral Commission VERS Victorian Electronic Records Strategy

1 Now AGIMO (Australian Government Information Management Office). xxxviii Inquiry into eDemocracy

VLGA Victorian Local Governance Association VOMA Victorian Office of Multicultural Affairs VPN Virtual Private Network VPS Victorian Public Service W3C World Wide Web Consortium WAI Web Accessibility Initiative WCAG Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WEP Wired Equivalent Privacy Wi-Fi Wireless Fidelity WMF Website Management Framework WWW World Wide Web XHTML Extensible Hypertext Markup Language XML Extensible Markup Language

xxxix Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

xl Tables

TABLE 1: OVERALL SATISFACTION WITH AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRACY 5 TABLE 2: VICTORIANS’ INTEREST IN POLITICS 5 TABLE 3: TRUST IN GOVERNMENT TO ACT IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST 6 TABLE 4: ATTITUDES TO OFFICIALS AND INSTITUTIONS 6 TABLE 5: PERCEPTIONS OF CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC LIFE 6 TABLE 6: VICTORIANS’ POLITICAL ACTIVITIES, 2004 FEDERAL ELECTION 7 TABLE 7: VICTORIANS’ POLITICAL ACTIVITIES, PAST FIVE YEARS 7 TABLE 8: USE OF THE INTERNET FOR POLITICAL NEWS: 2004 FEDERAL ELECTION 12 TABLE 9: USE OF CONVENTIONAL MEDIA FOR POLITICAL NEWS: 2004 FEDERAL ELECTION 12 TABLE 10: PROPORTION OF POPULATION BY REGIONAL AREA – CENSUS 2001 15 TABLE 11: ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS 27 TABLE 12: FOI REQUESTS 1996–2004 41 TABLE 13: DECISIONS ON FOI REQUESTS 41 TABLE 14: EXEMPTIONS CITED 1999–2004, AS PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL FOI REQUESTS 42 TABLE 15: VICNET’S FINANCIAL STATUS 2004 AND 2005 68 TABLE 16: PUBLIC ACCESS TERMINALS IN VICTORIA – TECHNOLOGY OBSOLESCENCE 72 TABLE 17: VOTER PARTICIPATION RATES – COMPARATIVE 80 TABLE 18: VICTORIA – LANGUAGES SPOKEN AT HOME, OTHER THAN ENGLISH 82 TABLE 19: VICTORIAN COMMUNITY BROADCASTERS WITH NON-ENGLISH CONTENT 83 TABLE 20: VICTORIAN MULTICULTURAL PRESS 84 TABLE 21: INFORMAL VOTING RATES – COMPARATIVE RATES 85 TABLE 22: INFORMAL VOTING RATES – COMPARATIVE 86 TABLE 23: MPS’ WEBSITES – COMPARATIVE FIGURES 217

xli Figures

FIGURE 1: “MARKET SHARE” OF POLITICS WEBSITES: AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2004 13 FIGURE 2: VICTORIAN INTERNET SUBSCRIPTIONS (2002–2004) 14 FIGURE 3: COMPARATIVE INTERNET USE (2001–2003) 14 FIGURE 4: VICTORIAN ADULT INTERNET USE (1999–2002) 17 FIGURE 5: DISABILITY IN AUSTRALIA: 2003 19 FIGURE 6: USE OF COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET BY PERSONS WITH A DISABILITY 20 FIGURE 7: USE OF PUBLIC LIBRARY INTERNET SERVICES – BY INCOME 73 FIGURE 8: USE OF PUBLIC LIBRARY INTERNET SERVICES – BY AGE 73 FIGURE 9: USER SATISFACTION WITH SERVICES PROVIDED 74 FIGURE 10: CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO ELECTRONIC ATTACKS – AUSTRALIA 100 FIGURE 11: AUSTRALIAN YOUNG PEOPLE – PREPAREDNESS TO VOTE 109 FIGURE 12: VICTORIAN REGISTERED GENERAL POSTAL VOTERS 1992–2002 116 FIGURE 13: OECD DEFINITIONAL DIAGRAM, ILLUSTRATING “CONSULTATION CONTINUUM” 137 FIGURE 14: CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION METHODS – FIFE COUNCIL SCORECARD 139

xlii Executive Summary

PART I: INTRODUCTION

The Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee is pleased to provide this report into electronic democracy, an investigation initially begun under the 54th Parliament and now completed during the 55th Parliament.

The subject matter of this report, technology, has changed considerably since the Inquiry was first initiated in 2002, a reminder of the rapidity of change in the 21st century and the role that technology continues to play in shaping and reshaping the society within which we live.

Some of the technologies observed during the 54th Parliament, which were at that time considered to be “cutting edge”, are now considered passé. Some uses of technology that were then considered to be the future of social organisation are now common practice, while some of the ideas considered have, in the period 2002–2005, been better tested and understood.

It is rare that an investigating committee of one Parliament can engage in such a meaningful dialogue with its immediate predecessor, but this Report has benefited greatly from the work of two investigative committees. The Committee considers that this Report is significantly different to that which would have been produced by the Committee of the 54th Parliament. This is not because of significantly different views between the two committees, but represents the difficulties inherent in defining such a broad range of behaviours and activities that fit within the title of “electronic Democracy”.

The core finding of the Committee is that the Public Sector of Victoria, its institutions and elected representatives, need to develop the capacity to learn and experiment with the range of opportunities and applications new technologies bring to the democratic process. The Committee has observed that new information and communications technologies have much to offer the democratic process, if reflectively implemented. Guiding Principles

This report is about democracy. It is about how democracy is practised in our modern age of machines and devices, information and data. It is not about the devices themselves, except to the extent that they support our commitment to, and belief in, democratic participation as a means of achieving a just, fair, orderly and vibrant society.

The impact of the technologies considered in this report make it easy for the emphasis to be overlooked. This emphasis is people, and the extent to which the people of Victoria consider new technology as a means by which to inform themselves of the public life of their State and municipality, and to participate – should they wish to do so – to express their will to power.

xliii Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

The focus of this Report is on the role that technology does, and can, play in improving and maintaining the formal and informal aspects of democratic society in Victoria. Thus, where the Report makes findings, or proposes initiatives and recommendations, these ideas are expressed against the single question: How does this improve democracy in Victoria? Areas for Concern, Areas for Improvement

In the course of the Inquiry, the Committee focused on determining key issues that may be addressed by the introduction of electronic democracy. In looking at available data on public perceptions of our political system, and rates at which Victorians participate in the formal vehicles of political expression, the Committee attempted to guide its investigation based on areas of need, not simply areas of easy application of technology. It is the view of the Committee that the former adds value, while the latter cheapens the power that new information processing and communications systems can bring to our society.

In looking at the data, the Committee observes that there is no “crisis of democracy” in Victoria. Our State enjoys strong political participation from citizens in its electoral process, and Victorians maintain an active interest in public affairs.

The Committee observes, however, that there are worrying levels of public cynicism about some participants in our political system: interest groups, public servants, politicians and political parties among these. Thus, while most Victorians are still active political participants, the Committee does note with concern that, while respect for our political institutions and traditions appears to be strong, the participants who make up the public contestation of day-to-day political life are poorly regarded in the community.

Given this finding, the Committee is of the view that new communications technologies can be employed to strengthen and renew the relationships between members of the public and policy makers. Empowering new ties between the community and the Government and between constituents and elected representatives appears to be a promising way in which the participants in the political process can be brought closer to the public, made more responsive to their needs and better demonstrate the workings of Government. Defining Electronic Democracy

Electronic democracy is defined in this report as:

The use of information communications technologies by individuals to extend their choices for thinking and acting as citizens, unrestricted by time and place, and culminating in greater collective freedoms under rule of law.

The emphasis of the Committee in considering democracy, and the role of technology in its practice in Victoria, is on how these technologies expand or extend our capacity to act as citizens.

This may mean that the technologies increase the level, or array, of information that informs us as citizens. Or that they provide new ways to interact with our elected representatives, government, community organisations or peers. Or how the technologies empower us, as citizens, to undertake new political activities. What is important is how we use these tools to assist us to make a difference, participate and be heard. xliv Inquiry into eDemocracy

Any social or technological change that shifts the current distribution of power within a society creates tensions. Electronic democracy, as something firmly entrenched in our political system and culture, is no panacea for fundamental tensions and disagreements. The technology may expand people’s options, but it does not reduce the need for decision makers to choose between alternatives, and to make decisions that can be difficult, and unpopular.

The Committee notes a utopian strand in writings on electronic democracy. This report maintains no such misconceptions. Electronic democracy adds value to our political system, but its utility remains still largely unproven. Careful implementation and evaluation of a range of approaches – with realistic objectives and targets – continues to be important as we advance through the array of possibility and potential. A Changing Media Landscape

The appropriate scope and scale of electronic democracy is also a feature of the technological landscape of our society. The Committee observed that the uptake of many types of technology in Victoria is strong: mobile telephones and dial-up Internet access represent two key technologies that have had significant impacts on the ways in which Victorians organise themselves and communicate.

The Committee found that the rate of Internet adoption in Victoria is high, with over sixty percent of the population accessing these technologies, largely through the World Wide Web. There appears to be, however, a levelling out of the adoption rate, with certain segments of the community being under-represented online.

Other technologies, such as new generation mobile devices with portable Internet connections and high-speed connections to the Internet, are slowly spreading through the community, following different diffusion models and servicing different segments of the community. Thus, the Committee observes that the trends in the use of new media technologies tend to focus around two drivers: (a) a move towards convergence of content on an Internet-based platform and (b) a proliferation of different platforms, with different capabilities.

The Committee observes the community divided into: • A majority group of Victorians with desktop personal computers with dial-up Internet access • A significant minority of people who – for a number of reasons – are not users of these technologies • A small minority group with high-speed or high-mobility access to information services.

The view of the Committee is that these technology trends, while seeing a migration effect from non-use through to advanced use, will remain constant for many years, and that Government policy must accept, and foster, the democratic participation of those who do not have access to, or lack interest in, new communications and computing technologies. PART II: ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Informed citizens make informed choices. The second part of the report focuses on the current performance of the Victorian Government in facilitating access to information using new technologies. This information need not simply be that provided by government. Rather, the

xlv Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Committee observes the important (and often driving) role of civil society actors in developing and promoting civic participation online.

In considering these matters, the Committee focused on a range of issues: disability access to content online, new ways to extend the reach of Government information, the role of information technology in our system of Freedom of Information, community content development and the current level of public-access Internet terminals provided to help overcome access difficulties for segments of our community. Information Accessibility

Accessibility is the development of online content that allows it to be read by users with a range of technologies, and those with physical and intellectual impairments. Given that twenty percent of the Australian population has some form of impairment, that users in some remote areas or who are using older technology have a need for streamlined content to enable them to use the Internet effectively and that an array of new devices are being used to access the Internet, the Committee recognises the importance of meeting basic standards that provide the widest possible readership for material placed online.

Government information forms both a service-delivery function and a democratic function, and thus the unnecessary denial of access to this information should be considered as undemocratic.

In reviewing the issue of accessibility, the Committee found that international standards exist to assist in the appropriate design of online content, and that the Government of Victoria has begun to phase in these standards. This process is to be supported by the purchasing of new software to assist departments and agencies that publish content online.

The Committee considers compliance in this area as essential in ensuring democratic participation and the widest possible distribution of information. However, the Committee considers that the current level of minimum compliance is set too low, and that the management of our process for systematic improvement needs to be more rigorous.

In this Report, the Committee recommends that the minimum standard for online content accessibility in Victoria be increased. It also recommends the introduction of triennial reporting requirements, standardisation of information templates across government and variation from these policies by authorised exception only. Broadening the Reach of Government Online Information

The Committee received evidence about new means to increase the distribution of information published online. This includes configuring the design of Government websites to allow ease of access for the next generation of mobile telephones and personal computers, as well as the introduction of new markup languages and content distribution models to allow Victorian public sector information to be syndicated across the World Wide Web and through “news aggregators” and similar technologies that are still under development.

The Committee considers that the Victorian Government could apply these technologies to “push” information to users, based on highly customisable content feeds. This would increase the

xlvi Inquiry into eDemocracy relevance of Government information to users, and would provide choice and expand the discoverability of content published by the State. Freedom of Information in an Information Age

The Committee also considered the changing technological environment of the Victorian Public Service, with regard to the administration of our Freedom of Information legislation.

While the Committee notes that the performance of this legislation has been good in recent years, its increasing popularity and the introduction of new technology has placed some strains on the administration of this important piece of democratic legislation. Areas of concern for the Committee include disagreement between the Victorian Ombudsman and the Department of Justice over compliance by the Public Sector to requirements for the release of information to facilitate public access to the legislation, performance of the online gateway that provides access to the application process and the capacity of the Victorian Public Service to store some electronic records in an effective way to allow full discovery under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

It is the view of the Committee that the legislation does contain some anachronistic elements, given the shift to digital publishing and archiving of Government records. Aspects of the requirements of Government departments and agencies to provide an array of information in their annual reports about documents that are available to the public should be revised to acknowledge that this information can be voluminous and can be provided online in greater detail.

The Committee acknowledges that some interesting modifications to the general design of Freedom of Information legislation have been introduced in the United Kingdom. These innovations focus on the establishment of regularised publication schemes for government departments and agencies, and the Committee considers that this approach might be of value to Victoria.

In addition, the Committee considers that the online gateway for Freedom of Information requests should be redeveloped in order to offer a more comprehensive, and therefore compelling, service. The Committee considers that developments in electronic archiving will address some of the areas of concern related to the storage and retrieval of information that exists in digital format only, but regards the performance of the Victorian Public Sector to be somewhat deficient in and around the area of electronic mail archiving.

The Committee also recommends a number of small innovations to the way in which information released under Freedom of Information is handled, with the objective of improving the speed and efficiency of this legislation’s administration. A Creative Commons

In discussing the important role that the Victorian Public Sector has in providing information relevant to the political and policy making processes of the State of Victoria, the Committee also recognises the extremely critical role of non-government information providers in informing the public about political issues, overseeing and criticising the activities of Government and providing a civic “space” in which citizens can discuss, debate and challenge their understanding of public affairs.

xlvii Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Any means by which the State Government of Victoria can encourage or stimulate the provision of relevant democratic information using new technologies is to be encouraged. The Committee looked at the important role that public libraries have in fostering the creation of new content, and gave consideration to concerns made by a number of informed parties as to the relevance of the Libraries Act 1988 in an age when a significant amount of information is not being provided in printed format in the first instance. The Committee considers that a minor amendment to this legislation would expand the definition of “library materials” to better reflect a technologically neutral focus for these institutions.

The Committee considered and rejected the need for new investments in the development of software to assist Victorians in producing and publishing new content online, given the proliferation of free software packages of high quality. Instead, the Committee focused on the need to target specific communities which are disadvantaged or under-represented in the online environment, through programs focusing on the provision of training, hardware and relevant local content creation.

The Committee considers that a vibrant, online publishing culture in Victoria can be encouraged and supported through greater efforts by our cultural institutions to network and digitally preserve their material. As we continue to move into an era of information abundance, the important future role for the State Government will be in assisting culturally and politically relevant information to be archived effectively, and aid it its discovery and distribution. Accessing the Internet

Given concerns about the “digital divide” identified in Part I, the Committee examined the effectiveness of significant Government investment in the provision of free or subsidised computer terminals that provide access to the Internet.

The Committee identified that there are approximately eight thousand of these terminals around Victoria, and is relatively satisfied that the proliferation of these services is significant to meet the aggregate demand.

The Committee, however, did receive evidence that some of the traditional placement of these systems – such as in public libraries – may not have been the most appropriate geographical locations to service some sections of the community (low income earners and those with limited English). In addition, it was noted that the State has had some difficulties in ensuring these systems are replaced with appropriate rapidity. While the State has recently confirmed its commitment to these services, the Committee notes that program funding has resulted in a large number of machines being placed, in a way that may not be sustainable over the medium term.

The Committee concurs that some of the placement of these terminals may have been less than optimal with regard to linguistic minorities, but recognises strong evidence to show that the distribution through public libraries has been used for those Victorians on lower incomes. Thus, the Committee sees no specific need to substantially alter the distribution of these machines, except through the “natural process” of targeted funding adjustment. The Committee observes that new community based projects are likely to deliver better outcomes in this area because of their specific targeting of key groups.

xlviii Inquiry into eDemocracy

In addition, the Committee notes that additional work could be undertaken to improve public awareness of the existence and location of these devices, using basic telephone information services, and that the State needs to implement systems to capture far more information about their usage rates and user profiles, and replacement data. PART III: POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

Having considered the issue of access to information, the Committee considered those means by which the interactive nature of new information and communications technologies could be employed to bring government closer to the people of Victoria.

It is the view of the Committee that there should be no expectation by government of participation by the entire community outside of the current requirements through the electoral process. What the Committee does consider, however, is that an informed public which identifies clear and direct means of communication and interaction with the Public Service, Executive Government and the Parliament, will make greater use of these opportunities to express themselves and enrich the decision-making process through their participation. The Electoral Contest

Given the critical importance of the electoral process in the democratic governance of Victoria, the Committee paid particular attention to the role that information and communications technologies can, and should, play in this process.

At the most basic level, the Committee regards the capacity of these technologies to deliver more information to Victorian voters during an election period as a positive improvement to the electoral process. In previous years, the Victorian Electoral Commission has provided an online version of statements provided by candidates in Local Government elections where the elections were undertaken entirely via postal ballot. The Committee observes that this process had ceased in 2004, following legal advice received by the Electoral Commission.

In reviewing this decision, the Committee recognises strong public interest reasons for expanding the amount of information published online about individual candidates, and the advantages of having this material in a central location. These advantages include simply providing more information to assist the elector in casting their vote, as well as the capacity for this material to be accessed by people with significant vision impairment, syndicated across the Internet, or translated for people with limited English language skills.

In addition, the Committee recognises that there are a number of groups within our community that have traditionally had limited access to written materials on the conduct of elections and the candidates participating. The Committee regards the provision of targeted funding to these groups to translate or transform content as appropriate and desirable in a diverse community such as Victoria. The Electoral Process

In addition to the provision of information to support the casting of votes, the Inquiry specifically examined the role that information and communications technologies can play in transactional activities associated with elections. Likely transactions include enrolment (such as the use of the

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Internet to enrol to vote), the casting of votes (electronically) and administrative procedures that expedite the processing (counting) of votes.

While there is a range of compelling reasons to undertake many of these functions (enrolment and voting) over public networks such as the Internet, the Committee does not recommend this to proceed in the immediate term. In the opinion of the Committee, the security environment surrounding public computer and telecommunications networks is not favourable for the conduct of electoral transactions in such a manner as to ensure that the election has being conducted fairly, accurately and in a way that preserves the privacy of the elector.

While the Committee does recognise that the array of potential risks to registration or voting systems placed online can be met with countermeasures, the Committee does not consider that the countermeasures have reached the stage at which they are able to provide the general public with a safe transaction environment, or provide public and Government confidence in the conduct and outcome of elections so conducted.

The Committee acknowledges that distributed voting and enrolment provides considerable advantage to those with mobility, visual or linguistic barriers to participation, and that these systems may be very attractive to Victorians who are travelling or working abroad. Indeed, the Committee considers the introduction of remote voting using new technologies to be something that should be reconsidered on a regular basis, and that the Victorian Electoral Commission should continue to monitor developments around the security environment.

The Committee does recognise the advantages of using a limited number of electronic voting machines to provide secure and private votes for people with vision impairment and those with limited English language skills. While there have been a number of significant limitations with the introduction of these technologies internationally, the Committee considers that a modified version of the approach recently undertaken in the Australian Capital Territory would effectively manage the process of implementation, ensure confidence in the electoral process and outcome, meet the access needs of the target community and provide the basis for future experimentation and learning.

The Committee makes a number of recommendations and findings relating to the administration of vote-counting and data-entry procedures of the Victorian Electoral Commission. The Committee holds the view that the current process for developing and certifying the software used in vote counting does not provide a level of confidence that should be expected with these systems, and suggests that independent certification of the quality of these programs be acquired prior to their use in future elections. In addition, the Committee considers that some of the procedure surrounding short-term leasing of data-entry facilities have inherent risks associated with the integrity of electronic vote counting, and recommends a review of these procedures to determine the level of risk. Finally, the Committee acknowledges the desire of the Victorian Electoral Commission to introduce optical character recognition technology to speed the processing of votes, an innovation which the Committee supports. Consultation and Participation

In addition to consideration of the role of new technology in the formal processes of voting and elections, the Inquiry gave specific consideration to the role of computers and mobile devices in Government consultation and participation processes. l Inquiry into eDemocracy

The use of electronic discussion lists, for example, as a means by which governments and parliaments have been able to access public input into decision making has been a clear driver for the Victorian Public Sector to consider similar activities. As a general principle, the Committee recognises that the introduction of new forms of communication in consultation processes should be undertaken as a matter of course. The public should be able to communicate with its public servants and politicians via whichever means appeals to them.

However, the Committee recommends that the use of new communications technologies be considered in the design and development of each consultation process undertaken in Victoria. While this type of civic-engagement activity has been “hived off” as a special activity (“online consultation”), it is the view of the Committee that this activity should be incorporated within general consultation and participation processes. What is needed is an awareness of the array of applications to which these technologies can be applied, the application of technologies that can be used to extend consultation into the online or mobile environment and the development of the specific skills needed by public servants to manage and maintain these activities.

The Committee recommends that the Department for Victorian Communities should develop a coordinating body for this type of practice for the Victorian Government, in a way which maximises the capacity of the Public Service and its partners in Local Government and the community to develop and share toolsets, experiential learning and other relevant information to encourage best practice in these tasks. The Committee envisages that the Department will need to develop an online clearinghouse for information and software developed under this area of practice.

In addition, the Committee recognises a debate in this area around the appropriateness of, and scope for, the moderation of these types of discussions by Government. Noting the tension between a desire for unfettered, free exchange between citizens and governments, and the need to protect participants and the State against actions under defamation, it is the view of the Committee that the moderation and oversight of these forms of participation will be required in most instances. The Committee makes a number of recommendations regarding best practice in moderation, and the means by which the specific skills associated with online moderation can be developed, retained and shared throughout the Victorian Public Service. PART IV: PARLIAMENT

In the final part of this report, the Committee makes a number of general and specific findings with regard to the future role for the Parliament in an information age. The development of new communications technologies has been embraced by the Parliament of Victoria as a means to expand and extend the provision of information online, to improve communications between members of the public and the Parliament and to assist the work of Members of Parliament.

It is the view of the Committee that this work should be supported and extended, and that the Parliament of Victoria has a central role as one of the leaders in Victorian electronic democracy experimentation over the next decade. Parliamentary Information Online

The Committee examined the provision of Parliamentary information online, and notes three areas for improvement:

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1. Greater compliance with accessibility guidelines for website design, in order to expand the accessibility of the Parliament’s online information as widely as possible 2. Means to extend the reach of Parliamentary information through the use of syndication systems 3. The creation of new online content through the narrowcasting of Parliament as audio and video streaming media.

The Committee observes that Parliament could make significant use of new technologies to provide richer and more dynamic content online, particularly through webcasting. In considering this issue (video “broadcasting” of the Chambers of Parliament over the Internet), the Committee gave consideration to the views of members of the public, the desire of the Presiding Officers to proceed with this innovation and the means by which this would provide the best democratic yield.

The Committee’s view of the approach to webcasting of proceedings does differ from others’, specifically around the need to provide an archived and indexed version of the material in the first iteration of the service. It is the view of the Committee that webcasting, if it is to be effectively and meaningfully employed in Victoria, must provide options for the public to allow them to watch these events at a time convenient to them.

In addition, the Committee recognises that the system of publication of content online by individual Members of Parliament is not well developed, and the Committee considered a number of means by which greater provision of information by individual Members could be encouraged without compulsion or coercion. Interacting with Parliament

It is the opinion of the Committee that the role of the Parliament of Victoria in the future will embrace greater use of new technologies to facilitate the interactivity between the institution and its Members, and the members and the public.

In this area of electronic democracy, the Committee strongly endorses online consultation methodologies for Parliamentary Committees, based on strong evidence from overseas that this can significantly improve the oversight functions of the Parliament, if appropriately implemented.

Furthermore, the Committee accepts the need for online petitions, implemented in such a manner as to facilitate access to the petitioning system, but also to stimulate citizen-to-citizen debate and discussion.

Finally, the Committee recognises demands to improve the work of the Parliament through the use of new technology. It considers that Committees should be able to regularly take evidence protected by Parliamentary Privilege via videoconferencing system, collect evidence online and conduct meetings with participation by remote Members.

lii Part I – Introduction

An Electronic Democracy Agenda for Victoria

In responding to the Terms of Reference outlined for the Inquiry, the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee (SARC) has undertaken an exhaustive investigation of the impact of new technologies, such as mobile telephones and the Internet, on Victorian democracy. In undertaking this Inquiry, the Committee considered a wide range of perspectives: academic literature, submissions from members of the public, the Victorian Public Service (VPS) and community groups, evidence collected in North America and Europe, evidence on social and technological trends, and Australian initiatives that may be employed to enhance the democratic opportunities for all Victorians.

The Committee was impressed by the wide array of activities it found around the world, evidence that the convergence of computation and communication has dramatically expanded the ways in which citizens may express themselves, participate in public life and be informed about the work of their governments and political representatives. Through the course of this Inquiry, the Committee has come to the conclusion that democracy can be well served by technology, but only as an enabler of public participation in the political and policy making processes of democracy. Technology in and of itself cannot provide a solution to questions of public participation and public cynicism about our political institutions.

Thus, it is the view of the Committee that governments and parliaments are not able to provide electronic democracy in and of themselves. Our public institutions can only be required to provide the necessary ingredients to enable democracy to flourish: open access to information, avenues for participation, skills and training, and a willingness to listen as well as lead. Electronic democracy, like its offline counterpart, can only come from the readiness of the community to participate in government, to inform itself about policy and political issues and to take the opportunities on offer to make their concerns heard by decision makers in government.

This report is divided into four parts:

In Part I, the report outlines key background issues and principles that have shaped the conduct of the Inquiry. From a position that reiterates and reaffirms our core democratic values, the section discusses the social and technological context of Victorian society in the 21st century, the diffusion of new technologies through our community and the extent to which Victorians are politically active online.

In Part II, the report acknowledges that electronic democracy is facilitated by the provision of information in an accessible and timely manner to the community and political interest groups.

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From evidence gathered overseas, this section recognises that non-government organisations and politically-active individuals can be empowered through provision of the widest possible array of information available, either for direct use in lobbying government or to reformat and filter this information for others in the community. In an age of information abundance, there is no longer any need for governments to second-guess the uses to which members of the body politic may employ this information. In this way, locally-relevant content can be created, and creativity encouraged.

In Part III, the report focuses on avenues for communication between the Executive, the Victorian Public Service, Parliament and the Victorian community. In this section a range of participatory electronic democracy practices are reviewed, with a number of key activities (such as increased use of online consultation) recommended for adoption by Government departments and agencies and the Parliament. While the Committee rejects the need for a highly specific Government strategy for electronic democracy, it recognises the need for a co-ordinating body that can fund projects, provide a reservoir of expertise, and monitor and disseminate best-practice lessons throughout the public and community sectors. In addition, this section pays special attention to the role of technology in our electoral process, and considers the pros and cons of using computers and computer networks to undertake this practice.

In Part IV, the report pays specific attention to issues of participation and information provision by the Parliament of Victoria. This discussion includes consideration of many of the specific aspects for consideration mandated by the Terms of Reference, as well as general ways to increase exposure to the public of Parliamentary activities and decision-making practices.

Victorian Democracy and Technological Change

Democracy, the central principle upon which good governance of the State of Victoria rests, cannot be taken for granted. As the basis of the rule of law, a system of social and economic organisation and an ethic of mutuality and respect for others, the democratic system of our Government must respond to, and reflect, the times, issues and concerns facing the citizenry.

In the classical use of the term, democracy rejects the notion that political leadership is given by social status or divine predetermination. Instead, it is founded on rule by the subjects of the state – citizens – who participate in collective decision making to advance their common interests (Minogue, 1987:49–52). In the modern era, this notion has been developed to produce the type of democracy we enjoy in Victoria; a representative democracy in which law is determined by the institutions of Parliament and the Courts, with political representatives (Members of Parliament) elected by citizens of voting age and empowered to act on our behalf and in our interest.

While the underpinning concepts of any political system are, and should remain, the subject of public debate, the Committee asserts that democratic governance in Victoria rests on four general principles (Prothro and Grigg, 1970:2; Democratic Audit of Australia, 2004:1):

1. The Principle of Majority Rule: that political office holders should be elected by a popular vote of the citizens of the state 2. The Principle of Equality: that each citizen should have an equal opportunity to influence government policy

2 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

3. The Principle of Human Rights: that citizens have fundamental privileges to engage in political association and activity without fear of harassment or repression from others (including government) 4. The Principle of Minority Rights: that minority groups, of any type, should be free to participate in political life and criticise decisions of the majority free from persecution.

These principles require political organisation through the institutions and structures that contain and shape political activity in our society. At times, these principles come into conflict, such as the need to place limits on absolute personal freedom to ensure the effective participation of others. But, as a general guide to the basis of political organisation in Victoria, the Committee resolved that these principles should be both maintained and used as the fundamental criteria by which governments and civil society actors can assess the health of our democracy, as well as initiatives and changes to our political system.

Recommendation 1 Any electronic democracy initiative introduced by the State of Victoria, including the Parliament, should be assessed against the four principles of: 1. Majority rule through popular elections and the primacy of Parliament 2. Equality of participation in civic life for all citizens 3. Human rights of citizens to participate freely in public life 4. Minority rights of groups within the community

From these guiding principles, we must recognise that the way in which democracy has been fostered in Victoria and is conducted today is subject to change. Since the foundation of the State of Victoria in 1850, our democratic system has undergone a range of changes: from the introduction of universal male suffrage, recognising the changing status of women in society through extension of this right to women, to compulsory and absentee voting to secure the responsibility of participation and provide greater access to the electoral process.

In addition, it should be recognised that the political institutions that make up the democratic system we live within, shape, and are shaped by, the technologies for participation and communication of the time in which they are developed. The notion of parliaments themselves – centralised assemblies in which political representatives physically meet to debate laws – reflect the technology of communication and deliberation at the time of their creation. The origins of Victoria’s Westminster system of parliamentary government lie firmly rooted in 13th-century England. Parliament, therefore, has its genesis in the technology of the early period of industrialisation: in expanding networks of roads and horse-drawn transport.

In essence, therefore, this Report concerns itself with technological change and its relationship with our democratic ideals, traditions, institutions, principles and aspirations (K. Grover, Submission No. a2, p. 1). The Report is not, fundamentally, about technology, but about the role which technological changes over recent years have had in shaping the future of Victoria’s democratic system.

The Terms of Reference of the Inquiry are both narrow and broad, specifying that the Committee investigate:

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1) netcasting2 of Parliamentary proceedings; 2) online interactive and collaborative approaches to policy discussion, including citizen email and online forums; and 3) other technology solutions to promote access and participation.

From the outset the Committee determined that it would consider the political impact of new technology in a very broad sense, based on the core concern: to what extent will new technologies impact (positively and negatively) on the four key democratic principles outlined above. CONTEXT OF THE INQUIRY

With specific regard to the Terms of Reference, the Inquiry has been given responsibility for examining both programmatic additions to Victoria’s democratic practices (e.g. specific reference to netcasting, online consultation) and general concerns regarding technological advances that may improve or negatively affect the practice of democracy in Victoria.

The Committee regarded this reference to require investigation into: • Specific practices in the field of electronic democracy that should be adopted, rejected or monitored for future consideration as advantageous to the practice of democracy in Victoria • Developments in the political use of technology that should be regulated in the public interest to ensure fair participation in government policy making and public life • Structural issues regarding the management of technological innovation in government to facilitate openness, inclusiveness, accountability and participation by the widest number of people available.

Therefore, rather than assume a “steady state” or “status quo” approach (whereby electronic democracy, if implemented, serves to maintain current practices and levels of public participation and engagement), the Inquiry considered areas of democratic practice in Victoria that could be improved through the application of new technology.

2 In this Report the terms “webcasting” and “streaming media” are used instead.

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Socio-political Context

With a diverse geography, economy and population, the State of Victoria has experienced a long history of stable democratic governance. Unlike some nations, the Westminster traditions of parliamentary government across Australia have proved to be enduring, without any significant periods of political instability or breakages in the succession of democratically-elected governments.

In general terms, it would appear that Victorian citizens retain confidence in the primary system for political decision making, formal elections, with more than 93 percent of Victorians participating during each of the past three State elections (Victorian Electoral Commission, 2003a:37)3.

While the Committee recognises that compulsory voting may overstate popular satisfaction with our political system, survey results from the Australian National University’s Australian Electoral Study of 2004 indicates the majority of Victorians are satisfied with the democratic system in Australia, and remain engaged in the processes of government through an interest in political affairs (Table 1 and Table 2, below). Table 1: Overall Satisfaction with Australian Democracy Very satisfied 19.9% Fairly satisfied 60.9% Not very satisfied 15.7% Not at all satisfied 3.5% Source: McAllister, I., 2004, Australian Electoral Study4 Table 2: Victorians’ Interest in Politics A good deal 29.8% Some 46.1% Not much 20% None 4.1% Source: McAllister, I., 2004, Australian Electoral Study

While these results support the current political arrangements for our State, the Committee observes that participation in elections and general acceptance of our political traditions and structures do not necessarily indicate the heath of our democracy per se. As indicated in Table 3, Table 4 and Table 5 (page over), Victorians’ assessments of the motivations and probity of political representatives, parties and the Victorian Public Sector remain mixed, but are generally less positive than Table 1 would indicate.

3 From an estimated total population of 4,917,000, Victoria had 3,281,336 enrolled voters as at June 2004 (Victorian Electoral Commission, 2004:1). 4 Based on primary results from a regular survey of 494 Victorians undertaken at the end of 2004 (unpublished data extract).

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Table 3: Trust in Government to Act in the Public Interest Usually look after themselves 35.7% Sometimes look after themselves 25.9% Sometimes can be trusted to do the right thing 24.5% Usually can be trusted to do the right thing 13.9% Source: McAllister, I., 2004, Australian Electoral Study Table 4: Attitudes to Officials and Institutions Political Political Doesn't It doesn't Gov’t run Politicians parties parties make a make a by big commonly care what make difference difference interests rort the people system who in who you system think work power vote for 1 Strongly Agree 5.2% 46.1% 9.6% 29.8% 12.3% 15.3% 2 19% 27.3% 8.4% 32.2% 33.7% 34.7% 3 38% 19.4% 18.8% 21% 31.2% 30.6% 4 24% 3.9% 29.6% 10% 20.7% 15.5% 5 Strongly 13.8% 3.3% 33.7% 6.9% 2.1% 3.8% Disagree Source: McAllister, I., 2004, Australian Electoral Study Table 5: Perceptions of Corruption in Public Life Corruption amongst Corruption amongst public

politicians servants Very widespread 9.0% 11.9% Quite widespread 28.4% 32.2% Not very widespread 47.1% 45.1% It hardly happens at all 15.5% 10.8% Source: McAllister, I., 2004, Australian Electoral Study

These findings appear to be in accordance with trends in many established democracies around the world, which indicate a declining level of public confidence in political participants such as politicians and members of the bureaucracy.

In discussions during 2004 with Stephen Coleman, the CISCO Professor of e-democracy at Oxford University, Professor Coleman indicated to the Committee that this trend is similar to that experienced in the United Kingdom. In his opinion, these observations should be interpreted as indicating a continued respect for the formal institutions of democracy (elections, the Parliament), but dissatisfaction with political parties and candidates. This view is reflected in Table 6 (page over), which shows that, at the 2004 Federal election, Victorians were far less likely to engage in formal political activities (such as those of political parties), than private ones with friends, family and colleagues.

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Table 6: Victorians’ Political Activities, 2004 Federal Election Discussed Talk to Work for Go to Contribute politics with people party / meetings or money others about vote candidate rallies Frequently 19.4% 2.9% 3.6% 1.3% 2.1% Occasionally 45.8% 11.9% 3.6% 1.5% 1.7% Rarely 23.9% 18.7% 10% 4.6% 2.5% Not at all 10.9% 66.5% 82.8% 92.6% 93.7% Source: McAllister, I, 2004, Australian Electoral Study

While these findings appear to present a negative view of Victorians’ attitudes towards public affairs and their willingness to participate in politics, Professor Ian McAllister of the Australian National University (ANU) (2001:47–9) urges caution in accepting what some call a “crisis of democracy”, arguing that these findings can represent normal social changes in the way people relate to existing political participants.

For example, the development of mass media and pervasive personal communications technologies have replaced many of the functions of political parties (such as being the major provider of political information), which has flowed on to change public attitudes towards these forms of public associations. The Committee recognises that it is difficult to compare levels of political participation longitudinally, as the statistical evidence available to the Inquiry was incomplete, and notions of what counts as “political” activity varies over time5.

Of specific interest to the Inquiry, however, was formal policy process: either the legislative work of the Parliament or the processes of developing and administering government programs (Executive Government). In this context, it is possible to identify that Victorians, in the main, retain a connection to political action (as opposed simply to monitoring and being informed about political issues and events). Table 7, below, illustrates the level of political activity of Victorians; a finding that shows at least half of the Victorian population have engaged in some form of political activity in the past five years. Table 7: Victorians’ Political Activities, Past Five Years Contact Protest / Work with like Signed Signed official march others written electronic petition petition Yes 25.7% 15.5% 20% 51.6% 10.6% No 74.3% 84.5% 80% 48.4% 89.4% Source: McAllister, I, 2004, Australian Electoral Study

The Committee does not consider that disengagement from public political life is inevitable, nor is it a function of modern society per se. There is some evidence to support the proposition that the right mix of policy initiatives can foster positive public engagement with government.

5 Vromen (2004), for example, cites the rise of “activist participation” focused on commercial issues (such as consumer boycotts or ethical purchasing) as a growth area for the political participation of younger Australians.

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Recent data collected by the Department of Human Services (cited in: Department for Victorian Communities, 2004a:12) indicates a modest increase in the number of Victorians responding positively to the question “Do you feel there are opportunities to have a real say on issues that are important to you?”: forty-two percent in 2003, up from thirty-six percent in 2001. This indicates that, while the political outlook for Victoria continues to be of concern, strategic policy interventions such as the adoption of a community strengthening agenda can have positive impacts on community engagement and participation.

Overall, therefore, the Committee rejects the proposition that radical electronic democracy initiatives, such as rolling online referenda, should be introduced as a counter to declining levels of public trust in our political system and to encourage greater levels of public participation. As indicated by the submission of Dr Karin Geiselhart (Submission No. a13), a measured, evolutionary process of institutional and cultural change would be prudent, given the uncertainties about the quality of our democratic system and the underlying causes of public disengagement from it. Benchmarking the Health of Our Democracy

Like any modern management process, this cultural change will require careful benchmarking and performance measurement. The Committee considers that, in line with the range of public management performance indicators regularly collected and published by the State Government, an ongoing “democratic audit” should be provided by the Executive to the public.

This audit should broaden the base for current data collection and reporting practices (focusing on macro-level changes across a single axis) to provide focused and detailed breakdowns of levels of participation and public perceptions of the democratic opportunities on offer to them, as well as being collected and structured in a manner so as to provide diagnostic information to the Government and Parliament.

Such an audit would build upon initial work currently being undertaken within the “A Government that Listens and Leads” priority action area of the Growing Victoria Together strategic document, and the initial set of indicators developed and collected by the Department for Victorian Communities (DVC) in conjunction with the Department for Human Services (Adams, 2004:34–5).

In evidence presented by the DVC’s Executive Director of Strategic Policy and Research, Dr David Adams noted that the work to date in and around concerns of social capital development and community strengthening had identified a tension between performance measurements focused at the macro level of analysis (such as State-wide indicators of performance), and effective policy interventions that tend to be driven locally (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 6). What this means is that, while the DVC has managed to undertake valuable local-level policy implementations of its community strengthening projects, creation of wide-scale performance shifts have been more difficult. Thus, the Committee considers that further data collection at the sub-Statistical Local Area (SLA) will be necessary to understanding whether localised electronic democracy projects “scale up” beyond their immediate participants or focal (policy) area.

Clearly, a strong working relationship between the DVC and electronic democracy demonstration or pilot programs will be the most effective means of investigating these questions. In addition, data collected at the local level offers the Government the ability to provide important democratic intelligence to Local Governments around the State. The Committee notes that the DVC is

8 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy currently in discussion with each of the seventy-nine municipalities, and recommends that this approach be developed to ensure that data collected is relevant to democracy strengthening activities at the local level, and provides useful State-wide and regional aggregation. The Committee notes that it is now common in Canada for that government to maintain a specific policy unit dedicated to improvements and enhancements to the democratic process.

Recommendation 2 The responsible Minister, through data collection and aggregation by the Department for Victorian Communities, in partnership with its key stakeholders in the State and Local Government arenas, should produce a regular statement of Victorians’ attitudes to our democratic system and institutions, in a manner which builds upon similar national research and supports the effective evaluation of democratic initiatives at each level of government. • This statement should include both descriptive and diagnostic information, and be updated at least once per Parliamentary term, to form the basis for an effective, ongoing agenda of reform and modernisation of the Victorian democratic system. THE REVIEW PROCESS

The electronic democracy Inquiry was initially begun in 2002, under the 54th Parliament of Victoria. That year, a discussion paper was developed for the investigating Committee and released for public comment, and a delegation travelled to Europe to meet with public officials, academic experts and civil society groups to examine electronic democracy initiatives in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, France and within the political organisation of the European Union. Following the tabling of a report of this trip and receipt of twenty-three public submissions, the calling of a State election drew this work to a conclusion.

In 2004, under the 55th Parliament, the Terms of Reference were re-issued to the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee to complete the Inquiry. Through a Subcommittee of SARC, the Committee determined to accept and utilise the previous submissions and work undertaken by the previous Inquiry as part of its investigation. Given the time that had passed, a new discussion paper was developed and released, and a further thirty-three submissions were received. A complete list of submissions received by both Inquiries can be found in Appendices A and B. Following a delegation to Canada and the United States of America in August 2004 to investigate electronic democracy initiatives in those countries, public hearings were held on 16–18 February 2005.

A number of witnesses provided evidence via video- and teleconferencing services, and the Committee regarded this approach to taking evidence as highly cost-effective in some cases, and to be encouraged for use in other investigations. As part of the Committee’s work, it maintained a centralised website (www.victorianedemocracy.info) with access to information about the Inquiry, the discussion papers, links and an email discussion list (hosted by VICNET’s My Connected Communities (MC2) Service) for members of the public to discuss issues from the discussion paper or other relevant matters of interest to the Inquiry. Members of the travelling delegation also produced a short blog, from wireless devices, while travelling overseas to take evidence.

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Electronic Democracy

The term “electronic democracy” refers to the use of computing and communications technologies in the democratic process. This term has been used to describe a range of activities, from direct participation in democratic decision making (e.g. the casting of votes in elections and referenda) to indirect forms of democratic expression, such as participation in non-binding consultation processes, and the ability of citizens to utilise new technologies to inform themselves and others about political issues and the work of their governments.

Given the formative nature of this area of practice, it must be recognised that a range of partially compatible and competing terms and descriptions have been employed to describe this and related practices. Other relevant terms include “digital democracy”, “teledemocracy”, “electronic governance” and a range of other similar terms.

The concept and ideas underpinning electronic democracy are not new. The notion of technologically-facilitated democratic practices has been mooted ever since the introduction of technologies that allow citizens and decision-makers to communicate over great distances. The introduction of the telegraph in the United States in the 19th century was utilised by members of political parties and the Congress to facilitate political communication and deliberation, shrinking the distance between elected representatives and constituents who may have been thousands of kilometres apart (Bimber, 2003:60). Each introduction of a new communications technology, from the printing press to broadcast technologies, has similarly had significant political implications, changing the relationship between electors and their representatives and public institutions.

In considering the broad range of activities described as “electronic democracy”, the Committee decided to employ the definition developed by Martin Hagen (1997) for the initial discussion paper. Hagen defined electronic democracy as:

Any democratic political system in which computers and computer networks are used to carry out crucial functions of the democratic process – such as information and communications, interest articulation and aggregation, and decision making.

The breadth of coverage of this definition recognises that the emerging communications and the computing environment we are entering has significant implications across all areas of human activity. Rather than strictly contain the definition of electronic democracy employed for this Inquiry to a specific notion of direct decision making, or the institutional application of new technologies, the Committee considers use of the broadest notion of electronic democracy most relevant in determining a set of recommendations and findings that advance each of the democratic principles outlined in the introduction. This also recognises that some areas of Government practice to date, such as the provision of information by the Parliament and Government departments online, constitute both a service delivery function, and a political and democratic function.

The use of a broad definitional approach was supported in public consultation. In the submission of Monash University’s Centre for Community Networking Research (Submission No. a5a), electronic democracy is defined as:

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The use of [Information Communications Technologies] by individuals to extend their choices for thinking and acting as citizens, unrestricted by time and place, culminating in greater collective freedoms under rule of law.

The Committee regards this definition as providing a number of particular advantages in considering electronic democracy. Namely: • An emphasis on new communications and computing technologies, rather than simply computer networks, such as the Internet • A recognition that new communications technologies can empower greater freedoms of action and association, enhancing the democratic life of members of the community • A broad interpretation of political activity through the explicit use of the term “citizens” • The retention of the emphasis on ordered and structured political activity through the rule of law.

In its Inquiry, the Committee has specifically decided to use the term “Information and communications technologies” (ICTs) throughout this report to describe the increasingly widening array of computer-based or computerised technologies employed by Victorians. While discussions of electronic democracy in the 1990s generally revolved around desktop and laptop computers with fixed-line or periodic access to the Internet and similar networks, developments in computer and communications technologies have seen an increasing convergence between devices that is leading to a greater level of mobility associated with digital technologies.

Thus, while there remains a propensity for most Victorians to utilise desktop computing systems, ICTs also include devices such as: • Internet-enabled mobile telephones such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and PDA- telephone hybrids (such as 2.5G and 3G telephones) • Networked devices, such as terminals, Internet kiosks and computer game consoles and handhelds • Technologies that provide gateways into digital information and interactive services, such as interactive telephone systems.

In addition, the Committee recognises that networked information systems can act as repositories for other forms of communications networks: such as the rebroadcast of online multimedia content via our established television or radio stations.

Thus, any discussion of the future of electronic democracy in Victoria must be cognisant of the technological trends towards greater availability of information services via a range of electronic devices. The tendency for citizens to use different technologies will be based upon their personal experiences and needs, the availability of technologies (particularly in regional and remote locations) and the degree to which information services are developed in a way that allows them to be accessed by the new generation of portable electronics (Lin, 2003).

11 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

CURRENT LEVELS OF INTERNET USE IN POLITICAL LIFE

Given the diversity of political activity and the technologies that may be employed in electronic democracy, the Committee identified difficulties in determining public demand for new and expanded avenues of political expression via ICTs. While governments around Australia and internationally have recognised community demands for public services to be delivered online and have responded accordingly, the diffused nature of political activity makes it difficult to determine specific levels of public interest in electronic democracy initiatives.

Where possible, this Report makes note of the levels of public interest in specific electronic democracy trials and initiatives conducted in other jurisdictions. Overall, however, the Committee recognises that political participation is only one small aspect of citizens’ daily concerns; a fact reflected in the modest use of new technologies for political activities to date.

In addition, it is clear that the political use of new technologies still lags behind established forms of communication. From evidence received from the Australian Electoral Study, only a small proportion of Victorians utilised the Internet to follow political news during the 2004 Federal election (Table 8), when compared with other forms of media (Table 9). In research undertaken in the United States, the four years between the Presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 saw an increase in the use of online news services, (Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 2004). However, it remains uncertain at this time whether the political use of the Internet in Victoria will grow significantly over time or remain limited to a sub-set of the community with high levels of political engagement. Table 8: Use of the Internet for Political News: 2004 Federal Election Don't have access to the Internet 35.3% Have access but didn't use it for election information 52.5% Yes, once or twice 6.8% Yes, on several occasions 3.1% Yes, many times 2.3% Source: McAllister, I., 2004, Australian Electoral Study 2004 Table 9: Use of Conventional Media for Political News: 2004 Federal Election Newspapers Television Radio A good deal 16.6% 25.4% 14.6% Some 42.3% 43.4% 30.7% Not much 29.4% 24.9% 29.8% None 11.7% 6.2% 24.8% Source: McAllister, I., 2004, Australian Electoral Study 2004

Thus, in addition to caution about levels of community demand for electronic democracy initiatives by Government, it should be noted that this level of interest and activity is likely to fluctuate over time. Evidence received from the Internet traffic monitoring firm Hitwise (see Figure 1, page over) indicates that there is a tendency for interest in online political information to vary depending on external events (e.g. economic and political events) and the position in the electoral cycle.

12 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

The Committee recognises that this may present challenges in effectively monitoring the performance of pilot projects and new initiatives, with the possibility that short-term results may significantly over- or under-estimate general interest in the work undertaken. Figure 1: “Market Share” of Politics Websites: August–September 2004

Source: Hitwise Pty Ltd, 2004, Correspondence, 22/12/04

Recommendation 3

Like the rest of Australia, Victorians have been keen adopters of the type of computer and communications technologies likely to be included in any consideration of electronic democracy. Internet Use in Victoria

As indicated in Figure 2 and Figure 3 (page over), Internet usage by Victorian adults runs at over sixty percent, with the national rate of growth at nine percent from June 2003 to June 2004 (National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE), 2004:9).

13 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Figure 2: Victorian Internet Subscriptions (2002–2004)

1600000

1400000

1200000

1000000

800000 Subscribers 600000

400000

200000

0 March, 2002 September, 2002 March, 2003 September, 2003 March, 2004 Subscribers 1045000 1180000 1338000 1394000 1413000 Increase 135000 158000 56000 19000

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004b:6 Figure 3: Comparative Internet Use (2001–2003)

Source: NOIE, 2003b:14

From Figure 3, it is clear that Victoria is at the forefront of Internet adoption in Australia. Given that access to the Internet can be limited by poor infrastructure, this result is partially related to the State’s comparatively compact geography (227,590km2) and population density focused towards

14 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy urban areas of the State. As indicated in Table 10, almost three-quarters of the Victorian population live in major cities, and just under ninety-five percent of the Victorian population in the greater metropolitan catchment areas of the State. Table 10: Proportion of Population by Regional Area – Census 2001 Major cities 73.5% Inner regional 21.2% Outer regional 5.2% Remote 0.1%

It is also noticeable that, while Internet adoption rates have flattened in recent years, there remains strong growth in the area of broadband Internet services. This represents a transition of consumers switching from dial-up Internet accounts (Australian Communications Authority, 2004:10) to broadband as the availability of these services increases, and costs decline.

During the period December 2003 to December 2004, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reported a growth of 121.6 percent in broadband subscriptions (ACCC, 2005:1). While broadband access remained modest overall (1,548,300 subscriptions nationally), trends indicate significant growth in this form of Internet connectivity over the coming decade, with resultant advantages in the speed of access to information services, the distribution of “content rich” multimedia online and a growth in “always on” Internet access. Telephone Services

In addition to Internet-based information services, telecommunications systems provide Victorians with ready access to information services, both static and interactive. While fixed-line (“landline”) telephone subscriptions remain relatively steady (with approximately 11.7 million fixed-line telephone subscribers in Australia), Australia continues to experience very strong growth in the number of people with mobile telephone services. According to the Australian Communications Authority (ACA), Australia has experienced a 14.5 percent growth in mobile telephone subscriptions from 2003 to 2004, with 16.5 million mobile phone subscriptions nationally (ACA, 2004).

While it appears commonplace for Victorian homes to have a landline telephone service and large numbers of Victorian adults a mobile telephone, in the United Kingdom there is some evidence that the increased use of mobile telephones has led to a decline in the number of fixed-line services, particularly among disadvantaged socio-economic groups (Office of Telecommunications, 1999). This trend appears to be the result of a considered decision on the part of consumers to limit the number of services (and associated service costs).

While fixed-line telephone services provide limited access to data services without a separate Internet subscription (such as interactive voice response services), many mobile telephones provide access to instant messaging and Internet or like information services. While there appears to be a tendency for most Australian mobile phones to be restricted to simple communications tasks (voice or short messaging service (SMS)), the introduction of new 2.5G and 3G (Third-

15 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Generation Mobile Telephony) services increases the availability of World Wide Web and Internet- like6 services via these devices.

During the course of the Inquiry, the Committee received a briefing from Hutchinson Telecommunications Australia, operator of the only 3G mobile telephone network in Australia at this time. While uptake of 3G telephones is at an early stage, the Committee was able to see the potential of these devices to provide a full range of information services to the community. At the end of 2004, the “3” network maintained by Hutchison was reported as having 453,000 subscribers nationally, up from 87,000 the previous year (Jenkins, 2005). While it is unclear whether this level of growth will continue at this rate, competition in this area is likely to intensify (with two networks and four retailers soon to be in this marketplace), the range of information services available to Victorians will continue to increase during the coming years.

It was the view of Hutchison that 3G services would not replace older services in the immediate term, with a large proportion of the marketplace likely to retain existing services for a range of reasons, including lower costs and lack of interest in premium information services. In addition, given the higher infrastructure needs of 3G, the extension of these services to rural Victoria is likely to be slow. Overall, therefore, the Committee regards it likely that while mobile telephony is going to be increasingly ubiquitous in coming years, the range of services employed by Victorians will continue to be focused towards telephones with limited access to the Internet. Limits to Electronic Democracy: The Digital Divide

While the specific focus of the Inquiry indicated in the Terms of Reference is the investigation of new technologies, this Report recognises that there are limits to the capacity of Victorians to access ICTs. The “digital divide” is a term that has been used to refer to the lack of access to ICTs by certain segments of the population (Servon, 2002:1). Common access barriers include (Whyte and Marlow, 1999:3)7: • Literacy (language and technology skills) • Interest in, and exposure to, new communications technologies • Employment status • Education level • Infrastructure quality, often a function of remoteness (Curtin, 2001) • Age • Relevance of online content.

Thus, while adult Internet access in Victoria is over sixty percent, Figure 4 (page over) indicates how this access is not evenly spread across the Victorian community, with specific segments exhibiting disproportionately lower Internet use than the average. In its recent report on technological inclusion, the Smith Family (Muir, 2004) emphasises that the digital divide, once thought to be simply a function of economic status, is a complex social phenomenon that is not simply addressed by provision of hardware to disadvantaged groups. The current focus on the

6 Such as Telstra i-mode service. 7 The Committee notes that significant progress on gender divisions have been made over the last five years.

16 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy provision of access, training and locally relevant content reflects a greater understanding of the barriers to participation via ICTs (Servon, 2002). Figure 4: Victorian Adult Internet Use (1999–2002)

Source: Multimedia Victoria, 2004a:13

The Committee found that a number of Government initiatives to attempt to overcome the digital divide under the Connecting Victoria Strategy; examples include: • The provision of free computer and Internet access in public libraries • The State Government e-gaps program, which focused on the provision of access and training to targeted groups in local communities • The MC2 initiative of VICNET to provide local community organisations with website and social networking tools to develop and distribute locally relevant content.

The Committee recognised the important work of groups such as Green PC, which provide recycled computers at low cost, and the work of the Swinburne Institute for Social Research which has run the Wired High Rise project to deliver access and training to residents of public housing estates.

These projects recognise the socio-economic value of ICTs, not simply as an increasingly important tool for communication, commerce and education, but in attempting to overcome issues of social exclusion and to broaden social participation (Otis and Johanson, 2004:1). Norris (2003:11) found that the use of ICTs has positive impacts on social capital: the networking effect of interpersonal relationships that builds community and cooperation. However, while many would like to draw a direct causal relationship between the use of new technologies and increases in social connectedness and personal economic and educational outcomes, the Committee recognises that the evidence for this remains far from conclusive. Meredyth, Hopkins, Weing and Thomas (2002) indicate that evidence from the Wire High Rise project has shown increases in some forms of social connections (“bonding” connections within social groups) over others (“bridging” connections between social groups).

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Due to these limitations in access, it has been argued that electronic democracy is an inappropriate addition to our democratic practices at this time. This argument revolves around the view that facilitation of political participation using technologies that are not universally accessed or accessible by citizens provides an unwelcome advantage to a small segment of the community, particularly those with existing economic and social advantage (Chen, Roberts and Gibson, Submission No. b16). Given the democratic value of egalitarian participation, any change to the political structure of Victoria that systematically benefits one segment of the community (those who have access to ICTs) is by nature either plutocratic or narrowly meritocratic, but essentially undemocratic due to exclusion.

The Committee recognises and accepts this argument to some degree. Clearly, while barriers to access remain (and are likely to remain in the near term), the Committee recognises the inherent problems associated with any suggestion that access to political participation online should be substituted for existing methods of participation.

Recommendation 4

Conversely, from submissions received by the Inquiry, the Committee accepts that to allow the digital divide to prevent the adoption of electronic democracy initiatives would also be discriminatory. Many of the submissions received highlighted the benefits of having multiple channels of access to Government policy processes and services, allowing greater freedom of action to the community to choose its preferred method to interact with Government.

ICTs can provide benefits in participation to: • People with limited capacity to engage in public life due to work or other commitments (such as carers) • People with restricted mobility due to lack of access, remote location or impairment • Those with a visual impairment who have access to appropriate assistive technologies (see Accessibility Standards, p. 22).

Disability affects approximately twenty percent of the Victorian population. As indicated in Figure 5 (page over) disability status covers a range of degrees of impairment, from those within minor impairments (5.3 percent of the Australian population), to the profoundly disabled (3 percent of the Australian population).

18 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Figure 5: Disability in Australia: 2003

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004c:4

ICTs can play an extremely positive role in the life of people with a disability. While 47.8 percent of people with a disability use a computer and 39 percent access the Internet, Figure 6 (page over) indicates that strong use of computers and the Internet by those less than fifty years of age (ABS, 2004e:9). Evidence presented in Part IV indicates that the use of ICTs to participate politically by people with disabilities has been particularly valuable in Parliamentary experiences in Canada. In addition, Professor Stephen Coleman noted the high level of participation of people with severe disabilities in the UK Parliamentary consultation on stem cell research.

19 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Figure 6: Use of Computers and the Internet by Persons with a Disability

Overall, the Committee regards the test of good policy making in this area as the ability of government to: • Support the needs of disadvantaged members of our community to participate fully as citizens • Provide a multiplicity of points of access to services and policy making processes • Identify and eliminate areas of systematic discrimination or denial of access.

Recommendation 5

The State Government of Victoria, and the Parliament, should recognise that information and communications technologies provide an empowering means of social and political participation for some segments of the community. Where appropriate, information and communications technologies should be employed to facilitate public participation in addition to conventional means.

20 Part II – Access to Information

Introduction

At its most basic level, electronic democracy is about greater access to information. The creation and provision of access to large amounts of information serves as an enabler for informed public participation in the political process, offline or online. It allows for citizens to be aware of issues of concern to them, as the basis for facilitating informed participation in formal political processes – such as elections and consultation – and the capacity for citizens to challenge government decision making. The actions of government to increase and sustain public access to information is a fundamental precondition for effective democracy.

This democratic need has been recognised by successive Victorian Governments, which have extended the range of information available online and in the establishment of Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation to allow citizens greater access to documents that are not formally published. Through the Inquiry process, the Committee was concerned about current practices of Government in releasing and maintaining information resources of value to the community, the degree to which current activities are sufficient and means by which they may be improved.

The great strength of ICTs lies in the ability to quickly and cheaply reproduce content in a variety of formats to meet the needs of different stakeholder groups. Thus, one of the key considerations of the Committee in this section was to ensure that the existing practices of transparency and openness met with current community needs and fully utilised the possibilities available in the information age.

This Part of the report focuses on actions taken by the State Government to increase access to Government information online and encourage the creation of more content of local relevance to Victorians by citizens and groups outside of Government. This Part is divided into three main sections: • The extent to which online information is accessible to the community • Steps that can be taken within Government to increase the amount of available content online • Steps that can be taken by Government to increase the level of locally-relevant content to be developed by non-government organisations and private individuals.

21 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Government Information Online

Over the past fifteen years, governments around the world have recognised the value of the World Wide Web (WWW) in providing access to information to citizens and stakeholders. The establishment of websites by Government agencies and the Parliament was to be one of the first broad-scale developments in electronic democracy, facilitating greater openness by the Victorian Public Sector. The Parliament of Victoria has been an innovator in the use of new technologies, being one of the first Australian parliaments to provide an online version of Hansard.

In broad terms, the Committee is satisfied with the general approach of Government departments and agencies in publishing large volumes of information online. While it was not possible to systematically review the extent to which the current levels of publication meet community demand, the Committee observed that new management practices will soon provide better auditing requirements for the State to match published content with stakeholder interests (see Current Compliance Approach, page 28). The Committee considers that this approach, if maintained, will result in greater capacity of departments and agencies to identify and meet the information needs of users over the medium term.

In addition, the Committee rejects the proposition that all information currently published online must be published in print (as may be inferred from Recommendation 4, regarding parity between online and offline activities). Taken to the extreme, such a requirement would result in a net loss of information available to the community. The Committee is of the view that current activities by Government, through Multimedia Victoria, to improve access to the Internet via a range of publicly available Internet terminals is an appropriate response at this time. The current approach of most agencies to publish key documents or documents with high levels of community interest and demand as physical documents is appropriate and should be maintained.

This section, therefore, focuses policy and structural issues associated with ensuring the greatest accessibility of existing and future information online. While the primary focus of this discussion is on State Government compliance to standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), current implementation of metadata standards is also considered in this discussion. ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

The original motivation for the development of the WWW, as envisaged by Tim Berners-Lee, was the establishment of a network of information resources that would be accessible across a wide range of different technologies. This approach in encouraging platform independence has been one of the key drivers behind the explosion of WWW-based technologies in Australia and around the world, allowing information to be distributed regardless of the different operating systems and technologies employed by end-users and content producers.

Following the initial introduction of the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) that underpins the WWW, a number of factors combined to undermine the original intention of this standard for interoperability. As commercial firms entered the online environment, proprietary versions of HTML were developed with specific functionality that reduced the capacity of these web pages to be read on different web browsers (Guy, 1995), content authors expressed preferences for producing

22 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy online resources that preserved specific layout and design characteristics and new applications for the online environment have emerged that challenge the original design of the WWW as an interoperable system.

These changes have had both positive and negative outcomes in ensuring the expansion of online content and maintaining the interoperability of resources placed online. During the mid- to late 1990s, community groups and standards organisations, such as the W3C, became concerned about the impact of these developments on the ability of disabled users to access information online.

In response to these concerns, the W3C established the WAI to develop standards for content developers and the manufacturers of web software to increase the accessibility of information published online. The result of this work was the production of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 1.0 in May 1999, with associated work to assist software developers in bringing their products to compliance with the standards (the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 for online publishing software and the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 for Web browsers and assistive technologies).

Compliance with these guidelines is advantageous to members of the community for a number of reasons: • The guidelines provide content authors and those charged with the acquisition of content authoring software with technical advice to ensure the highest level of accessibility to online content and reflect a design philosophy that encourages effective communication practices • Effective implementation of the guidelines is beneficial to those members of the community who utilise assistive technologies to support their online information searching and browsing activities. Examples of assistive technologies include software which converts textual elements to speech (computer-generated voice software) or Braille, screen magnification technology, the use of high-contrast colour schemes for those with limited vision, or alternative methods of input for people with limited mobility or dexterity • Compliance with the guidelines can also reduce the file size of online information resources, increasing the speed with which people can access the WWW, and advantageous to those with slower computers for Internet connections.

The Committee observes that issues of accessibility will become increasingly important as the Victorian population ages, leading to higher rates of difficulties with perception and dexterity that are associated with ageing (Mosner, et al., 2003).

The current WCAG guidelines provide checklists against which websites can be assessed and a rating system (levels A, AA, AAA) which can be employed to indicate the extent to which the full range of checkpoints have been complied with by content authors. It is increasingly common practice for the designers of websites to include a statement of the level of compliance of the site against the guidelines provided by the W3C8.

8 It should be noted, however, that the W3C is not a regulator, and that certification is undertaken by the content publisher or by an independent service.

23 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

The Committee observed that compliance with the guidelines is not simply a technical problem that can be resolved through the appropriate use of compliant authoring tools. In satisfying the requirements for accessibility, the author needs to consider a range of issues, from the inclusion of textual alternatives to images and other multimedia that may be embedded within a website, to more complex matters of positioning, information flow and the need to provide options to suppress certain aspects of the website to ensure that different users can effectively and efficiently navigate online information.

Compliance, therefore, requires consideration of the ways in which users with different needs will access the site. During the public hearings, the Committee was afforded an insight into this issue by Dr A. Arch, Manager of Online Accessibility Consulting at the National Information and Library Service (NILS), who indicated how frustrating poor website design can be for users. Dr Arch stated:

To give you a simple example, the Centrelink website has about 15 links in its general navigation across the top of its page and if you are unable to use a mouse you have to move through those 15 links at the top of every single page. Then on subsequent pages— say you go into the page for individuals to get some assistance from Centrelink— there are another 10 links which appear on the top of every page within the individual parts of the website. It makes it practically unusable for a lot of people because a lot of people with disabilities also interact with their computers at a much slower rate than you or I who can see where the link is, move our mouse, click on it and go and get the information we need to interact with the government. (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 40)

The Committee notes that its own website was less than optimal in compliance with accessibility guidelines, particularly with reference to the choice of colours (low contrast) and the impacts of these design elements on people with a vision impairment (T. Clark, Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 39). The Australian Legal Context

As indicated in Part I of this Report, the question of increased access to information resources by members of the community with a disability is an important public policy concern for all governments around the world. With up to one-fifth of the Australian community in this category, it is clear that the issue of accessibility of content is not tangential to issues of information policy and electronic democracy, but remains central to the effective provision of electronic democracy initiatives in Victoria. There is a strong moral imperative for governments to act in a proactive manner to ensure the highest level of information accessibility across government.

In addition to this imperative, the Committee notes that Commonwealth law covers the provision of accessible information online. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) states that:

The provision of information and online services through the Worldwide Web is a service covered by the [Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992]. Equal access for people with a disability in this area is required by the [Disability Discrimination Act 1992] where it can reasonably be provided. This requirement applies to any individual or organisation developing a Worldwide Web page in Australia, or placing or maintaining a web page on an Australian server. (HREOC, 2002)

24 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

While the consideration of reasonable steps taken to make online information accessible does not necessitate that all websites meet the highest level of WCAG compliance, the legal coverage of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 has already been put to test in Australia in the Maguire v. Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games case of 1999 (Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria, Submission No. a26, pp. 4–5). In this case HREOC found against the Sydney Organising Committee, awarding $20,000 in damages to the complainant. While acting under different legislative and legal environments, similar litigation has been seen in the United States in recent years.

Clearly, the Parliament and Government of Victoria would view litigation as an unnecessary and combative method of advancing compliance to accessibility requirements within the Victorian public sector. Overstating the legal risk environment regarding accessibility compliance is not a positive way to encourage acceptance of the WCAG guidelines, given that these reflect a willingness to embrace a specific design philosophy as opposed to a strict set of technical rules to be followed.

While the Maguire case represents a clear example of an individual denied access to a specific event, the Committee is concerned that improving compliance to accessibility standards must be seen as a prerequisite for public participation, be that in electronic democracy initiatives such as those discussed in Part III, or as part of the general process of information acquisition about government that makes for an informed citizenry. Current Performance by the State of Victoria

The Committee is unable to determine the current performance of the Victorian Public Sector in meeting WCAG compliance guidelines. While the Deputy Chief Information Officer of Victoria, Dr S. Hodgkinson, observed in Hearings that:

There is a great variety of degrees of compliance. Under the website rationalisation project, which is a project being run out of the strategic communications branch of [the Department of Premier and Cabinet], one of the things they did last year was an extensive review of websites and looked at websites which should be removed because of combination of factors to do with lack of compliance with policies, lack of usage, no clear purpose and being historically redundant. So there has been a major housekeeping exercise done, and all departments are working under a program to remediate websites that do not comply. In the main, compliance is actually quite good today after all that effort…

That characterised an audit, so it has been done. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 18)

The Committee wrote to Mr T. Moran, Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet on 23/02/05 requesting this document. Following repeated requests, however, this document was not provided to the Committee for its consideration. The Committee assumes, therefore, that the performance is low, and previous attempts to improve performance through awareness raising processes have not been successful. Victoria’s Current Policy Approach

The Committee observes that Victoria has taken action in this area, endorsing and adopting the work of the WAI.

25 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

The policy framework regulating website accessibility standards was developed and maintained by the OCIO and is included in a document titled Whole of Victorian Government Website Standards – Standards Pack 1 (OCIO, 2004b). The standards pack includes requirements for the discoverability of information, management processes for publication, legal compliance and privacy provisions, as well as the accessibility requirements for all State Government departments and agencies. The current standards specify a minimum level of compliance for all websites (WCAG level A), with recommendations for higher levels of compliance for some sites.

The current standards being introduced by the Victorian Government are: • Compliance level A for all existing and new websites • Compliance level AA or AAA for sites that have a specific audience requirement (such as Disability Services pages within the Department of Human Services).

These standards moved from a set of recommendations to a minimum set of requirements in 2004, which indicates that the State has made limited progress over the period 1999–2004, where less directive requirements have been applied. W3C Changes to the Existing Guidelines

In considering this issue, the Committee notes that the current guidelines used by the State of Victoria are being revised. As at the date of writing, the WAI has developed a working draft of version 2.0 of these guidelines to update the requirements of the guidelines and incorporate new technologies. The timeframe by which these new guidelines will be finalised and released, and authoring tools and Content Management Systems (CMS) updated to comply with the new requirements, remains unclear.

It appears likely that Victoria will not move to the new standards (if they are endorsed by the OCIO) until 2007 at the earliest date. The Committee observes that the new standards remain formative, but contain positive elements that are likely to be valuable as Victoria moves to a richer online content environment. One specific area of value in the draft version 2.0 is a greater recognition of the capacity of organisations to provide synchronised textual alternatives to live audio and video feeds (see Webcasting, Live Captioning and Accessibility in Part IV, p. 192).

While the approach taken to the new guidelines is generally consistent with version 1.0, the new guidelines will require current management practices for Government websites to be reviewed in order to ensure a smooth transition from version 1.0 to 2.0. The Committee is confident that the OCIO will manage this transition in an effective manner.

Recommendation 6 The Office of the Chief Information Officer should ensure that the transition from Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 to 2.0 in the State of Victoria is undertaken in consultation across government and with relevant community stakeholders. • An appropriate public sector education process should begin prior to the formal adoption of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, in order to prepare for a smooth transition between compliance standards.

26 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Recommendation 6 – continued • Where appropriate, reporting against both sets of guidelines should be required for Victorian Departments and Agencies as an interim measure, to improve understanding of changes in the compliance regime.

Are the Current Targets Appropriate?

Victoria’s approach to accessibility of government websites is broadly comparable to that of other States and Territories around Australia. As Table 11 indicates below, the current practice of the States and Territories around Australia is to adopt WCAG level A compliance as a minimum for government websites, with some (such as Victoria) opting for optional levels of higher compliance based on specific user-group needs. Table 11: Accessibility Standards Documents applicable to Minimum & recommended State website accessibility WCAG conformance levels Policies Australian Capital Territory A / - Guidelines New South Wales Guidelines A / - Northern Territory Guidelines A / AA+ Queensland Standards A / AA South Australia Protocols A / - Tasmania Standards A / - Policies Victoria A / AA+ Guidelines Western Australia Guidelines A / AA Source: NILS, Submission No. a3

The Committee is of the view that the current approach to minimum standards is inappropriate and should be reviewed. Given that the WCAG guidelines have existed for over five years, the Committee considers that endorsing the lower standard will entrench mediocre performance across Government, rather than encouraging the VPS to consider level A compliance as a transition point to higher levels of achievement. Evidence presented to the Committee by Mr T. Worthington, Visiting Fellow in the Department of Computer Science at the ANU, confirmed this view. Mr Worthington stated that:

It’s very hard, unless you’re doing something foolish not to achieve level A, if you are using some up-to-date web development tool. Essentially you have to not do something. Where it says “What’s the caption for this photo?” you have to deliberately not put anything in. So I think that’s shooting a bit low. (Briefing, 01/03/05)

In addition, in recognising that higher levels of compliance are achievable by some websites (particularly those centered around disability support), the Victorian Government has acknowledged that higher performance is possible, but has restricted this to a narrow set of online information and services. The Committee regards this approach as paternalistic. It fails to

27 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee recognise that people with restricted access to information services may have a broad range of interests beyond support services.

The Committee’s preferred approach would be for the State to adopt the AA compliance level as the base standard for all Government websites, with possible variations (higher or lower) based on clear business case justifications for specific websites, or elements within a website (a system of exemptions based on user requirements or capacity). This approach would reverse the current compliance approach of the OCIO (see below), focusing public managers on reporting why (if at all) lower levels of accessibility compliance are all that can be achieved without locking the State Government into an unrealisable target.

Recommendation 7 Accessibility standards for the State Government of Victoria should be revised to move minimum requirements to level AA compliance under the existing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 and the equivalent level under the forthcoming 2.0 guidelines. Compliance to the AA standard should be phased in from June 2005 to encourage continual improvement practices in website design. • In recognition of the diversity of capacity and audience-specific needs, Departments and Agencies should be permitted to seek exemptions for certain websites (higher or lower than level AA) based on a clear business case justification.

Current Compliance Approach

The OCIO has identified deficiencies in the way in which the State Government initiates, builds, maintains and retires its websites. In line with its remit to provide a whole-of-government approach to information technology procurement and management, the OCIO has developed its Website Management Framework (WMF) to bring this area of practice in line with a more strategic planning and management process (OCIO, 2004a:2-3). The WMF will: • Create a State-wide, standardised process for the planning and implementation of Government websites • Enforce and promote policies and standards for site design and management • Require clear business case construction for website development • Develop a reporting and performance approach to site management, in conjunction with relevant user metrics methodologies.

This approach will be supported by the adoption of a new CMS for the State of Victoria. At present, the OCIO reports that State Government is in the process of tendering for the new system that will allow for a phased buy-in by the ten departments and four Public Sector lead agencies. It is anticipated by the Committee that the successful tenderer will provide the State, through this process of implementation, with greater capacity to meet the WCAG through the provision of a compliant toolset that assists authors in meeting the technical design requirements.

Under the accessibility standards of the OCIO (2004b:9), all Government departments and agencies are required to report on compliance by June of this year (2005). No mid-term compliance data is being collected by the OCIO to oversee moves towards the whole-of-

28 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy government policy requirements. Because of this, the Committee was unable to ascertain the current state of transition by Government websites in Victoria. While the Committee received evidence that this lack of performance data is problematic in effectively moving compliance forward (NLIS, Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, pp. 39–40), the Committee noted that: • The move from recommended levels of compliance to a policy requirement is only new in Victoria, requiring the review and modification of possibly hundreds of Public Sector websites that have been constructed in an ad hoc manner over many years (OCIO, Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 17) • The WMF will introduce and maintain a reporting and data collection management practice in Victoria from mid-2005 onwards.

The Committee notes that, in not providing a mid-term review of compliance actions by Government departments and agencies, there may be the tendency for some parts of the VPS not to meet the minimum required compliance timeframe, in the expectation that failure to comply will result in an extension of time.

This potential for “slippage” in implementation must be resisted by the OCIO, with aggressive corrective action taken against those sites that fail to meet the new minimum standards requirements. This approach will ensure that the importance of this set of Government policies is reiterated and projected throughout the Public Service of Victoria.

Recommendation 8

Given the public interest in ensuring whole-of-government compliance to standards, as well as establishing a requirement for continual improvement in this area, the Committee considers that clear reporting on performance in this area is required. In addition, the Committee considers that a regularised and systematic reporting process will allow the public sector, and external organizations, to develop competitive “league tables” of departments and agencies (performance- ranking tables). These would recognise the work of departments and agencies, which are performing well, while encouraging poorly performing agencies to improve.

Recommendation 9 Under the Website Management Framework, the Office of the Chief Information Officer should establish a formal, regular reporting mechanism for compliance to the five Whole of Government Website Standards, with a minimum of one-third of all Government websites surveyed on an annual basis to determine their compliance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and activities in place to advance to the next level of compliance. • This report should be tabled in Parliament on an annual basis by the Minister, including information showing improvements by key agencies over time and highlighting agencies that have failed to progress towards Government targets.

29 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Recommendation 9 – continued • This report should be developed in partnership with relevant community stakeholders.

Consistent User Experience

In addition to technical and design compliance, the Committee recognises that the proliferation of website designs within and between Government agencies can create barriers to use, particularly for inexperienced web users. The consistent positioning of menu items, overall designs, logos and terminology can be an effective way to increase the overall accessibility of websites by reducing user confusion as they move between websites and agencies. The proliferation of website designs within one jurisdiction can be seen as an unnecessary barrier to use, particularly to those with cognitive disabilities or low levels of information-technology literacy.

In this vein, the Federal Government introduced a consistent branding strategy for all Federal departments and agencies in 2003, with the objective of increasing brand recognition for Commonwealth initiatives (Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2004). While the Committee saw no need for similar action to be taken in Victoria, the move to consistency of information presentation has advantages to the community in clarifying the level of government with whom they are dealing.

As many areas of governance in Australia have intergovernmental relationships and service- delivery components (with the possibility of online users moving between Local, State and Federal Government websites as they pursue their interest of business with government), consistency which reinforces the jurisdiction with whom they are interacting appears to have an additional benefit.

This approach has been adopted by the Canadian and Queensland governments, with the State of Queensland defining this approach as a “Consistent User Experience”9, and offering the following considerations for ensuring website consistency: • Visual page layout • Underlying structural page layout (HTML code) • Functionality of each page section • Visual elements: graphics and fonts • Navigation schemes • Terminology and messages. (State of Queensland, 2005)

In considering this issue, the Committee was cognisant of the myriad of designs currently employed by State Government departments and agencies, with thousands of websites affected. While the financial benefits of moving to a consistent layout are clear in the long term (only

9 On 10 March 2005, the Special Minister for State, Senator the Hon. Eric Abetz, announced the release of a web guide for Commonwealth Departments and Agencies to assist in standardised website development (www.agimo.gov.au/webguide).

30 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy requiring the development of one stylistic design for the entire State Public Sector)10, short-term compliance costs would be high.

Overall, the Committee feels that a phased implementation (as sites come up for rejuvenation or replacement) approach would be desirable, thereby minimising short-term costs of implementation and allowing for small-scale user assessment prior to State-wide implementation. Given that there tends to be a degree of isomorphism displayed by website layout, the Committee considers that accelerating this tendency will produce a nett-benefit.

Recommendation 10 All Victorian websites should move towards a consistent user-experience design standard, developed by the Office of the Chief Information Officer as part of the overarching web strategy of the Victorian Government. • Variations to this requirement should be permitted for websites that have a specific user need.

Government Publication of Documents as PDFs

As part of the Inquiry process, the Committee received submissions and evidence related to the publication of Government documents on the WWW as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. PDF is a document format that has become increasingly popular as a medium for distribution of information online because it allows the author’s preferred formatting to be embedded within the file, thereby preserving layout and appearance regardless of the end-user’s device. The Committee was concerned about the increasing use of this file format for online information by Government because of questions around its accessibility.

The submission of the Public Record Office Victoria (Submission No. a28), provided competing perspectives on the appropriateness of this file format for distribution of Government publications online. PROV noted that HREOC does not currently consider the PDF format to be accessible, but noted that accessibility can be achieved through the appropriate inclusion of mark-up of the original document prior to its creation as a PDF file and that the Adobe company has been working to improve the accessibility of its format (Adobe, 2001). While HREOC recommends the provision of alternative formats, such as Rich Text Format (RTF), HTML or plain text, PROV did not consider RTF acceptable, given the inability to mark-up some elements of the document format (specifically tables).

The Committee recognised difficulties in this area, but deferred towards the position of HREOC and that of Vision Australia’s accessibility trainers and site assessors, Accessible Information Solutions (NILS, 2004).

Accessible Information Solutions recommends that PDF be accompanied by an alternative version, with compliant HTML preferred, but RTF also being acceptable. As the vast majority of these documents are created in standard word-processing environments (such as Microsoft Word), there appears to be few reasons that RTF should not be provided in addition to PDF, allowing users to

10 The Committee, of course, recognises that some agencies or websites within departments would need to be exempt from a centralised design approach for reasons of specialised use or the appropriate “fit” between design and target audience.

31 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee select their preferred format. While compliant HTML would be preferred, the Committee notes that a recommendation to require conversion may be counter-productive, reducing the amount of information published online.

Recommendation 11 All Victorian documents published by the Victorian Public Sector as Portable Document Format (PDF) files should also be provided in an alternative accessible format (such as Hypertext Markup Language, Rich Text Format or plain text). • This recommendation should not be used to limit the level of information published online.

The Committee is cognisant that Recommendation 11 challenges the current program of the State archivists in developing and propagating a system for information storage of electronic records. The PROV is currently developing and implementing the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS), which makes extensive use of PDF and public key cryptography (PKI) for the long-term storage, verification and retrieval of documents created within the public sector (PROV, 2003). The initiative is a highly significant project to ensure that accurate and permanent records of Government electronic documents are maintained.

The importance of PDF to VERS lies in: • The wide-scale acceptance of PDF as a “future proof” file format that will be able to be read by computers in the coming years • The value of PDF in preserving the original formatting (such as page numbering) of documents to retain their value as points of reference • The Committee notes that issues of accessibility have not deterred its position as a de facto standard for document storage where formatting issues are important.

Formats such as HTML and RTF are reparsed by the devices reading them, changing the appearance of the document based on the user’s preference and the device’s technical capabilities. While some online publishers have attempted to overcome internal referencing issues through the inclusion of paragraph numbering systems and internal referencing tags, these approaches have not been embraced widely. The combination of encryption and format retention serves to ensure that archived electronic documents cannot be tampered with.

The Committee’s view is that the VERS strategy cannot be expected to change its file format in the immediate term, and that best efforts will need to be made at the production and distribution points of the archiving process in order to provide accessibility to information stored as PDF files. The educative work of the PROV will assist with this, as will overall moves within the VPS towards greater accessibility compliance more generally.

The Committee notes that the current development of the State-wide digital archive will allow the PROV to trial the range of existing and emergent software to convert PDF files into alternative formats, such as that already employed by the popular Google search engine. While this approach is not optimal, the Committee regards this approach as an appropriate interim solution for this issue.

32 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Recommendation 12

Extending Accessibility and Reach of Government Content

While information accessibility has been historically driven by a recognition of the needs of disabled members of the community, the shift towards a mobile and pervasive computing environment will place new challenges on governments to deliver information across a range of ICT platforms. As indicated in Part I, the growth in Internet-enabled PDAs and mobile telephones brings a new array of users to online government information who suffer from limited, slow or high- cost bandwidth and experience the online environment through a range of interfaces (screen readers, monochrome displays, unusual screen sizes).

At present, there is a tendency for Government information services to be developed for desktop personal computers (PCs). A good example of this is the current Department of Infrastructure homepage, which is set to display its pages at a resolution of 800x600 pixels and optimised for a specific type of browser. While this approach preserves the look and feel of the site for users of computers with a resolution of 800x600 pixels, the layout is problematic for those users of small (or larger) devices, or the visually impaired user who may view the WWW through a magnification system.

In evidence presented to the Committee by the OCIO, the issue of mobile devices has not yet been considered for action under the whole-of-government standards process. The OCIO stated:

That is a future issue; it is not a burning issue right now. I presented the portfolio of standards that we are going through. Accessibility of whole websites by PDAs is potentially the nearest term issue for that, and should those websites be designed for that. But, quite frankly, it is a relatively minor issue in the scheme of improving the overall quality of services for the majority of citizens, bearing in mind the number of people who are currently using those devices. But it is certainly on the radar in terms of something to be looked at in the next tranche of policies and standards. (Dr S. Hodgkinson, Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 21)

While this approach reflects the emphasis of the OCIO on modernisation and consolidation, the Committee considers that the VPS needs to prepare for future needs within its current set of website standards. While mobile computing was in its infancy in the 1990s, the growth of wireless Internet (Wi-Fi) is not a trend that should be now be ignored.

In addition, forward planning for a pervasive computing environment through capacity building in the Public Sector will be valuable in advancing the m-Government agenda (Lallana, 2004). “m- Government”, the use of portable ICTs within the public sector, is clearly a trend that will be accelerated by the current focus of Government on localising service delivery and community partnerships, as well as meeting the needs of public employees to have flexible working conditions. This reflects the growing convergence of technologies, which sees a range of once

33 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

“stand alone” systems now increasingly integrated with the wider Internet and advanced information services. While in Canada, the Committee observed the relevance of Internet-enabled 2.5G mobile phones in the Federal Public Service, and the Parliament, in recognition of the mobility of Members, has recently adopted similar technology to increase productivity.

From evidence presented by Mr T. Worthington (Briefing, 01/03/05), extending the reach of Government websites to better accommodate the needs of users with unusual screen sizes would necessitate the construction of a set of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for each site. Each CSS would provide presentation information for different screen sizes, providing control by the website developer over the presentation of the information, but also facilitating access across a range of devices. This approach reflects the overall rationale of the WWW as a “device independent” set of interlinking informational resources and services.

While this approach would have costs, the Committee notes that the previous recommendation for a consistent user experience, if adopted, would serve as a mitigating factor, by reducing the number of basic templates required. Thus, a set of CSS templates for the most common screen resolutions would appear to be the best means by which to facilitate access by users of portable devices, though the Committee recognises that an alternative approach may be preferred by the OCIO. Best-practice examples of this approach may already exist within the VPS, and these lessons should be propagated across the whole of government.

Recommendation 13

The minimum web standards for online publication of government information should be revised to systematically phase in accessibility of online information via devices with unusual screen sizes.

In addition, the Committee considered how new technologies might extend the reach of Victorian Government information across the Internet. As an interoperable network, the Internet allows content producers to allow the syndication of their content on other websites. Traditionally, this has taken the form of linking between resources as a hypertext, or the reproduction of content from one source on another web service.

Presently, Extensible Markup Language (XML) formats like RSS 2.0 are increasingly employed across the WWW. News organisations, bloggers, community groups and commercial firms employ this technology to ensure that their information is easily accessible through other websites or desktop news aggregators, and that this information can be updated centrally (by them) to keep their content current.

This approach allows relevant content to be “harvested” from across the web and presented to users, searched and/or allow a website designer to automatically receive updated information on their website from a third party. Some personal portal sites (such as Yahoo!) allow their users to import RSS feeds into their user accounts to craft personal news feeds with perpetually up-to-date information.

The advantage of this approach to content syndication lies in: • Control over published content being maintained by the original author, regardless of how many places it may be syndicated online

34 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

• Information being able to be kept current • Users having control over information they wish to aggregate, allowing greater personalisation • Information from one source being quickly propagated across relevant websites and information services maintained by different parties • XML publication provides compliance with accessibility requirements because the final point of aggregation controls presentation.

The VPS continually produces information that would be valuable for syndication because it is time-limited or of relevance to small segments of the community. At this time it is unclear the extent to which the VPS employs content syndication; however, some Federal agencies and corporations have adopted this approach (National Archives, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Broadcasting Corporation), as have the major Australian political parties.

In Victoria, VICNET utilises RSS to provide live feeds for: • New articles published on the front page of their website • Latest news • Current and forthcoming events.

The Committee considers that, given the value of syndication, the VPS should increase its utilisation of the RSS 2.0, or other appropriate, format. At a minimum, syndication should be used to provide feeds for: • Latest news and media releases • New publications • Events and consultations at the agency or relevant divisional or programmatic level.

The objective of this approach would be to provide a range of feeds that could then be searched and selected by the end user, or the option of creating custom news feeds through searches. In addition, Matthew Cook, in a message to the Inquiry discussion list noted that:

A more advanced use of RSS would be to allow users to create a feed for any search string. Yahoo! News offers the most popular service of this type at the moment.

This service would be of interest to a lot more people. They could have a feed just showing debates & statements about the issues they're interested in. A much larger number would read these in their aggregators. (Post, 23/11/04)

This approach would appear logical and appropriate for the VPS, allowing the public the option of taking up pre-configured or customised feeds.

35 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Recommendation 14

Recommendation 15

Access to Online-only Information in Print

In addition to investigating technical means by which Government information can be published across the Internet, the Committee examined the capacity of members of the public to access online information which is not systematically produced in print (in “hard copy”: as a physical document). At present, most Government publications provided online are also produced in print, with many available through departmental offices, libraries, Information Victoria and by request. Departmental annual reports represent a good example of this type of publication, with the availability of these reports online reducing the need for large print runs.

With the widespread use of online publication in Government, however, the Committee recognises the capacity of the VPS to provide a range of additional publications on the Internet due to the significantly lower cost of production. This may include documents produced internally but which have not traditionally been released because of low levels of demand or public interest.

While online publication has many benefits in providing for a more open and accountable Government, increasing the volume of Victorian information online, online-only publications represent a barrier to people who do not have access to the Internet or those who prefer to read documents in print. Furthermore, a member of the public may find an online document that they wish to read in print, but may not have access to affordable printing, particularly for voluminous documents and reports.

The Committee is concerned that any requirement to produce all online information in print would limit the publication of Government information by the VPS, simply due to the costs associated with printing and replacing documents that change frequently. Thus, the Committee considers identification of online-only documents and the provision of print-on-demand services by Government would be a valuable means by which the public can access this information on a cost- recovery basis.

This approach is best undertaken on a whole-of-government basis, whereby Victorian departments and agencies could provide a link to document-ordering services with publications that do not exist in print.

36 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Recommendation 16

Information Victoria should investigate the possibility of developing a print-on-demand service for Government publications that are not provided in print.

Local Government Information Online

The accessibility of Local Government information online was also considered by the Committee, with each of Victoria’s seventy-nine municipalities maintaining their own websites with varying degrees of information. Local Governments in Victoria have been actively expanding their online presence, including governance-related information. Victorian Councils are increasingly publishing meeting agendas and minutes online, as well as key public documents such as annual reports and local by-laws.

In its presentation to the Committee, the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) noted that positive work had been done in recent years in improving website technology in the Victorian Local Government sector, with funding provided by the Federal Government under the Networking the Nation initiative to develop new standards, guides for technology acquisition and implementation and reduced cost for software acquisition by rural and regional Councils.

In this round of modernisation, greater levels of compliance with the WAI standards had been achieved; however, the MAV observed that there had been some slippage in performance of the Local Government sector in terms of provision of accessibility following the completion of this project. Speaking for the MAV, Mr J. Hennessy, Sector Development Consultant, observed that:

It is probably because of the pressure under which the IT people in Councils operate when trying to manage such a wide variety of functions across the sector. Their commitment to something like [web accessibility guidelines] is probably not as great as it could be if there were some drivers in place to sustain that. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 41)

It is questionable whether the public can expect wholesale improvements in the performance of the Local Government sector in this area without assistance from superordinate levels of Government. Just as this Committee has recognised that the use of ICTs for democratic purposes does not eliminate the costs associated with other forms of information distribution and participation, Local Government too recognises that online and offline communications methods need to be maintained, at an overall higher cost to governments. In the submission of the City of Port Phillip (Submission No. a22), Mr D. Graham, Chief Executive Officer, observed that his City continued to be committed to ensuring that all online electronic democracy initiatives retained an offline component.

While the State Government should experience a period of modernisation of its online content under the WMF, the Committee is concerned that the Local Government sector may be left behind, or that gains made due to sporadic funding are quickly eroded. Thus, while Mr C. Cullino, on behalf of the City of Manningham (Submission No. a15) expressed concern that electronic democracy initiatives or requirements may be forced upon Local Government, there is clear need for the State Government to take action to assist Local Government in reaching higher levels of WAI compliance and to develop systems and processes to sustain this over time. The Committee does not consider it appropriate, however, that failure to comply with minimum standards for online

37 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee content by Local Government is best met with corrective funding, which would result in ongoing stop-start compliance.

Given current work by the State Government to acquire a new CMS, and in line with similar sectoral purchasing agreements currently being developed within the Local Government sector (PC acquisition, shared services) and between the State Government and Local Governments (desktop software and telephony services), the Committee considers that a co-ordinated approach to the acquisition of website technology may further support compliance with WAI guidelines by the Councils.

Further work undertaken by the OCIO to assist participation in the CMS acquisition of the State Government by municipalities would appear to present the most obvious means by which the State can improve the accessibility of Local Government websites.

Recommendation 17 The Office of the Chief Information Officer, in conjunction with relevant Local Government association(s), should investigate ways by which Local Government in Victoria can take advantage of the content management system tender currently being let by the State, to access advanced website management and web accessibility standards through aggregated tendering. • Based on this assessment, the Office of the Chief Information Officer should report to the Minister for Local Government on the appropriateness of targeted subsidisation for content management system acquisition, implementation and management in the Local Government sector.

Recommendation 18

In addition, the Committee considers that the current approach to monitoring compliance by Local Government websites to WAI standards is inadequate. Given that the Committee has determined that compliance reporting for the State Government should match the level of importance of accessibility, a mechanism by which Local Government can report to their communities on this matter of public importance is in line with previous recommendations. In addition, the Committee considers that by highlighting compliance by regular reporting, greater awareness of the issue of accessibility can be promoted throughout the sector.

38 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Recommendation 19

Encouraging Accessibility of Non-Government Information

In considering the accessibility of Government information online, the Committee recognised that Government compliance to accessibility standards is only one part of the information landscape of Victorians. Mainstream and alternative media are critical non-governmental providers of politically- relevant information to Victorians, and fulfil an important role in overseeing the work of Government, informing and educating the public and acting as a location for public debate on issues of political importance.

While the Committee sees significant scope for improvements in the accessibility of Government information online, it is noted that the private and community sectors often lag behind Government in meeting the standards of accessibility specified by the W3C. For some organisations, this reflects the limited resources available to revise and maintain existing websites, while for others it reflects a lack of awareness of the value that compliance can bring to the reach of their online content.

The Committee observed that some industry segments have made positive responses to the challenge of accessibility. The Australian Bankers’ Association, for example, adopted an industry standard and action plan at the end of 2000 to increase the accessibility of its online information and services (Australian Banking Industry, 2000). Similarly, the Internet Industry Association (IIA) and Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Association (AIMIA) released an action plan in September 2002 to encourage members of their industry associations to strive towards better compliance (2002). The IIA-AIMIA plan identifies the clear business case for greater levels of compliance with the standards maintained by the W3C, a business case that provides clear marketplace advantages to Victorian industry.

While the Committee recognises the work of HREOC to promote greater compliance at the national level, there remains scope for more work to be done in Victoria. Multimedia Victoria (MMV), as the State’s lead agency for ICT industry policy, is well placed to further promote the issue of online accessibility, particularly the benefits that accessible website design can bring to industry through increasing the scope of their customer base. While the requirements of the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992 can be seen as a motivator for compliance based on risk, a strict compliance-based approach can be somewhat counter-productive in ensuring the sprit of accessible design is followed and applied.

The Committee considers that the identification of best-practice case examples and the promotion of the work of good corporate citizens in this area will be more effective than the introduction of a strict enforcement regime. A system of community and corporate awards for Victorian-based organisations, which allows for case examples to be documented and distributed would appear to be the best way to promote accessibility standards outside of Government in the near term.

39 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Recommendation 20 The Victorian Government, through Multimedia Victoria, should introduce an annual accessibility awards program for Victorian companies and community organisations, in order to encourage greater compliance with web accessibility standards and promote the awareness of online accessibility issues outside of government. • These awards should be developed in conjunction with relevant stakeholders as partners, such as Vision Australia. • These awards should focus on the recognition of best practice and improvement, with the capture of quality case example information for distribution to other organisations.

Recommendation 21

Multimedia Victoria should enter discussions with the relevant Local Government peak bodies about participation by Local Government in these awards.

Recommendation 22

Freedom of Information

Access to Government information is also guaranteed under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, legislation which gives citizens rights to access Government-held information, subject to limitations such as public-interest exemptions, personal privacy and cost-recovery.

Freedom of Information (FoI) serves as a key public accountability mechanism from which members of the community can draw to oversee Government decision making and to access personal information held by Government agencies and departments. In addition, the effective operations of FoI in Victoria are critical to wider public scrutiny of Government, as this legislation has been of value to journalists and members of the opposition parties (Snell, 2002).

The Committee observed that, while the Freedom of Information Act 1982 includes provisions for accessing records stored on computers (s19), the legislation pre-dates wide-scale use of ICTs in the general community. Thus, while the principles behind the development of this legislation remain valid, the Committee considered it important to review the operations of this legislation given significant changes to the operating environment of the Victorian public sector since the introduction of this important piece of legislation. CURRENT PERFORMANCE OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

In terms of the overall performance of this accountability mechanism, the Committee notes, as indicated in Table 12 and Table 13 that:

40 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

• Public interest in (through numbers of requests received) FoI remains strong, with consistent and sustained increases in applications made under the Act • Appeals against decisions made under FoI have declined as a proportion of total applications over the past ten years • There has been sustained growth in the success of applications made over the past ten years, with complete access granted to three-quarters of applicants in the periods 2002– 2003 and 2003–2004, and general increases in partial release of documents to applicants over the past nine years. Table 12: FoI Requests 1996–2004 Year FoI Change Internal Percenta Change VCAT Percenta Change requests on reviews ge of on appeals ge of on previous total previous total previous year requests year (%) requests year 03–04 20,896 4% 411 1.97% 12% 104 0.50% -10% 02–03 20,063 2% 368 1.83% -18% 115 0.57% -6% 01–02 19,652 14% 447 2.27% 14% 122 0.62% 13% 00–01 17,224 21% 393 2.28% 52% 108 0.63% -24% 99–00 14,260 9% 258 1.81% -4% 143 1.00% -10% 98–99 13,082 7% 270 2.06% -15% 159 1.22% -48% 97–98 12,195 0% 319 2.62% 11% 304 2.49% 61% 96–97 12,211 13% 288 2.36% -1% 189 1.55% 23% Source: Adapted from Attorney-General of Victoria, 2004:6 Table 13: Decisions on FoI Requests Year Granted full access Granted part access Requests denied 2003–04 75% 23% 2% 2002–03 75% 23% 2% 2001–0211 68% 19% 2% 2000–01 68% 18% 2% 1999–2000 68% 20% 3% 1998–99 68% 18% 3% 1997–98 64% 21% 5% 1996–97 66% 19% 6% Source: Adapted from Attorney-General of Victoria, 2004:7; 2003:7; 2002:7; 2001:7; 2000:6; 1999:4; 1998:5

For applications denied or granted in part, the Committee notes (as indicated in Table 14), that categories of exemptions cited have remained relatively static, with the exceptions of: • Personal affairs, reflecting changes in the privacy environment in Victoria following the introduction of the Information Privacy Act 2000 • A marked decline in the number of applications refused in whole or part under the confidential information category.

11 A discrepancy in the statistics reported for 2001–02 exists between the 2002 and 2003 reports. The figures used in this table are drawn from the primary reporting document (2002).

41 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Table 14: Exemptions Cited 1999–2004, as Percentage of Total FoI Requests Internal Exempt by Personal Law Confidential Year working another affairs enforcement information documents enactment 2003–04 17.28% 5.42% 4.20% 3.78% 3.76% 2002–03 17.05% 5.79% 3.95% 4.04% 4.27% 2001–02 19.07% 5.74% 3.46% 3.46% 6.18% 2000–01 14.58% 4.63% 3.08% 2.57% 7.50% 1999–2000 15.92% 4.45% 3.13% 2.61% 6.19% Source: Adapted from Attorney-General of Victoria, 2004:8; 2003:8; 2001:9

At one level, this reflects a positive response by Government departments and agencies in meeting the administrative and ethical challenges of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. The Committee considers the decline in exemptions under the confidential information category as particularly positive, given sustained criticisms that the State Government had applied commercial- in-confidence arrangements with private sector firms too liberally, as a means of evading the spirit of the legislation (Curran, 2002; Baragwanath, 1999; K. Geiselhart, Submission No. a13).

However, the Committee also recognises that FoI is not an area of democratic governance that can be assessed simply through reliance on raw statistics. The Committee notes a number of areas of expressed concern regarding the operation of FoI in Victoria, namely that: • The current Government has not placed FoI as a priority area for continuous improvement, regardless of stated intentions to do so (editorials, The Age, 22/02/05, 11/05/04) • There have been undue delays in meeting the required forty-five day timeframe for FoI processing (Australian Press Council, 2002; Baker, 2004, Baker, 2003a; Ricketson, 2002) • There is political interference in the administration of FoI (Baker, 2003a).

Each of these criticisms, and particularly the last, would be of concern in any democratic system. The Committee observes that the introduction of FoI in Victoria has been both an administrative and legal reform, but also marks a process of cultural change: from a culture of official secrecy in Government that can be attributed to the history of Victorian democracy and its origins in the Westminster system (De Maria, 2002:170), to an open and accountable Government that must balance FoI against necessary issues of personal privacy and security and the need for due process that sometimes necessitates confidentiality (such as the deliberations of Cabinet). CURRENT REVIEW OF THE ACT BY THE OMBUDSMAN VICTORIA

The Committee notes that the Ombudsman Victoria is currently undertaking a specific review of the performance of Government departments and agencies in meeting their legal requirements under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and that the Ombudsman is currently completing a report into allegations made by a Member of Parliament (MP) that Government departments are unduly delaying responses to FoI.

42 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

In considering the issue of FoI and its relationship with ICTs, the Committee considers that: • It would be prudent for the outcomes of the Ombudsman’s investigations and the Inquiry’s recommendations to be considered concurrently by the Government of Victoria, in order to ensure that proposed changes to the Act (if any) proceed in an orderly manner • The review by the Ombudsman will consider a range of issues associated with the effective administration of the Act (organisational culture, changes to the legal compliance regime, staffing levels and skill base) that have been beyond the capacity of this Inquiry.

Given this review, the remainder of this section of the report focuses on the ways in which ICTs can be employed to improve the administration of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

Recommendation 23 Given the importance of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 to democratic accountability, Recommendations 24 to 32 should be considered in conjunction with the outcome of the current review of the Act by the Ombudsman and in light of possible recommendations contained in the report on an investigation concerning allegations that departments are unduly delaying responses to Freedom of Information requests. • Where appropriate, Recommendations 24 to 32 should be incorporated into a reform package by the Attorney-General. ACCESS TO FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

The first area of interest to the Committee represents the effectiveness of the current system of FoI in providing and facilitating access to the FoI system. The report considers this with regard to two issues: • The extent to which sufficient and appropriate information about FoI is provided to the public • Means by which the public can make FoI requests. Section 2 of the FoI Act and Technological Change

The foundation of an effective FoI system is the provision of a basic level of information that facilitates requests. This requires: • Applicants to understand their legal rights • Applicants to be informed of, and understand, the due process • Applicants to have a specific or general awareness of what is available to them.

To provide this foundation, Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 requires that each Government department and agency provide a range of information to the public. This information must be made available to the public in the organisation’s annual report, which should include: • An organisational overview of the department or agency, indicating its decision-making powers

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• A statement of the category of documents maintained or held by the organisation • A list of literature available by subscription (fee and free) • FoI procedural information • Details of access points for information held by the organisation, such as a library.

In considering the Act, the Committee received evidence that this foundation is unsound. It was the view of the Deputy Ombudsman that:

Victorian departments and agencies have substantial amounts of information on their websites … only this information in our experience and in our preliminary view to date is not always easily found or accessed by the public. It is worth noting at this point that most Victorian government agencies are currently not complying with Part 2 of the Act in all respects, and many of them have not done so for some time. (J. Taylor, Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 24)

In considering this serious concern, the Committee was cognisant of the fact that the amount of information generally available to the public had expanded in recent years. As the Act, as a product of the technology of the 1980s, is based within a paradigm that largely envisaged paper- document management processes, the Committee questioned whether this non-compliance represented bad faith or simply reflected an organisational operating environment vastly different from that envisaged by the drafters.

On this point, Dr C. Noone of the Department of Justice observed that:

To the extent to which Part 2 envisages paper production and paper publication, I think it would be fair to say that in some circumstances it is not necessarily in paper publication form that departments are complying. It is a general proposition that the spirit is being complied with in the sense that the documents are available. Whether or not they are strictly published in the sense envisaged by Part 2 of the Act I think is perhaps a prospect for where the Act might be clearer; that publication can also mean by other technology. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 32)

In considering the implications of this, the Committee finds that the drafters of the Act could not have envisaged the explosive growth of publicly available information online. If one considers the requirement to list all “categories of documents” and “subscription services and free mailing lists”, a large department may now – with electronic publishing and listserve systems – be able to compile a list longer than a conventional annual report.

Requiring massive lists of information be printed in the annual report of any Government agency or department would appear to be counter-productive, and would bury important performance and financial information in what would be an unsearchable brick of paper.

The Committee considers that providing a useful guide for FoI and an overview of available information in the annual report would appear to be appropriate in an age of information abundance, where this summary provides clear reference to the complete information set available online, and by request through more traditional means (see also: Access to Online-only Information in Print, p. 36). Given the dynamic nature of some aspects of online information (such

44 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy as the establishment and retirement of specific-purpose email lists), the Committee regards an online index as appropriate, if accessible through a centralised site, promoted and effectively maintained.

Recommendation 24 Section 2 of the Freedom of Information Act should be amended to require Victorian departments and agencies to: • Require all agencies (as defined in the Freedom of Information Act) to publish the information listed in section 7 on the World Wide Web. • Amend the existing requirement for this information to be published in their annual report, to state that a summary of this information should be provided in the annual report, with clear references to means by which the public can gain access to the complete list.

Enhancing Access via FOI Online

The Committee recognises that the Government of Victoria has introduced a number of initiatives to improve the system of public administration of FoI, such as the introduction of the “FOI Online” website (www.foi.vic.gov.au). This site serves as a single gateway for accessing participating agencies’ FoI application and payment procedures (Attorney-General of Victoria, 2004:4). This one-stop-shop reflects good practice in electronic government, providing an alternative service point to facilitate access to FoI.

FOI Online provides access to information about the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and the processes by which a citizen can make a request, provides contact details for Government departments and agencies, allows printable application forms to be downloaded and also provides an online request service.

Of the three hundred and seventy-eight State Government bodies subject to the Act, ten State Government departments and Victoria Police allow access to FoI via electronic application. The departments currently included are: • Department of Education and Training • Department of Human Services • Department of Infrastructure • Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development • Department of Justice • Department of Premier and Cabinet • Department of Primary Industries • Department of Sustainability and Environment • Department of Treasury and Finance • Department for Victorian Communities.

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Evidence presented by the Department of Justice shows that take up of the online service remains low, with only four percent of all requests coming through the online gateway (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 30). The Committee observed that, of the participating organisations, only five are in the “top thirty” list of FoI recipients (the thirty agencies in Victoria which receive eighty percent of all applications under the Act).

These high volume agencies are: • Victoria Police • Department of Human Services • Department of Infrastructure • Department of Justice • Department of Education and Training.

The Department of Justice expressed the view that increased participation in the electronic lodgement process on FOI Online is a matter best left for individual agencies to determine, based on their own cost-benefit analyses, and that some agencies who receive very few applications would have little reason to adopt the service approach (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 30). However, given the tendency for a small number of agencies to receive and process the bulk of FoI requests, the Committee considers that this approach is too ad hoc to provide a consistent service improvement approach to access to FoI in areas where demand clearly exists.

Mr J. Taylor, Deputy Ombudsman, noted that:

… there is a need for applicants to be able to make a request online, particularly if it is a simple request relating to their own documents. An issue that then arises is how can an applicant pay a fee if they are applying online? My answer is that we book plane tickets and theatre tickets online these days and pay a fee without any problems; so I do not see that there is any issue with the technology. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 27)

Thus, the Committee considered that, just as Government departments and agencies are required to participate in other whole-of-government portals (such as www.vic.gov.au) there should be a requirement for agencies with high levels of FoI requests to be included in the electronic lodgement process on FOI Online.

Recommendation 25 Participation in FOI Online should be extended, with the objective of incorporating those agencies that collectively receive more than seventy-five percent of total applications under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, based on statistics from the last reporting year. • This recommendation should not be interpreted as precluding the participation by agencies in smaller annual Freedom of Information requests based on their own business case assessments.

46 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

DISCLOSURE OUTSIDE OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

In addition to the facilitation of applications made under the Act, the Committee received evidence regarding the Act’s value in stimulating information disclosure without the formal process of application and review. In a very narrow sense, the introduction of FoI can be seen to have added “red tape” (procedural requirements) to a process that was already underway prior to the introduction of the legislation.

The original drafters of the Act in Victoria were cognisant of this potential, and therefore drafted the legislation in such a way as to recognise and encourage the continued and extended release of information without unnecessary procedure or delay. This is made very clear in the Freedom of Information Act 1982, which states in section 16 that:

(1) Ministers and agencies shall administer this Act with a view to making the maximum amount of government information promptly and inexpensively available to the public.

(2) Nothing in this Act is intended to prevent or discourage Ministers and agencies from publishing or giving access to documents (including exempt documents), otherwise than as required by this Act, where they can properly do so or are required by law to do so.

In essence, therefore, the question of disclosure outside of the Act is a question of the extent to which the VPS has embraced the underlying principles of the Act – openness in Government – with procedural requirements and exemptions only used to assure the public interest.

Thus, while Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 requires that certain types of information be made available to the public without resort to an FoI application, the Committee was also interested in means by which the Act may recognise and encourage disclosure outside of the Act.

In considering this issue, the Committee considered recent developments in the area of FoI. In the United Kingdom, the recent introduction of FoI legislation (Freedom of Information Act 2000) includes a requirement for public authorities subject to the Act to develop and maintain a “publication scheme” (Information Commissioner’s Office, 2003) that specifies and publicly articulates: • Information the organisation is legally required to publish • Information the organisation regularly publishes • Information the organisation should publish in the public interest • Processes by which the publication scheme will be administered, including information regarding fees and charges for information.

The emphasis of the scheme is on developing a “culture of openness” (5), with the objective of significantly exceeding minimum information release requirements mandated by law. The objective of this provision is two-fold: • To increase public access to information as a democratic normative value • To decrease the costs of administering FoI requirements, through the automatic release of as much information as possible.

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As discussed in Section 2 of the FoI Act and Technological Change (above) aspects of this approach are currently captured in section 7 of the Victorian Freedom of Information Act 1982; however, the UK legislation provides for a different administrative mechanism, which may have important implications for openness in Government. These administrative differences lie in two areas: • While the relevant department or agency develops the contents of the publication scheme, a third party approves the contents: the Office of the Information Commissioner • The contents of the publication scheme cannot be changed at the discretion of the department or agency, even for those documents that do not have a specific legal requirement for release. Modifications to the publication scheme may only be undertaken in consultation with the Information Commissioner.

The importance of these two differences is in the removal of discretionary release of publications listed within the publication scheme. The objective of these provisions is to ensure that information of public interest is released, and that departments and agencies that release information regularly, but are under no strict legal obligation to do so, do not use discretionary release to suppress information in one publication that has been released previously due to political pressure, or because of negative performance results.

The Committee considered this approach as having the potential to provide democratic benefits and more open government. However, the Committee also observed that, given that the United Kingdom legislation only came into force on 1 January 2005, evidence of the value of this approach remains unproven. Thus, rather than adopt an approach requiring the establishment of an equivalent position to the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner, with all the costs associated with establishing a new agency, the Victorian Government should consider a modified version of this approach which sees: • The introduction of limits on changing patterns of discretionary information release • Clear reporting to the Department of Justice to monitor the impact and value of this innovation.

Recommendation 26 The Freedom of Information Act 1982 should be amended to require each Government department and agency to introduce and maintain a “publication scheme” as per the United Kingdom’s Freedom of Information Act 2000, with the following modifications: • The relevant Minister should approve the publication scheme. • The publication scheme should be revised and modified on an annual basis, with variations only permitted after a publication has been listed for one calendar year. Recommendation 26 – continued • This publication scheme should be published on the department and agency websites, and referenced in their annual reports, and be reported to the Department of Justice as part of the Department’s annual Freedom of Information reporting requirements.

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Clearly, the effectiveness of this approach will require review, with the possibility that an equivalent body to the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner may need to be introduced in Victoria if: • Departmental and agency reporting to the Attorney-General indicates low uptake of the publication scheme approach across Government • There is limited use by the public of the system of publication (either demand for new information made available online, or limited applications made by the community to have items listed on the department or agency’s publication scheme

Thus, the Committee considers it prudent to review the effectiveness of this proposed innovation after a reasonable period of implementation, be undertaken by the Parliament. The Committee regards the establishment of another oversight body for FoI imprudent at this time, possibly leading to a proliferation of regulatory bodies in Victoria with small staff and organisational capacity, but notes that latter consideration of an expanded role for the Ombudsman Victoria may be an option following this review.

Recommendation 27 The Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee should undertake a review of the effectiveness of the proposed amendments to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 after five years of the operations of publication schemes. This review should consider: • The effectiveness of the introduction of this approach • Means to support public access to information under the provision • The need for a third-party regulator of the content of these schemes. EMAIL AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

While electronic mail (email) has been recognised as a “public record” by the Victorian Government Solicitor, and is therefore captured by the scope of the Act (PROV, 2002:1), concerns were raised before the Inquiry that the State Government of Victoria may not be effectively preserving these important public records in a systematic manner.

Speaking before the Committee, the Deputy Ombudsman observed that:

Of concern to us is that very few departments have the capacity to adequately track all correspondence, including electronic communications. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 25)

On previous occasions, the PROV has noted problems with existing email software in use in Government. These problems relate to: • Limited ability to store and archive email in a systematic manner • Difficulties in integrating email clients with electronic document management systems (EDMS) • ICT policies that allow for the automatic deletion of old email stored on email servers.

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Email is an increasingly important form of public record, being one of the most frequently employed forms of online communication (National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Economics and Statistics Administration, 2001) due to its relative simplicity, speed and clear replacement for conventional mail (Caslon Analytics, 2005). Government departments and agencies around Australia have recognised the desire by the public to communicate via email (Australian Public Service Commission, 2003:13, 16, 58), and email use by public servants in the State Government is widespread. This has resulted in an increase in the overall volume of correspondence, with the ease and immediacy of email facilitating ongoing discussions between public servants and their respective interlocutors. Overall, the careful preservation of relevant email is required for the effective operations of public agencies.

In democratic terms, email as evidence has been of particular relevance to the oversight of Government decision-making internationally, with some recent examples including: • British intelligence officer Katharine Gun’s release of an email reportedly sent by the National Security Agency of the US’s Central Intelligence Agency to colleagues in the United Kingdom regarding intelligence collection on United Nations Security Council members in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq (MacAskill, Norton-Taylor and Borger, 2004) • Email generated within the British Government was instrumental in investigation of circumstances surrounding the death of weapons inspector David Kelly, the creation of the pro-war case of British participation in the Iraq invasion, Mr Kelly’s relationship with the media and accusations of political tampering in evidence provided to justify the war (the “Hutton Report”; Hutton, 2004) • Email released by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation under FoI revealed the authorised use of torture by military investigators in the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba (American Civil Liberties Union, 2004).

While the volume of correspondence created by the popularity of email is cited as problematic for the storage of email, the Committee notes that there exists a perceptual problem associated with the use of email, particularly resulting from the informality that the electronic medium tends to encourage. Thus, while the informality of exchanges between senior policy makers has been beneficial in providing the public with an insight into decision making processes, informality is not without its problems.

There is a range of examples in which the public release of some internal email has been of embarrassment to some governments. Examples include: • The dismissal of Special Transport Advisor Jo Moore following public release in the United Kingdom of a callous email in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Ms Moore suggested that the attacks were a good opportunity for the release of information damaging to the government (British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), 2003b) • An English teenager was inadvertently added to a military mailing list containing classified information (BBC, 2003a), due to the introduction of a spelling error in an email address by a British military officer

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• The former Mayor of Hobsons Bay in Victoria resigned after allegations that he used municipal computers to send emails to local newspapers under false names (Millar, 2004).

Because of the widely recognised value of email in corporate and administrative environments, the Committee observes that strides have been made in introducing software that allows for the systematic storage and archiving of messages, but notes that further work is clearly needed in this area.

The appropriate archiving and storage of email has two importance advantages: • It provides an appropriate record of correspondence undertaken by the Government for future use though FoI and archiving (oversight) • It underscores the need for a professional approach to communication by public employees.

At present, the Committee acknowledges the problems identified by the Ombudsman, but considers that these may be moderated by the current process of phased implementation of VERS (see Document Storage and Discovery, below, p. 55), and the use of corporate IT systems to archive email (such as through the Lotus Notes system employed widely across the VPS). As current estimates indicate that the implementation of this system will not be completed until approximately 2008, the Committee considers imperative to the effectiveness of FoI that current processes for storing email be improved in the intervening period.

In considering the appropriate action to be taken by the Government in the interim, the Committee notes that there is some international evidence suggesting that moves to capture email more systematically can be counter-productive. Media reports from the United Kingdom in 2004 highlighted that that country’s Prime Minister ordered large numbers of emails to be erased prior to the introduction of the new United Kingdom Freedom of Information Act 2000 (The Scotsman, 2004).

This decision has been interpreted as the Executive undermining the introduction of new information access rights in that country. At this point in time, however, the Committee notes that it is unclear whether this document destruction reflects an attempt to undermine the spirit of the new legislation or a housekeeping process to remove extraneous and personal communications prior to bulk archiving.

Thus, rather than introduce a set of rigorous legal requirements prior to the implementation of the enabling VERS infrastructure, the Committee considers that interim policy and guidance is required. At present, it appears that all Government departments and agencies have in place some form of guidance document to staff highlighting FoI requirements for email. These policies normally form part of general staff policy guidelines covering the appropriate use of electronic communications.

One example of this is the Acceptable Use Policy of the Victorian Department of Education and Training (DET). The DET policy (2002) states:

17.1 Electronic Communications are public records and subject to the provisions of the Public Records Act 1973.

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17.2 DE&T record management practices for management of Email messages must comply with the Interim Guidelines for the management of Electronic Mail messages of September 1999 ("The Guidelines"). All users of Email must be familiar with DE&T's 'Recordkeeping Policy and Guidelines, June 1999'.

17.3 Email messages that are routine or of a short term facilitative nature should be deleted when reference ceases, as distinct from ongoing business records such as policy or operational records. For more information see The Guidelines and DE&T checklists for the retention or disposal of electronic messages for DE&T.

17.4 Retention of messages fills up large amounts of storage space on the network and can slow down performance. As few messages as possible should be maintained in a user's Email account.

Similarly, the Victorian Casino Gaming Authority (1999:5–6) provides a policy document that states:

Email is a public record when sent or received by a person employed in a public office (Public Records Act 1973). Email is accessible under the Freedom of Information Act and may be admissible as evidence under the Evidence Act 1958.

Where emails are deemed important enough to retain, they are to be printed, registered and attached to an official file. The hard copy then becomes the original and the electronic version the backup.

Examples of email that can form official correspondence are: • documents which have been the basis for a decision, policy creation or other action; • file notations for email messages; • progress email messages on actions initiated or agreed verbally; and • email by an individual in their official capacity representing department or Authority business/policy.

It is the view of the Committee that policies like these are somewhat inadequate, either being out of date (e.g. requiring printing for retention of electronic records) or non-specific about actions to be taken to comply with best practice for electronic record retention and destruction.

Recommendation 28 The Public Record Office Victoria should issue the whole-of-government email storage and retention policy and guidance document proposed in 2002 as a matter of priority. This document should:

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Recommendation 28 – continued • Clearly state the relationship between email and Freedom of Information and the importance of a systematic retention strategy for these documents. • Note the relationship between the policy and Victoria Electronic Records Strategy compliance (interim). • Provide the user with a clear “best-practice” template policy for customisation at the departmental or agency level. • Provide line managers and staff with clear checklists for action.

In addition, the Committee notes that the practice of automatically “purging” (deleting) old messages from full email accounts by some departments and agencies is an inappropriate response to difficulties in managing storage space on email servers. Just as it would be unlikely for any Government department or agency to maintain a policy requirement for support staff to discard unopened physical mail because of storage space in a mailbox, ICT policies that allow for automatic purging of email fail to recognise the increasing importance of this form of communication for public administration and good governance.

Thus, the Committee considers that communication storage and retention policies should be technologically neutral to the highest degree feasible, to the extent that best-practice handling requirements are standardised across media forms. This has advantages in the operations of FoI and general document-retention policies in Government, but also provides a single policy objective that can be applied across existing and future communications channels.

Recommendation 29

No Victorian Government email server should automatically purge email. An officer responsible for the account prior to deletion should review all sorted email on Government servers.

Instant Messaging as an Emerging Corporate Tool

In considering the issue of FoI compliance and email, the Committee also examined the impact of emerging ICTs on FoI administrative practices. The portable and instantaneous nature of Instant Messaging (IM), combined with moves toward m-Government, may see a strong growth in the use of mobile devices and IM software in the Victorian Government over the coming years. The Committee considers that, like email, IM is clearly covered by the Freedom of Information Act 1982, and does need to be managed in accordance with the appropriate practices of document retention, indexing, storage and destruction.

The growth of mobile email devices in government use is well documented, with the national governments of the United States of America and Canada seeing strong uptake of PDA-mobile phone hybrid devices over the past few years (Fulk, 2005) among elected representatives, their staff and senior administrators. Following this trend, the Victoria Parliament adopted the BlackBerry PDA-mobile telephone device in 2004.

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While there is no evidence that desktop IM has yet become a popular application within the VPS, there are indicators from the corporate environment of the popularity of this form of communication (Salamone, 2002) in business and administrative environments. Clearly, should IM become a popular tool for Government-to-citizen or internal communications, appropriate management of this technology for archival and oversight purposes will be required.

A present, IM clients such as Skype, MSN Messenger, Trillian and others provide for textual messages to be logged to a file. These capacities are relatively basic compared with advances in email archiving, and moves by software developers to establish a market for corporate-grade IM platforms have not been as successful as the adoption rate would indicate (Darrow, 2004)12. Therefore, the Committee recognises a clear risk in that the adoption of this form of technology (like our experience with email) may outstrip appropriate planning for archiving, oversight and application under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

Given uncertainty about the potential for IM to be widely used within the VPS, the Committee considers a practical approach to monitoring FoI and related archiving issues be adopted by the Government to: • Monitor developments in this area and adjust policy accordingly • Provide guidance to Victorian public employees about the discoverability of IM logs through the FoI process (or as evidence in a legal context) and the appropriate means by which IM sessions should be stored and preserved to ensure effective discovery under FoI.

Clearly, should any enterprise-wide implementation of IM technology be undertaken for the State of Victoria, the Committee would expect the OCIO or administrating agency to consider the implications and capacity of any acquisition on archival and FoI practices within the State.

Recommendation 30 As part of the implementation of Recommendation 29, the Public Record Office Victoria should consider developing an interim guidance document for Victorian Government departments and agencies on the storage and archiving of Instant Messaging log files. • The growth in use of Instant Messaging should be monitored by the Office of the Chief Information Officer to determine whether a more comprehensive policy approach is required. TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION PROCESS

The Committee recognises that the shift in Government record keeping from paper-based records to electronic resources has provided new challenges to the administration of the Act in Victoria, but also recognises that the creation and retention of Government information in electronic format is beneficial in providing automated means by which information can be stored, indexed and retrieved.

12 The Committee notes that a number of corporate-grade IM platforms have entered the market in recent years.

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This issue concerns two points: • The capacity for technology to speed the discovery of information held by Government departments and agencies • The capacity of technology to speed the release of information located for an applicant. Document Storage and Discovery

The Committee has already identified important work in developing better standards for document storage and discovery, through metadata implementation and records handling under the VERS program of the PROV (see Government Publication of Documents as PDFs, p. 31). The Committee considers this project will provide particular benefit in accelerating the processing of FoI applications. As the PROV notes:

VERS implementation in Victorian Government agencies is expected to make the fulfilment of FoI requests substantially less burdensome in the future. VERS records, being uniform in format and containing the specified metadata, are likely to be easier to search for and recover than ad hoc electronic records, or even paper-based records, which may be physically dispersed. (PROV, 2005)

The Committee is confident that this initiative will be beneficial to the overall administration of the Act following complete implementation. Electronic Reading Rooms

In the United States of America, the introduction of the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments 1996 introduced the concept of the “electronic reading room” (Reno, 1999). An electronic reading room is an online repository for documents released under FoI requests, where such documents are not subject to privacy limitations (e.g. personal information). The intention of this provision was to expand the amount of government information available online and to reduce costs in administering the FoI through reduction of duplicate FoI requests.

The advantages of these repositories lie in: • Incremental accretion of publicly accessible government information • Reduced costs of administration and distribution of government documents.

In considering the value of electronic reading rooms for Victoria, the Committee observed that: • According to statistics released by the Attorney-General of Victoria (2004:6), the majority of FoI requests were for non-personal information and information that may have a wider interest than simply the applicant • The establishment of the VERS Digital Archive will provide the capacity for the functions of electronic reading rooms to be developed in Victoria, without mandating this activity at the departmental and agency level (as is the case in the United States).

Given this last point, the Committee did not consider it effective to make a recommendation to establish electronic reading rooms for Victorian Government departments and agencies. The

55 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee number of agencies and the disaggregated nature of agency specific reading rooms would not appear to be cost effective, particularly given the establishment of the VERS Digital Archive.

However, the Committee notes that the principle of ensuring online access to non-personal documents released under FoI is sound, and would provide clear benefits to the public in increasing the level of Government information online and reduce redundant requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

Recommendation 31

Electronic Redacting Technology

Redacting is the process of editing a record. Redacting is a crucial element of the work of FoI officers, allowing documents to be released with exempt elements removed (such as issues associated with commercial-in-confidence or privacy). Traditionally, redacting has been a manual process, with a public servant using a black marker or similar to delete material prior to release. Often this has required multiple copies of a document to be created (an original, an edited version, a copy of the edited version).

With the release of Government records as electronic files, the FoI officer needs to take care to ensure that the material to be excluded is permanently deleted, not simply concealed by the software package being used (for example, that the excluded material is not hidden behind a removable image or stored within the document as a rollback history; Lewis, 1993).

Electronic redacting is the process of modifying an electronic document to remove elements contained within it without necessarily producing a physical copy, or creating an electronic version from the original and editing the document onscreen.

The State Government of Queensland has recently reported that the introduction of electronic redacting technology has had a positive development in the efficient administration of FoI in that state, with specific benefits in terms of: • Reduced consumables o Paper, stationary and toners o Machinery “wear and tear” o Labour (photocopying and stamping FoI documents)

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• Reduced costs in the processing of FoI applications • Reduced timeframes in the processing of applications • Reduced paper wastage • Improved service delivery • Improved applicant satisfaction • Ability to electronically incorporate additional information into documents with the added benefit of increased accuracy by eliminating the need to retype lengthy documents • Ability to turn an image into computer editable text or to completely eliminate the image from the document. (Cottle, 2004:3–4)

Across Government, these benefits are estimated as saving the State of Queensland over $4 million annually.

The Committee notes that the Department for Communities (DVC) has recently acquired this technology. The Committee believes it would be valuable for all public agencies covered by the Act if the reported benefits of this approach from the Queensland experience could be confirmed and quantified in application in this State. If so, the Committee regards the adoption of electronic redacting technology as an appropriate enterprise-level decision that should be fostered through the OCIO.

Recommendation 32 The current application of electronic redacting software in the Department for Victorian Communities should be reviewed by the Department of Justice, in co-operation with Public Record Office Victoria, the Ombudsman Victoria and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Should a positive benefit to the administration of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 be identified through the use of this technology, the Office of the Chief Information Officer should be tasked with co-ordinating State-wide implementation. • The outcomes of this assessment should be communicated to the Local Government sector.

Encouraging Community Developed Online Content

In addition to the effective provision of Government information online, the Committee recognises the importance of an active civil society in the creation of content that enriches local communities and supports democratic expression.

Internationally, the rise of ICTs has been identified as a powerful driver behind establishing rich sources of information online. However concerns have been expressed about the loss of local content. The importance of ensuring that existing online resources remain open to public use and the fostering of alternative sources of content have been identified as among the challenges facing governments and communities in ensuring that the widest possible amount of information remains publicly accessible (Kranich, 2004).

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Alternatively, the low cost of entry into the world of online publishing has encouraged others to speculate about a new era of information expansion and free expression. The presence of active local online publishers of material that is freely available is often referred to as the development of the “information commons”. This commons has democratic benefits to the public as consumers and producers of information. THE ROLE OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES

It has long been recognised that public libraries are central institutions in democratic society. The role of libraries to foster and support democracy works through the provision of information to the public and as avenues by which important information can be protected and stored over the long term. In addition, requirements in the Libraries Act 1988 requiring the lodgement of locally published works with the State Library of Victoria (SLV) reflects the recognition by Government of the importance of preserving local content for future generations.

While the Committee recognises the very positive role of libraries around the State in meeting this democratic function, in evidence presented to the Inquiry there exists some concern that public libraries may be unprepared for the changes that have surrounded the development of our digital media environment. Whereas lodgement requirements for books and other published physical materials served the preservation requirements of Victoria well, the popularity of the Internet places new challenges on libraries. These challenges are: • High volumes of content are published online, restricting the capacity of libraries to capture and preserve them • This content is dynamic and often changes regularly • Authors are often not professional publishers, with limited understanding of the need and value of preservation, or understanding of how their material may be preserved • The exact location of authorship is sometimes unclear, or authors are spread across a range of jurisdictions.

The submission by the Centre for Community Networking Research (Submission No. a5a) argued that the emphasis of the SLV on the preservation of physical materials (such as books) presents a problem in aligning the Library with its stewardship of VICNET (see Specific Concerns Regarding VICNET, p. 66).

Similarly, evidence presented to the Committee by the State Librarian recognised a problem in this area. Ms A. Schwirtlich, the State Librarian, stated:

Library legislation around Australia and around the world is very good at specifying the need for libraries to collect in the printed world and specify objects very well – books, manuscripts, pictures, photographs, et cetera – but they are not technologically neutral. (Minutes of Evidence, 16/02/05, p. 16)

The Committee observed that the SLV, irrespective of this problem, had shifted fourteen percent of its acquisition budget to the collection of electronic resources, and is a participant in a national project to capture and store websites of national importance. Projects such as the Pandora Archive (http://pandora.nla.gov.au/) reflect how libraries have responded to the problem of information

58 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy impermanence online, particularly where the content is generated by organisations that have limited resources to maintain extensive archives because of cost.

During the Parliamentary delegation to the United States of America, the Committee met with Ms Rita Henley Jensen, the Editor-in-Chief of Women’s eNews (http://www.womensenews.org/), an online news service designed to generate and distribute news related to women’s issues around the world. As a non-profit organisation, the service has been effective in developing a rich source of current affairs reporting of interest to women around the world, and has been innovative in reaching new niches (e.g. through the recent launch of an Arabic service).

In discussions with Ms Jensen, she identified problems in ensuring that material collected was adequately stored and archived by the organisation, with limited financial and technical resources. This recognises that community-based and philanthropic media organisations often have difficulties developing robust archiving of old material.

Given that the State Government has recognised the need for a centralised archive of its own electronic records, the Committee considers that the need for a public archive of online content of significance to Victorians is necessary and should be supported. The Committee considers that the SLV, as a centralised information gateway, provides an excellent vehicle whereby storage and archiving of online content of public importance can be preserved.

Recommendation 33

It is unclear whether the problems identified by the CCNR and State Librarian are legislative or cultural in basis. Under the definitions included within the Libraries Act 1988, “library materials” are defined as encompassing electronic information, albeit in somewhat archaic terms. The Act (s3) defines library material as including:

… books, periodicals, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, films, sound recordings, musical scores, maps, charts, plans, pictures, photographs, prints and other recorded material, whether in writing or in some other form, and whether stored on tape, microfilm, microfiche, disc or any other method of information storage

And a “publication” to encompass:

… the whole or any part of—

(a) any printed book, periodical, newspaper, pamphlet, musical score, map, chart, plan, picture, photograph, print and any other printed matter; and

(b) any film (including a microfilm and a microfiche), negative, tape, disc, sound track and any other device in which one or more visual images, sounds or other data are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced from it

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The Committee considers that, while current definitions contained within this legislation to reasonably allow the collection of electronic resources, clarification of the definitions associated with “library materials” would be appropriate given the concerns of the State Librarian. The Committee considers that the use of definitions from the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000 governing information and information systems should be incorporated within the Libraries Act 1988 to widen the scope of this definition and reduce ambiguity.

Recommendation 34 The Libraries Act 1988 should be amended to define “library materials” as “information”, moving technology specific references in the existing definition to a subset of library materials and incorporating two additional definitions in the Act as per the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000: • “Information” means information in the form of data, text, images or sound. • “Information system” means a system for generating, sending, receiving, storing or otherwise processing electronic communications. MEDIA DIVERSITY ISSUES

One of the concerns raised in submissions to the Inquiry is the concentration of ownership of commercial media, its impact of this and the resultant wide-scale content syndication (K. Geiselhart, Submission No. 13).

Syndication of commercial news content can reduce the level of media coverage of local issues as media companies reduce high-cost content creation activities (such as news creation) and replace them with programming that can be replayed across their media holdings. This tendency has been of concern around the world, and is regulated in Australia by the Federal Government, which controls media ownership and sets minimum standards for local content on free-to-air and subscription-based television (Given, 1998).

In 2002 the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) undertook an investigation into the closure of news bureaux in some regional cities around Australia (Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales). This review also considered the impact of monopoly broadcasting in regional Victoria, and is therefore of relevance to this Inquiry.

In its final report, the ABA concluded that (2002:9–11): • The quality of news broadcast in these areas had increased since the introduction of the Federal Government’s policy of regional aggregation • There has been a decline in competing broadcast news services since the mid-1990s • There has been a significant decline in the level of local information broadcast in the four aggregated markets.

The ABA considered, however, that regional Victoria had performed comparatively well over recent years, with the volume of local news broadcast per week doubling in the period between 1991 and 2002 (ABA, 2002:40). Given that television and radio remain primary sources of political

60 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy information for Victorians (as indicated in Part I), the Committee regards this outcome as positive overall.

However, the Committee notes that, since 2002, the Federal Government has unsuccessfully moved to change those laws regulating cross-media ownership (Australian Associated Press (AAP), 2003). The Committee notes that these changes may have increased the concentration of ownership of commercial media, encouraging greater syndication by vertically integrated media companies. The changing composition of the Senate this year (2005) may see the re-introduction of this legislation.

While there are clear reasons Victoria should be concerned by changes to this system, there are limited avenues by which the State can affect this area of policy making directly. However, the Committee contends that the State Government of Victoria has a clear oversight role to play in ensuring that local news production, particularly in rural and regional Victoria, is sustained and improved. The State of Victoria has avenues for action through the regulator, from July 2005 the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Public Broadcasting in Victoria

While the commercial media environment remains of concern to the Committee, the public broadcasting environment appears to be more positive, and has demonstrated a willingness to experiment with new technologies and increased interactivity.

While collecting evidence in the United Kingdom, the Committee of the 54th Parliament observed positive work in developing a new relationship between public broadcasters and the Internet, with the BBC developing its iCan service (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ican/), which allows citizens to form networks and groups to “take action” on issues of local concern.

In Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Commission has been proactive in developing online discussion forum (ABC, http://www2b.abc.net.au/communities/) associated with its programming, taking advantage of the broad reach of its broadcasting to draw citizens into deeper online discussions of the issues raised.

Thus, while government support for national broadcasters like the ABC and Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) remains an issue for the Federal Government to consider, the State of Victoria has an interest in these services being maintained and improved.

The Committee notes that the Parliament has over many years had an ongoing concern for the maintenance of the quality and coverage of the national public broadcasters. The Committee notes and reiterates the findings of the 1999 Inquiry into the Effects of Government Funded National Broadcasting on Victoria, in which the Economic Development Committee of the 53rd Parliament concluded that attempts to rationalise the activities of the ABC in Sydney would have untoward impacts on the quality of democratic media coverage in this State.

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Recommendation 35

State-sponsored Toolset Development

In considering the capacity for Victorians to access public information online, the Inquiry considered the availability of software to support the creation and distribution of online content. The question of concern to the Committee was whether the State of Victoria could and should encourage the creation of online content through the provision of publishing tools to lower barriers to participation.

In considering this issue, the Committee notes that in the region of Extremadura in Spain, the local government has printed and distributed 80,000 compact disks containing a localised (Spanish- language) version of the Linux Operating System and office productivity tools (Sterling, 2003). Locally, The University of Melbourne distributed copies of the OpenOffice.org 1.x open source package on a trial basis to its students (http://www.openoffice.org/). This free package of productivity tools includes: • A word processor with web-publishing capabilities • A spreadsheet • A presentation editor • A graphics package • A database package (OpenOffice.org, undated).

The Committee recognises that the expansion of open-source and web-based publishing tools such as group webpage services (e.g. Yahoo!, MSN, MeetUp, etc.) and blogging engines (e.g. Blogger, Moveable Type) have accelerated publication of local information by Victorians (Griffiths, 2004). The recent rapid growth in interest in blogs, in particular, and their tendency to be used to make comment in the public domain on matters of public interest, indicates the rapid adoption of online publishing tools within the Victorian community. In addition, most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer storage space for the personal use of their customers and a number of commercially sponsored hosting services provide free or low-cost content hosting (e.g. GeoCities, Tripod, VICNET).

Overall, the need for a general policy to encourage localised community content creation through the development or subsidisation of new software packages is considered by the Committee to be unnecessary. In taking this view, the Committee recognises that VICNET, though its My Connected Community (MC2) portal, maintains a community based publishing system and currently hosts over two and a half thousand community groups through this service. While there is

62 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy a wider range of alternatives currently available than when the portal was established in 2001, the popularity of this service justifies its retention in the medium term.

However, it is the view of the Committee that, had MC2 been proposed today, it would be unlikely that VICNET would have undertaken to build a specific content management and hosting system. Given the range of community hosting services now available, the Committee feels it is no longer necessary to provide a specific CMS and hosting system to achieve the State Government’s policy objectives of providing ICT training and empowerment for community organisations. The advantages of retaining MC2 today only relate to: • Its popularity • The ability to locate many local groups through a centralised portal.

Recommendation 36

It is the view of the Committee that MC2 may be unsustainable in the medium term, with the clear risk that continuing to maintain this service will consume funding available to VICNET for training purposes. In the medium term, the Government (as its primary funding body) may need to consider a migration plan for the communities currently residing on MC2’s CMS and hosting service, though a shift in use of this particular hosting service may make this migration a slow, but natural process.

Recommendation 37

In light of the view that the emphasis on community access programs is currently being refocused to emphasise specific areas of need, the Inquiry considered the role of existing Government programs in providing Internet training and toolsets for the Victorian community.

At the time of writing the fourth round of project funding for MC2 had closed and applications were being considered. This round of funding had focused on: • Seniors • The unemployed and those outside the education system and workforces • People with a disability. (MMV, 2004b)

In correspondence to the Committee, VICNET (State Library of Victoria, Correspondence, 17/03/05) reported continued interest by community groups in this funding round (approximately 70 applications for funding were received).

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Recommendation 38

A number of submissions to the Inquiry suggested the need for a new cultural institution to drive the development of the information commons for Victoria (CCNR, Submission No. a5a; National Forum, Submission No. a23). This view is based on respondents’ experiences with existing public broadcasters and cultural institutions, which have traditionally performed well in focusing on the promotion of a specific media form (libraries and books, galleries and artistic works, broadcasters and programming, etc.), but have not been able to extend this capability to the online environment, due to either specific charter limitations or lack of interest and/or expertise.

However, from the recommendations above, it is clear that the Committee does not regard a new public institution as necessary. This view is based on three observations: 1. The costs associated with the development of such an entity would consume resources from existing institutions, thereby undermining their current activities 2. The notion of a media-specific institution runs counter to general policy considerations that technological neutrality is the best way to generate community content across the range of media available 3. Public institutions have shown a willingness, often in advance of their commercial equivalents, to explore ways in which new media might be used to broaden participation. This willingness to experiment is commonly driven by mandates to serve the public being interpreted in the broadest possible way (and ICTs are a logical extension of an organisation’s reach). It is also driven by performance indicators for public institutions which are not strictly based on short- term profitability and which have seen many commercial online media ventures scaled back in the past five years (Ewart, 2003) and increasing amounts of commercial news content placed behind subscription services.

The Committee recognises that this view is not without its problems, particularly in content that has political relevance. In the submission of the National Forum, Mr G. Young made the following pertinent observation:

It might be asked why, if the BBC or the ABC is a model for what we are doing, these organisations could not perform this function using their existing institutional strengths. A good answer to this can be found in the BBC's ICAN site … While the site currently is promoting "setting up a charity", "action against closure of an old folks home", and an inquiry from the Basetlaw Mission Parish Council, the site has to be closed during election campaigns in case it contravenes the BBC's charter of being politically impartial. (Submission No. a23, p. 16)

Thus, the Committee considers that a network approach to encouraging content creation avoids the establishment on a single point of access (and gatekeeper to entry) into the content creation

64 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy environment. By linking capacity across existing public institutions, and drawing together the widening network of community and private content developers, the State Government would be able to foster the development of an information commons.

The Committee notes that some of this networking is already being undertaken through the current Business Plan of Arts Victoria. Arts Victoria currently oversees a range of cultural institutions in Victoria: • Australian Centre for the Moving Image • Film Victoria • Geelong Performing Arts Centre • Museum Victoria • National Gallery of Victoria • State Library of Victoria • Victorian Arts Centre. (Arts Victoria, 2004)

Arts Victoria also provides a range of program and funding opportunities to independent content developers around the State.

In addition, in examining the increasingly vibrant area of blog publishing, the Committee found that networks of blogs based around geographic location and interests have already formed through local webrings (e.g. Australian Weblogs Version 2.0, http://anthonyjhicks.com/aussieblogs/). There appears to be clear capacity for the creative industries in Victoria (public, private and non-profit) to develop their networks to ensure that there are means by which: • Exchanging capacity between different institutions and content developers can facilitate online content creation and preservation • The SLV can have greater capacity, via referral by other cultural institutions, to identify material of public interest for preservation in the Pandora Archive • Existing online publication capacity can be shared across the sector, particularly into the non-profit content creation community (see Webcasting Parliamentary Proceedings in Part IV, p. 183).

Recommendation 39 The Minister for the Arts should develop an initiative to network existing public, private and community content developers, with the objectives of ensuring Victorian content developed can be captured electronically – where appropriate – that this content sees the widest possible distribution and content of significant value to the social and political life of Victoria is archived appropriately.

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Recommendation 39 – continued • Following due consideration, the Minister for the Arts should advise the Parliament whether the Arts Victoria Act 1972 should be amended to include specific reference to the development of an information commons under the objectives of the Act.

Specific Concerns Regarding VICNET

During the course of the Inquiry, the Committee considered the submission of the CCNR regarding specific concerns about the direction of VICNET. VICNET, as an arm of the SLV, has a long history in community informatics, through the provision of services to the community as an ISP and also as a key vehicle for Government programs designed to improve access to ICTs and training by the State Government.

In its Submission to the Committee, the CCNR noted the considerable achievements of the organisation: • Connected every library in Victoria to the Internet • Rated in the top ten information sites in Australia • Australia's biggest website – twenty million hits a year • Thousands of community groups e-published for the first time • Trained over one hundred thousand Victorians in Internet use. • Toured Victoria with its Internet Roadshow since 1997 • Delivered over twenty-five thousand training hours to community publishers • Helped thirty-eight thousand people join online communities • Australian leader in multilingual Internet access • Enabled vision impaired Victoria’s to access computers • Enabled over five hundred public access sites across the State • Provided free web hosting and support for almost five thousand community web sites • Recognised nationally and internationally as one of the first, and highly influential model community networks. (Submission No. a5a, p. 5)

However, the CCNR also provided a highly critical assessment of VICNET: • That the organisation had been undervalued by the SLV, and that a cultural difference between the mainstream Library management and ICT-focused VICNET had not assisted in the growth of the organization • That VICNET had become dependent on contractual funding from the State Government, mostly through MMV, and that this approach was producing a short-term focus in the organisation and increasingly consuming resources in terms of reporting • That the organisation, without renewal of purpose and vision, would wither. (Submission No. a5a, p. 6)

66 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

While rejecting this prognosis for the organisation, the State Librarian noted that there had been a shift in the environment in which VICNET was operating. She observed that:

VICNET was originally established to explore opportunities for public libraries in the then emerging Internet, but over the decade its focus has broadened and it has included the development of Internet-based community networks. In addition, given its extensive community links, it has actually become a delivery vehicle on behalf of government agencies such as Multimedia Victoria, and for the Commonwealth, for a range of initiatives and projects where the aim has been to overcome barriers to the uptake of information communications technology in the community, and particularly in the areas of growing Victorian content on the Internet and of actually increasing the skills of Victorians and their opportunities to access this technology. Since the formative days of VICNET the intervening decade has seen a significant change in the context in which VICNET and public libraries operate. Some of the things that I might mention are, for example, the establishment of Victorian government agencies that are working in this technology space, and Multimedia Victoria is a really important one. Another one is the Office of the Chief Information Officer. It is looking at ICT from a slightly different angle, but it is playing in the ICT space. Victorian government departments as a whole are also focusing a great deal more on how ICT can help them to deliver the outcomes that they wish to deliver. (Minutes of Evidence, 16/02/05, p. 11)

It is clear that the expanded interest in Government use of ICTs as a community building tool has increased the number of active participants in the community informatics area. While this new focus has expanded the range of projects being initiated by the State Government, this has not been to the benefit of VICNET. A number of State Government departments have looked to other service-delivery organisations, or have opted to undertake this work in-house. In Committee hearings, the view of Ms J. Duffy, the Director of Government and Community Information of the DVC, observed that:

Firstly, VICNET has done an excellent job over the years. The My Connected Community component is particularly successful. I think it is fair to say that the environment has changed significantly from when VICNET was created to today. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 10)

Speaking for the major funding provider of the organisation, MMV Director Mr R. Straw observed:

I still think there is a role there, and we will continue to use them to deliver government programs against set government policy. However, there are other policy reasons why we would use other people as well. When we want to deal with the education sector and, say, children who do not have PCs or access to the Internet at home, and want to put in some programs to get that technology in the home and linking it to educational outcomes, we need to deal with the education sector and not VICNET to do that. If we want to deal with neighbourhood renewal and housing estates, we would probably do so with Infoxchange or the department of housing. As to some of the rationale for VICNET as an ISP — I know you talked about that before — in the 1990s there were not that many ISPs out there. There were not many regional ISPs, and it helped to facilitate that; I have no doubt it has. When you do the Yellow Pages test you see there are a lot of ISPs in the Yellow Pages. There is no market failure as such there anymore. (Minutes of Evidence, 16/02/05, p. 27)

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The Committee notes that, while the overall commitment of funding to community informatics around Victoria has increased through project funding by agencies like MMV and the DVC, VICNET has been less successful than other bodies in securing these monies in recent years. Information provided by the SLV (Table 15, below) shows that without considerable new investment – through new program funding – the organisation’s budgetary position will be in serious decline. Even given an optimistic reading of the financial returns for the forthcoming six months, the Committee doubts that a decline of fifty percent of the operating budget of VICNET over a twenty-four-month period can be mitigated, even with highly flexible staffing arrangements, without a significant impact on the skills capacity of VICNET. Table 15: VICNET’s financial status 2004 and 2005 Year ended 30 June Year-to-date 31 Funding sources 2004 January 2005 Sales $2,090,209 $1,050,792 Interest income $510,009 $146,050 Project grants $7,085,000 $10,65213 Recurrent funding from SLV $734,365 $328,121 Recurrent funding for SNIP $400,000 $400,000 Recurrent funding for PLU $1,226,000 $1,226,000 Miscellaneous revenue $41,112 $16,556 Total $12,086,695 $3,178,171* Source: State Library of Victoria, Correspondence, 17/03/05, *error in original ($3,167,519).

Even if VICNET secures additional project funding from MMV, the capacity for the organisation to maintain its skills base must be questioned. Thus, while the Manager of VICNET, Mr A. Haeusler, observed that re-organisation of the staffing system had been undertaken to provide more flexibility through casualisation and project-life contract recruitment:

It is a juggling act. As one particular project is coming to the end the ways we try to plan for it is we know the end date of some of the projects, and we do a lot of networking to try to overcome that shortfall. So with anything we have had with the rural libraries, we knew that was coming to an end and we were looking for other opportunities via MMV, certainly with the Federal government. There is a possibility of picking up some extra government work through the Federal government through the community network project. That is to do with a lot of the ADSL work within rural areas. That has been very slow, so we have been able to keep our technical knowledge going through some smaller projects. It is always a bit of a balancing act to try to keep that knowledge there. It does affect us, but we have had that support through MMV mainly, and with DHS and VOMA, who were two new agencies that have come into play over the last 18 months, we have been able to keep that continuity going. (Minutes of Evidence, 16/02/05, p. 13)

Clearly, this must be seen to limit the development of an organisational resource within the SLV.

13 It is anticipated that additional project revenue will be obtained in 2004–05 but the total amount is not known at this time. At the time of writing, VICNET was finalising discussions with Multimedia Victoria on delivery of the Public Internet Access Program (PIAP) project, valued at $3.4 million.

68 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

The Committee observes, however, that the State Government of Victoria has already taken action. The Deputy Chief Information Officer stated that:

The office of the CIO conducted a review of VICNET, which was primarily for the purpose of looking at its future viability. It determined that VICNET served a useful purpose and added value, that an advisory committee be created under the State Library of Victoria to determine the charter for VICNET going forward and to reinstate or reaffirm the legitimacy of VICNET and its viability in terms of the services it provides and its sources of funding etcetera. That review effectively confirmed the value added by VICNET and the need to re-legitimise its role and its basis. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 19)

When specifically asked about the status of this review, Dr S. Hodgkinson stated that the work was almost complete:

It is still being worked through. It is a formal document so it would be available. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 20)

The Committee wrote to Mr T. Moran, Secretary, Department of Premier and Cabinet on 23/02/05 requesting this document. The Committee is disappointed that, following repeated requests, the information was not made available for the consideration of the Committee. This has frustrated the Committee’s capacity to respond to the concerns raised by the CCNR. Given that VICNET is: • Part of a critical public institution (SLV) • Funded by public monies • A part of the electronic democracy environment of Victoria • Still being used as a key service delivery vehicle in some areas of ICT training the Committee is concerned that VICNET appears not to be engaging with its stakeholder community.

As a consequence of the failure to receive the requested documentation, the Committee lacks the required information to make an informed judgement about the role of VICNET as an ISP. However, the Committee notes that considerable change to the ISP market of Victoria has occurred over the decade since the foundation of VICNET. It is highly unlikely that the direct service provision functions of the organisation in this area will be required in the short to medium terms; however, due to a lack of information, the Committee will focus on non-provision questions pertaining to the role of VICNET as a cultural content creator and training service.

The Committee notes from evidence taken during the Inquiry that: • If VICNET did not exist, it is unlikely it would be developed in its current form today • There is an immediate future for VICNET through its current and expected program funding basis • This existing stream of funding, predominantly from MMV, is likely to decline at some point of time in the near term • The current approach of the organisation to look to expand its funding base appears logical and should be allowed to continue

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• There have been a number of competitors (such as Infoxchange) to VICNET, and competing programmatic approaches introduced undermine the raison d'etre of VICNET. At one level, the decline in program funding by Government shows the “market” for project funding has not favoured the organisation in recent years • The ongoing focus on locating, securing and servicing programmatic funding is likely to limit the capacity of the organisation to provide a focused community informatics agenda • The organisation has a clear direction towards multilingualism and this element is of particular value to the community.

This situation is clearly unsustainable, and the Government will need to act, in consultation with stakeholder groups, to resolve the medium-term future of VICNET. In the view of the Committee, the SLV will need to provide a new vision and mission for the organisation beyond its current role, if it is to continue. The Committee notes that Recommendation 39 may result in avenues for revitalisation. In addition, given the recommendations in Part III regarding the role of the DVC, VICNET may have a new role in the participatory processes recommended in that section.

The Committee does not consider, however, that VICNET’s current position and trajectory is sustainable.

Extending Access to Public Internet Facilities

While the development and accessible publication of online information is an important precondition for electronic democracy, the Inquiry also considered the current levels of access to ICTs. Based on the contextual information provided in Part I, the Committee recognises that access to ICTs, while improving, remains problematic for some parts of the community. Specific areas of disadvantage, including those with language barriers to participation, remain of specific concern to the State Government.

In evidence presented by MMV, the lead Victorian agency tasked with increasing public uptake of Internet services, it was noted that Government policy in this area has been undergoing a period of change. Whereas aggregate access was the primary focus in the first decade of Internet adoption, MMV has recently shifted its focus towards the aforementioned communities of concern. This recognises two factors: • That it is not acceptable for governments in information-based societies to allow parts of the community to fall significantly behind general levels of technology adoption in this area • There are significant benefits for individuals and communities to be gained from engaging with ICTs. These benefits include economic and educational outcomes, as well as greater capacity for political participation.

At one level, this issue is one of generational change, with ICT education now well integrated within the curricula of Victorian schools and higher education institutions. However, the Committee recognises that allowing technology adoption to develop “naturally” through generation change is unacceptable. The social and economic wellbeing of Victoria is, in part, attributable to the extent to which it continues to advance the adoption of ICTs across the whole community.

70 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Three general areas of Government action in this area exist: • Provision of access to Internet services through community services (such as libraries and neighbourhood houses) and Government institutions (hospitals, schools, co-location) • The provision of general (e.g. school-based) and targeted training and support opportunities to increase the information literacy of Victorians • Increasing awareness in the community of existing services and training opportunities on offer. PUBLIC ACCESS TERMINALS IN VICTORIA

Presently, all levels of Government operating in Victoria have a role in providing free or low-cost access to the Internet through the provision of public access Internet terminals. In research conducted for MMV in 2003, Whitehorse Strategic Group (2003:72) identified that there are approximately eight thousand public access Internet terminals in Victoria, the majority provided by Government-funded programs. This represents an average of one per five hundred and eighty-four (1:584) Victorians.

The major Government programs delivering access to the Internet are: • State Government programs: o Skills.net o E-gaps o Aged Care Residential Information Pilot • Co-funded programs: o access@schools o Libraries on Line o Regional Connectivity Project o Connected ACE • Government–industry partnership schemes: o Government Service Points, in conjunction with Bendigo Bank. With regard to the effectiveness of these programs in delivering access, concerns expressed in the Whitehorse report and by the MMV specifically relate to two factors: • The degree to which the investment in these terminals is sustainable over time, particularly with regard to the ability of public Internet access terminals to be replaced in a timely manner to ensure that the technology is current • The degree to which terminals are being accessed by groups of particular disadvantage, rather than by those in the community with the means to access the Internet though other vehicles (such as work, educational institutions and personal accounts and equipment) (Minutes of Evidence, 16/02/05, pp. 22, 29).

This first is picked up in the Whitehorse report (see Table 16, page over). Based on a sub-sample of the total number of terminals in service, the consultants concluded that the age of terminals in Victoria at that time was on average over two years. The Committee notes that these aggregate

71 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee statistics do not provide evidence as to the distribution of older equipment within the programs, and it is not possible to assume these averages necessarily represent a standard distribution based around the mean. The Committee considers, however, that these figures support a proposition that ageing equipment is a problem that needs to be addressed. Table 16: Public Access Terminals in Victoria – Technology Obsolescence Program Number of Internet Average age of terminals terminals Public libraries 910 2 years 9 months access@schools program 2,850 2 years 8 months Skills.net program 3,055 2 years 6 months e-gaps 169 2 years Source: Whitehorse Strategic Group, 2003:57

While there are wide variations in the effective life of desktop PCs, based on the patterns of use, operating conditions and demand for compatibility with current operating systems and software, it is reasonable to expect a three- to four-year replacement cycle for public Internet access terminals (Weaver, 2003:5), with peripherals with mechanical components (keyboards, mice, printers) reasonably expected to be replaced more frequently, depending upon the intensity of use.

Overall, the maintenance of fast and reliable public access terminals is important, particularly where access is shared and bookings are required. Older equipment and slow Internet connection speeds reduce the efficiency of use of these machines, degrade the outcomes for users and the cancellation of bookings due to equipment failure is problematic for people with work/life commitments, such as carers and parents.

With regard to the appropriate fit between Government policy and usage of these services, research undertaken into user demographics of Victoria’s public library Internet terminals is informative.

In submissions received from the Library Board of Victoria (Submission No. a19), VicLink (Submission No. a7) and the Casey–Cardinia Library Corporation (Submission No. a1), the role of public libraries in providing Internet access to the community was highlighted as a key role of these institutions in supporting electronic democracy in Victoria. At present, there are about one thousand computers available for public Internet access across the State of Victoria (SLV, 2003:4). As discussed in the section above, academic and public libraries have been refocusing their offerings over the past fifteen years to facilitate access to online information, and have taken an active role in promoting community access and archiving of digital content.

During the hearings, questions were posed by Mr R. Straw of MMV (Minutes of Evidence, 16/02/05, pp. 26–7) about the effectiveness of libraries in meeting the current Government policy imperatives of delivering access to socially excluded groups in the community. The suggestion being that libraries – as a vehicle for the provision of Internet access to disadvantaged groups – may not be the optimal delivery mechanism for public Internet access, particularly for Victorians on low incomes, seniors and those with a non-English speaking background.

Based on research conducted by the CCNR in 2002 and supported by VicLink, the Committee observes that this view is accurate, to some degree. Positively, Figure 7 and Figure 8 (page over)

72 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy show that use by Victorians on lower incomes is high, and that there is a trend towards greater use by older Victorians in recent years. However, the research noted that users whose spoken language at home was not English were under-represented in the survey findings, and there was a preference for users to have a higher educational background than the State average (Hardy and Johanson, 2002:23-4). Figure 7: Use of Public Library Internet Services – By Income

Source: Hardy and Johanson, 2002:1214 (modified) Figure 8: Use of Public Library Internet Services – By Age

Source: Hardy and Johanson, 2002:10

14 Survey data collected in late 2002, results are based on 2,465 valid responses from 25 Victorian Public Library Services.

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Submissions received from Mr N. Pastalatzis (Submission No. a17) and Mr R. Brons (Submission No. b5) and as shown in Figure 9 (below), indicate that demand for Internet access among existing users remains constant. Issues associated with access speeds and technology obsolescence were highlighted in the CCNR report. Figure 9: User Satisfaction with Services Provided

Source: Hardy and Johanson, 2002:21

The Committee understands that these issues are being addressed through refocused efforts of MMV on communities of particular disadvantage, and that this marks a change of policy implementation that is supported by the evidence received to date. The Committee considers that this change may require a reallocation of existing and future funding towards specific target areas and groups, and recognises that new and innovative approaches to providing targeted access through the co-location of terminals with other services appears to be a well-founded policy approach.

The Committee notes that the State Government has continued its commitment in this area. As of the 21 March, the Minister for Information and Communication Technology announced the release of an additional $3.5 million for increased access to free terminals in Victoria (Thomson, 2005).

With existing information being limited and becoming outdated, particularly given the rapid obsolescence of computers and software, the Committee notes that further program implementation and funding needs to be undertaken, based on a more regularised and comprehensive data collection approach by the State Government. While the Committee regards existing research as comprehensive and of quality, a number of limitations exist: • Systematic audits of existing resources have been undertaken without matching user assessment (satisfaction and demographic, and the data collection areas are too broad to be able to effectively identify specific areas of disadvantage

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• User-assessment research has been limited to only one part of the overall access provision approach (libraries), and the results may not be able to be generalised to other programs.

Recommendation 40 Multimedia Victoria should commission a revised and comprehensive version of the research conducted by Centre for Community Networking Research and Whitehorse Strategic Group on a biennial basis. This research should be used to track changes in usage patterns to public access terminals and gauge the success of these programs in reaching targeted community segments. Data gathered from this longitudinal research should be used to integrate public access terminals with services and programs across Government, targeted towards groups with low usage rates. • The new research should include a greater focus on data collection to track technology obsolescence for corrective action (targeted funding, program rationalisation, resource sharing) by providers.

The Committee notes that there is no expectation that these two research providers will necessarily be contracted to undertake this work, and that the research, if outsourced by MMV, will be undertaken by the best and most competitive provider. I@ – THE INTERNET ACCESS DATABASE

The Committee found that the State Government, in response to some of the issues raised above, and through MMV, has established a centralised website (http://www.internet-access.vic.gov.au/) with a searchable database providing information on public Internet access facilities by shire or city, or using postcodes or suburb names. Developed in conjunction with VICNET, the objective of this multilingual website is to increase awareness of public Internet terminals and to optimise their use. The website is cross-linked from VICNET with the database maintained by access providers, who are able to log in and add or change their service entries.

Although this approach appears to be a useful way to facilitate public access to existing Internet terminals, an online-only resource is limited in its ability to reach members of the community who have no existing access to Internet facilities in any form. The Committee is of the view that the service should be further extended with a multilingual telephone information service. At present, limited telephone support for this service is provided by VICNET only and does not appear to be actively promoted.

Recommendation 41 The I@ service should be extended to include a State-wide local call number that provides access to the venue database via an interactive service. • Multimedia Victoria should investigate how this service could also serve to refer users to relevant training opportunities. • This telephone service should provide multilingual options.

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Recommendation 42

The I@ service should be extended to allow for the syndication of the database query form through other websites (such as Local Government).

In addition, the Committee believes that the existing I@ database could be better employed to capture data regarding public access Internet terminals funded by the State Government as a condition of contract. This distributed reporting model through the I@ database would facilitate accurate and timely data capture of technology obsolescence issues as per the discussion in Public Access Terminals in Victoria and reduce the costs of developing the biennial report, as recommended above.

Recommendation 43 New and renewed funding agreements between the State Government and public Internet access providers should require that I@ be updated by the provider as a term of the funding agreement. • The I@ database should be extended to capture technology age and renewal by providers.

76 Part III – Political Participation

Introduction

In Victoria there are a range of mechanisms and points of access which provide for the public to express their points of view and have their opinions considered by legislators and decision makers in Government. While municipal and Parliamentary elections represent one area in which our society expects active participation by all citizens, governments have become increasingly interested in utilising the information and opinions of members of the public between elections as a guide to action and to inform policy development.

This extended interest in community consultation reflects the recognition by government that the introduction and implementation of successful policy initiatives can be assisted when the policy making is recognised as a process of co-production between the State and its citizens (Kramer, 1999:90).

In order to examine how electronic democracy might be employed to increase the involvement and to facilitate the participation of the public in policy making, this Part of the Report focuses on three different areas of political participation, from the highly regulated and formalised, to informal, community based activities that make for a vibrant and resilient community.

These three areas of participation are: • The role of ICTs in the electoral process for Parliamentary and Local Government elections • Means by which the Parliament and Government of Victoria can use ICTs to facilitate formal and informal public consultation processes that have been traditionally undertaken via mail or face-two-face • The role of government in developing the capacity for local communities to act together to resolve local problems or effectively present their concerns and interests to government.

The Electoral Process

At the heart of the democratic system in Victoria is the election of our representatives who take their position in Parliament and on local councils. Voting is an administrative activity in which care must be taken in the implementation and management of voting methodologies, and it represents a political process of competition between parties and candidates for the good opinion of citizens.

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For a large number of Victorians, voting and the electoral process represents the major focus of their political participation.

As the act of selecting individual MPs, and through this process the selection of the Executive of the State, our voting system must be as transparent and reliable as possible. The effective administration of elections provides the duly elected Government with two necessary resources: • The legitimacy to act in the public interest • The legal authority to use public resources and institutions for these purposes.

In addition, some governments use this process to claim particular “mandates” for the implementation of policies discussed during the election period, or as a tacit endorsement of the program of an administration returned to office. While these claims are often somewhat tentative – as Bennett (1996:183–7) observes, the interpretation of electoral outcomes and their political meanings are highly subjective – the electoral process has significant implications for the policy direction of the public sector.

Because of these important determinants, Victoria has long maintained a commitment to the view that the franchise should be offered as broadly as possible, and that the process of voting (or at least maintaining oneself on the electoral roll and participation in the process of voting in some form) should be a minimum responsibility of all adult citizens of the State.

Due to the weight attached to the electoral process in our system of Government, and the use of electoral outcomes to claim significant political legitimacy for the decisions of Government, the process of administering and overseeing this process is explicitly regulated by legislation (the Electoral Act 2002 and the Local Government Act 1989) and an independent Electoral Commissioner, supported by their own bureaucratic organisation.

What is clear is that the electoral process is an administrative and legal process, that: • Makes heavy use of data and information about members of the electorate, candidates, and parties • Involves the communication and aggregation of views (vote casting and vote counting) • Requires an effective communications environment for the citizen participation to be effective: the development of informed participation through communications between candidates and citizens, between citizens and citizens, and between civil society actors (the media, public interest groups, community organisations) and the electorate.

Thus, the Committee notes that in each of these areas ICTs have, or may have, a significant role to play in this process. The Committee notes, however, that issues of electronic and Internet- based voting – which are often considered to be the only major issues of concern in debates regarding electronic democracy – represent one aspect of the overall question of the role of technology in the electoral process, and that any discussion of the use of ICTs must be clearly grounded against two questions (Victorian Electoral Commissioner, Submission No. a27): • What objective does the use of ICTs in this area serve? • Do the advantages justify any costs or risks associated with this change?

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The protection of the legitimacy and integrity of the electoral system as the foundation of the rule of law in Victoria must be the central focus of any investigation into potential changes to the system of electoral administration. VOTING PROCESSES: ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Most public submissions received by the Committee expressed overall satisfaction with the electoral process in Victoria and warned the Committee against unnecessary or frivolous changes that would undermine the qualities of the system as it stands. As Stuart Hall stated on the Inquiry discussion list (Post, 29/11/04):

… “if it ain't broke, don't fix it”. The voting process in Australia seems, to me at least, to work very well, so why fiddle with it. What are we trying to fix? People who can't get to voting booths use postal ballots, so if there are problems with that, fix that and not the whole system. Same with voting in languages other than English, just address that problem directly (maybe print LOTE ballot papers on the spot).

The Committee notes that the use of ICTs in electoral administration need not take an “all-or- nothing approach”, and that, if deficiencies in the system exist, the appropriate response would be to introduce changes proportionate to the problems identified. In order to achieve this objective, the Committee has given special consideration to: • Rates of participation • The quality of votes cast • Any issues of systematic fraud.

Given the focus of the Committee on electoral processes as means by which ICTs may be relevant to improving the electoral process in Victoria, the Committee sought to determine specific areas of poor performance, or where existing performance could be improved incrementally (a “continuous improvement” approach). Voter Turnout or Voter Access?

Voting and maintaining oneself on the Electoral Roll in Victoria are compulsory activities for citizens in Victoria. The rate at which Victorians attend the voting booth is an indicator of the success of the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) in administering the compulsory registration and participation requirements of the Electoral Act 2002 and is indicative of the health of our democratic system overall.

As indicated in Table 17 (page over) Victoria has a robust participation rate, which is comparative to the national turnout and significantly higher than nations that do not make voting a compulsory requirement for their citizens. The Committee observes, however, that – for a variety of reasons – nearly seven percent of the Victorian electorate fails to undertake its civic duty to vote for Parliamentary elections and correspondingly fail to have their voice heard in the formal political process.

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Table 17: Voter Participation Rates – Comparative Period Commonwealth Victoria Victoria, Local Government Parliamentary elections conducted by the VEC15 2001–2003 94.9% 93.2% 75.2% 1998–2000 95.2% 93.2% 73.5% 1996–1997 95.8% 94.1% 72.4% Sources: VEC, 2004:42; VEC, 2003b:45; ABS, 2004d

The Electoral Commissioner provided evidence to the Committee of the work being undertaken by the VEC to ensure that the Electoral Roll is as complete as possible; a key mechanism in ensuring that (a) voters have the opportunity to cast their ballot and (b) that non-compliance can be investigated and corrective action taken (e.g. the issuing of fines or recognition of exceptional circumstances). This central administrative process includes direct efforts by the VEC (handling application forms, advertising and promotion, etc.) and an increasing number of partnerships with other organisations that can inform it of movements within the Victorian community (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 27) and serve as “triggers” for issuing a change of enrolment form (utilities, educational institutions, the tenants’ bond-holding agency, etc.).

Overall, the Committee acknowledges the significant effort of the VEC in looking at ways to triangulate across a wide array of data sources in order to identify potential voters and target them with information and the appropriate compliance forms. This approach, in general terms, appears to be appropriate, and the Committee accepts and shares the view of the Commissioner that:

We know already from other studies that have been done why people are reluctant to enrol. Some of them do not want to be tracked down by people who may be looking for them; some of them clearly are just not engaged in the political process and they are hard to motivate. So there is a lot of work going into the accuracy of the roll, and we will be putting more into trying to better target those that are not on the roll while acknowledging that a lot of people deliberately avoid being on the roll. I think we need to acknowledge that out loud. (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 27)

Clearly this is an area in which continuous vigilance and creativity is required, and the Committee accepts the real limitations of the VEC in locating those who actively resist enrolment.

One area of concern, however, is in the participation rate of people with disabilities.

In recent research conducted by Scope Victoria (2004), the organisation identified that ninety-one percent of people with disabilities voted in the most recent national election, with half of those who failed to vote stating that they were not listed on the Electoral Roll. As disability covers a wide range of impairments, it is not surprising that most people covered by this research (seventy-one percent) voted at a polling booth, but some difficulties with polling places were encountered by one-third of the survey group, which may be a disincentive for participation.

15 Voting in Local Government elections in Victoria is only compulsory for residents under the age of 70. This figure is based on the complete electorate, which included those aged over 70 years and non-resident enrolled electors (e.g. property owners).

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Specific difficulties included: • getting to and accessing the polling booth • no disabled parking • pain in walking or standing for too long • crowds and standing in line • no shade • no ramps, difficulty in negotiating steps • no disabled signs • claustrophobic or room atmospherics problems (lighting). (Scope, 2004:2)

More directly, Mr T. Clark, Manager of Vision Australia, provided evidence to the Committee of disenfranchisement among the blind, particularly where postal voting is the focus for election:

Local government is a substantially larger issue. Again there are only postal votes unlike the state election where there is a defined day and the vast majority go to vote and there are very clear support systems available for that process. Local elections do not have that. Certainly it is not clearly defined; it is over a much broader period and I am personally aware of many examples where people do not vote; they just put the ballot paper back in the envelope and post it back rather than going through the hassle of trying to get somebody to help. (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 37)

Clearly, the number of people who were unable to cast a vote due to impairment will represent a subset of the 6.6 percent of Australians who are classified as being either severely or profoundly disabled (as per Figure 5 in Part I). However, there does appear to be a discrepancy between the ninety-one percent of disabled people who participate (Scope, 2004), and the general participation rate of 93.2 percent in Victorian State elections. While this percentage is not large overall, the Committee has to consider this in a different manner to the situation of those Victorians whom the Commissioner has identified as wilfully evading the voting process. Any improvements in this area, therefore, would be of benefit to the community overall. Non-English Speaking Voters, Literacy and Participation

The second area of interest to the Committee was the degree to which non-English speakers and people with limited literacy skills are serviced by our current electoral system. With twenty percent of Victorians speaking a language other than English (LOTE) at home and a changing pattern of language migration to Australia, the State needs to be careful that new immigrants, particularly those with languages not traditionally strongly represented in Victorian society, are being included in our democratic practices and have opportunities to access local political news in their preferred languages.

As indicated in Table 18 (page over) Italian and Greek are still strongly spoken in Victoria – recognising the retention of the language into second- and third-generation migrants, but that languages from Asia, the Middle-East, Africa and southern Europe are now increasingly prevalent in our community and represent areas of growth for Victoria in the coming decades.

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Table 18: Victoria – Languages Spoken at Home, Other than English Language Persons, 1996 Persons, 2001 Percentage change Italian 159,001 149,185 –6.2% Greek 124,333 122,351 –1.6% Vietnamese 53,959 63,816 +18.3% Cantonese 53,810 60,583 +12.6% Arabic 39,436 47,182 +19.6% Mandarin 25,602 38,880 +51.9% Macedonian 32,949 32,632 –1.0% Turkish 25,796 28,441 +10.3% Croatian 25,257 25,555 +1.2% Spanish 22,612 22,874 +1.2% Source: Victorian Office of Multicultural Affairs, 2003:19

While Victoria attracts the second-largest number of immigrants of the Australian states, the Committee notes that the figure of twenty percent of Victorian LOTE speakers is somewhat deceptive. High levels of English proficiency are found in many of these communities, with the corresponding ability to move between languages depending on need presenting limited barriers to political participation.

Overall, the Committee notes that less than four percent of the Victorian community would consider themselves as having low levels of proficiency in English16. Thus, the focus of attention for electoral participation needs to be on some of the most recent arrivals of people from non-English speaking backgrounds. As with any population change, this presents a challenge to Government, as there are often limited resources in the Public Sector for development of translation and interpretation skills17, by the time second- and third-generation immigrants provide ready access to these skills, the need has significantly abated (with the exception of ageing members of the first generation).

This clearly represents a challenge in the administration of the electoral process, where voter information is often provided largely in English. The traditional approach by electoral authorities to address linguistic issues has been through collaboration with representative groups in these communities, and to support the election with a general LOTE advertising strategy using select media to increase awareness of the electoral process and administrative procedures for enrolling and casting a vote.

On the other hand, the rise of Internet communications and the presence of a vibrant commercial and community media sector does support the political socialisation and informational needs of the diverse Victorian community. The Committee acknowledges that there are a number of broadcasters in this area, including SBS television and local radio, and community broadcasters who provide multilingual services (see Table 19, page over), largely in metropolitan areas where immigrants tend to first settle.

16 Similarly, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimates that 3.8 percent of the Australian population would classify themselves as having “poor” reading skills (ABS, 1997). 17 The Committee notes that the Victorian Government has sponsored a number of education programs and schemes which attempt to increase multilingualism in the VPS.

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Table 19: Victorian Community Broadcasters with Non-English Content Station Frequency Location Voice FM (3BBB) 99.9FM Ballarat 3CCC 89.5 Bendigo 3CR 855 Collingwood 3GCR 104.7 Morwell 3HOT 106.7 & 90.7 Mildura 3INR 96.5 Heidelberg 3MDR 97.1 Emerald 3MFM 88.1 Inverloch 3NOW 98.9 Glenroy 3ONE 98.5 Shepparton 3PVR 88.6 Yarrambat 3RIM 97.9 Melton 3RPC 99.3 Portland 3RPP 98.7 Somerville 3SCB - Southern FM 88.3FM Moorabbin 3SER 97.7 Cranbourne 3WAY 100.9 Warrnambool Stereo 974 (3WRB) 97.4 Sunshine 3YYR 100.3 Geelong 3ZZZ 92.3 Collingwood CH31M - Channel 31 Melbourne Community TV Melbourne 3WYN 88.9 Werribee Source: National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council, 2005

In addition, the Committee notes that a vibrant and expanding non-English and multicultural press exists (see Table 20, page over) which provides local and international news for Victorians. Many of these services also have some form of online presence, with information provided in English, the specific language of the target audience, or both. The Committee notes the trend towards greater bilingualism in Victoria, rather than a decline in this linguistic diversity.

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Table 20: Victorian Multicultural Press Title Website Circulation 21st Century Chinese News 18,000 Athletic Echo www.darebin.vic.gov.au/MRD/MRDGreek.pdf 5,000 Australian Chinese Age www.haoyah.com 13,000 Australian Jewish News www.ajn.com.au 12,000 (Melbourne Edition) Australian-Macedonian Weekly 12,750 Bharat Times www.bharattimes.com 10,000 Chinese Weekly 17,000 Dutch Courier www.dutchcourier.com 8,600 Gunes (The Sun) 5,200 Hooyce www.armenianindependent.org/Churches.htm 250 Hrvatski Vjesnik (Croatian 10,400 Herald) Il Globo www.ilglobo.com.au n/a Indian Voice www.indianvoice.net 12,000 Magyar Elet (Hungarian Life) 2,440 Melbourne Chinese Post www.chinesepost.com.au 14,000 Nea Ellada (Greek Times) 17,000 Neos Kosmos 29,000 Neue Heimat und Welt 2,000 Odysseus 1,000 Pacific Times 16,000 Panorama 4,961 Philippine Times 2,500 Polish Weekly (Tygodnik Polski) 5,100 Review www.aijac.org.au 6,000 Serendib News www.serendibnews.com 10,000 Suomi 1,200 Ta Nea 30,000 Tide Chinese Newspaper 11,000 Tivi Tuan - San www.vicnet.net.au/~tvts/ 16,000 Today Denes 8,600 Tserkva i Zhyttia (Church & Life) 2,200 Turkish Report 1,950 World Serbian Voice 8,900 Zaman 5,000 Source: Margaret Gee’s Australian Media Guide, 2005 Informal Voting: Process or Protest?

Informal voting is the casting of a vote by an elector that is not counted. The most common form of informal voting is the provision of a ballot paper that is completed in such a manner as to require the VEC to exclude it from the counting process.

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While the prevalence of informal voting is relatively low in Australia (see Table 21, below), the preferential system employed in Victoria is more complex than the first-past-the-post voting systems employed in many other countries, making the voting process somewhat complicated and time consuming. Since the Legislative Council will move to a multimember electorate voting system in 2006, an additional degree of complexity will be introduced into the Victorian system, possibly leading to an increase in informal voting in the short to medium term. Table 21: Informal Voting Rates – Comparative Rates Period Commonwealth Victoria Victoria, Local Parliamentary Government Elections Conducted by the VEC 2001–2003 4.8% 3.4% 4.4% 1998–2000 3.8% 3% 3.9% 1996–1997 3.2% 2.3% 5.2% Sources: VEC, 2004:43; VEC, 2003b:46; ABS, 2004d

Even low, informal voting is of concern for two reasons: • Where the informal vote is accidental, the voter has lost his or her opportunity to express a preference (the vote is only counted as “informal”) • Where large numbers of informal votes are accidental and the electoral race is close, the informal votes may have altered the outcome of the election, and hypothetically, the composition of Government.

As a general principle, the Government of Victoria and the VEC attempt, where possible, to educate the electorate in the appropriate voting practice, to ensure that the rate of informal voting is minimised. This is undertaken through “civics” education in the Victorian school system and through supporting advertising in and around the voting period. However, it has been noted that in a system in which voting is compulsory, a proportion of voters will deliberately choose to cast an informal vote, either as a general protest against the compulsion of attendance, or because of dissatisfaction with the range of options provided (thus, in areas where optional preferential voting is introduced, the rate of informal voting has declined).

In the table, page over, the rate of occurrence of errors invalidating Victorian ballot papers in the 2001 Federal election (based on research from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC): Medew, 2003). While it is difficult to assign motive or reason to the various types of error, it would appear that a reasonable proportion of the 3.8 percent of the votes discounted as informal (possibly 50–60 percent, or 1.9 percent of the total vote) may have been the result of human error. Given that at most elections a handful of seats depend on a very small number of votes, the loss of even a percentage point of support to one candidate over another can have significant electoral outcomes.

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Table 22: Informal Voting Rates – Comparative Type of Error Rate of occurrence Number 1 only 26.05% Completely blank 24.95% Non-sequential (but not Langer style) 14.15% Ticks and crosses 12.97% Marks 8.23% Other 3.98% Langer style (e.g. 1,2,3,3,3) 3.22% Slogans making numbering illegible 0.42% Voter identified 0.07% Source: Medew, 2003

The AEC’s research does appear to indicate discernable relationships between informal voting and a number of factors, including: • The complexity of the ballot (the number of candidates), its layout and design • The experience of the elector in voting (normally a function of age) • Language skills of the voter. (Medew, 2003)

This last factor appears to be particularly important, especially where there are large clusters of newly arrived immigrants in a particular electorate. The AEC explains the relationship between limited language skills and informal voting as both technical and cultural:

There are two plausible explanations for informal voting and electors not proficient with the English language. Firstly, once the voter enters the polling booth voting is a test of their English proficiency. The ballot paper and instructions are in English. Regardless of the amount of education and political campaigning, the voter must have more than a basic understanding of the English language to vote effectively.

Secondly many of the voters who are not proficient in the English language arrive from countries where the voting system is far different. It must be remembered few countries practice the alternative vote system. Many use a system where a one or a tick or a cross is all that is necessary to cast a formal vote. There may also be a number of voters who do not comprehend the system, and are afraid of making a mistake and simply return a blank ballot paper. (Medew, 2003)

Thus, the Committee notes that any activity that would reduce the overall informal voting rate, and particularly informal voting in the non-English speaking community, would be a positive advance on the current level of performance in this area. The Victorian Electoral Culture

One strong motivator for considerable change to the Victorian electoral system might be a critical failure of the system, either due to maladministration or systematic fraud (such as mass enrolment of the dead or bogus electors, ballot-box stuffing, miscounting and/or multiple counting, vote purchasing, bribery or coercion of electors or electoral administrators, etc.).

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During the course of the Inquiry, the Committee received no credible evidence of systematic electoral fraud being undertaken in the State of Victoria. Given the existing system of voting, the simplest means of electoral fraud would be the casting of more than one vote, either through visiting a number of voting locations or physically voting and casting a postal ballot. While this does occur in Victoria, it appears that the practice is not widespread and is rarely motivated by criminal intent. In the view of Mr S. Tully, Electoral Commissioner:

… I have to say that the level of multiple voting in the system and the culture that we have is very low and almost entirely limited to older people who might vote by declaration vote with a visiting team, and then whose son or daughter might come in and take them off to the booth on the Saturday and they might have forgotten.

That is [predominantly] where multiple voting happens. We can tell and if there was an incident of significant multiple voting, of course we would disclose that. (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 23)

Overall, therefore, the Committee notes that there are a number of issues in and around the process of voting in Victoria that do require improvement, particularly: • Improvements to the physical environment of voting centres, to ensure maximum venue accessibility • Improving access to the electoral process for people whose written English skills are limited • Means to minimise the casting of accidental informal votes • Maximising the ability of people with vision impairments or mobility problems to cast a valid vote securely and with the right of privacy that serves as protection from coercion or repercussion.

However, the Committee is of the overall opinion that, in considering the processes surrounding the voting processes in Victoria, no critical failure of the system exists that should motivate extensive modification to the current system of casting votes in the State. The Committee considers that a number of improvements could be made to the electoral process via the use of ICTs, and that the VEC’s current plans to improve service delivery at physical voting centres is an appropriate response to some of the issues highlighted above. SPECIFIC SCOPE OF THE COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATIONS

It should be noted in consideration of the issue of electoral matters that the Committee has resolved to focus on the role of ICTs in facilitating, improving or supporting the electoral process in Victoria. The Committee has deferred making any specific recommendations beyond questions of technological application in this area.

Thus, while there are always many suggestions about means to improve or reshape the electoral system in general terms, the Committee does not make any consideration of, or recommendations into:

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• Questions of electoral participation (such as extending participation in Parliamentary elections to resident non-citizens, lowering the voting age, non-compulsory voting or enrolment, or the creation of expatriate or “non-territorial electorates”18) • Electoral systems (such as the introduction of multimember electorates for the Legislative Assembly, optional preferential voting, or first-past-the-post systems) • Boundary changes and similar matters.

It is the opinion of the Committee that these questions are general concerns that are beyond the scope of this Inquiry. The Committee’s view is that issues of electoral reform should be undertaken to the greatest possible extent within a technologically neutral context, in the first instance, with consideration of technology as an enabler for the general principles thus determined. A LIMITED ROLE FOR NETWORKED ICTS

Prior to the detailed discussion of the use of ICTs in specific parts of the Victorian electoral process, the Committee has determined that the conduct of legally binding electoral transactions over telecommunications networks – such as the Internet, landline or wireless telephone service – should be rejected in the immediate term.

It is the finding of the Committee that, on the balance of probabilities, the advantages to be gained are mitigated by the current and potential risks associated with security and the excessive cost to the State that risk mitigation would entail. In addition, the Committee considers that the wider community has expressed limited interest in this form of voting, and that the approach may undermine public confidence in the integrity and transparency of the electoral system in Victoria.

The arguments that justify this finding are discussed in this section, in some detail, and the specific implications for electoral activities are discussed in the respective discussions below.

The specific implications of this finding are that: • The Committee does not support Internet-based voting systems or voting over telephone services except in a very small number of exceptional circumstances (current use of these systems for Antarctic voters). • The Committee does not support the transmission of voting data (counts) over the Internet for remote or centralised tabulation. • The Committee does not support the complete enrolment of citizens online at this time.

18 In 2000, the Government of South Australia proposed the establishment of a “virtual electorate” for expatriate South Australians who would have voting rights for a seat in the upper house of the Parliament (Olsen, 2000). While the language used in this discussion focused on technology issues, and the concept was included in the “information economy” strategic initiative of the State in 2000 (Government of South Australia, 2000), the emphasis here is on the notion of the role of expatriates in the policies and social life of the jurisdiction. The Committee notes that the idea, while attracting limited enthusiasm in South Australia, is not unheard of internationally, particularly in the case of countries which have large expatriate populations. Portugal, for example, permits its expatriates to vote for MPs in a number of “emigration constituencies” via postal ballot (The Southern Cross Group, 2004). Other indirect representative mechanisms for expatriates also exist in Europe (e.g. France). Overall, the question of “virtual” or expatriate electorates, while possibly facilitated via ICTs, is a wider policy question for the people of Victoria and beyond the scope of the Inquiry.

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It is the Committee’s view that each of these activities would provide benefits to the electoral process in Victoria and should be considered again when environmental conditions improve. The Internet and General Security Concerns

The basic design of the Internet, as a network of nodes and subnets, provides considerable advantages over other networking technologies and has – in part – driven the massive popularity of this technology across all facets of private and commercial endeavour. The core characteristics of the Internet that have facilitated this growth are: • An open network, with users, nodes and subnets able to participate easily – the system is not “gated”; it can grow and expand rapidly as users and nodes freely join the network • Interoperability of computers using different operating systems and hardware configurations makes participation open to a range of hardware providers, making the system open to the widest possible extent (“agnostic”) • The system of packet switching is a robust, fast and reliable means of dealing with communication across a large network in which individual nodes or telecommunications linkages may be of poor quality.

These design fundamentals, however, have also created a system that suffers from considerable security limitations. These limitations are inherent to the design of the fundamental architecture of the Internet, but is exacerbated by the broad range of information literacy exhibited by users and the increasing value of goods and services communicated over the network. Thus: • The communications system, largely based on trust, provides opportunities by which the source of information can be concealed or forged • The popularity of software connected to the Internet is often not a function of its level of security and network integrity, but tends to be driven by other factors • Individual behaviour online can maximise and minimise personal, organisational and network security; the wide range of skill levels of users creates opportunities for miscreants to manipulate and deceive users • The Internet, as an increasingly important part of the global economic system, has attracted criminals proportionate to the opportunity afforded by its inherent security difficulties.

Overall, the Committee notes that the strength (and weakness) of ICT-enabled transactional systems is determined by the least-secure point in the chain of communication. Unfortunately, this tends to be the end-user environment. As Dr R. Clarke of the ANU remarked in his written comments to the Committee:

Security was also not a design feature of the dominant Windows operating systems, the development tools used with Windows workstations, and the still-dominant IE web-browser. The enormous deficiencies in these dominant software suites are unlikely to ever be overcome. New operating systems on mobile devices are little better at this stage. (Clarke, 2005)

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Thus, the Committee notes that any consideration of the role for transactional activities of high value or importance – and voting is a critical transactional behaviour for the democratic process – must consider the Internet and similar open-networked systems as basically insecure environments.

In making this observation, the Committee notes that it is possible to over-react to these concerns and perceive the threatened environment as one driven by predatory professional criminals. While the best statistical evidence available to the Committee notes that a proportion of computer crime reported in Australia appears to be motivated by “professional” criminal purposes (industrial espionage, fraud), the greater majority comprises attacks motivated by personal vanity (e.g. website defacement), a desire to access the system for personal use (e.g. theft of system resources) or as a target of opportunity (AusCert, 2004:15).

The Committee, therefore, concedes that it us unable to provide a meaningful probability level of risk. Specific Security Issues from the Voting Systems Arena

From these general issues, the Committee notes a growing body of security related literature specifically developed on the subject of online electoral systems. The Committee notes three areas of activity: • The work undertaken by the United States Military up until 2004 • The Local Government mixed-voting pilots in England in 2002–03 • Some work observed in Canada during the delegation to North America.

The first example comes from work undertaken by the United States Military, through the Federal Voter Assistance Program’s19 establishment of the Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment (SERVE).

The SERVE project: • Was initiated to provide Internet-based voting in legally binding elections for the United States of America, recognising that that country has six million potential voters who are: o Overseas military personnel who have limited access to mail services o A large group of civilian expatriates • Focused on two critical electoral transactions: voter registration and the casting of votes online • The system was developed by the Pentagon, in conjunction with private providers (e.g. VeriSign as the provider of encryption technology)

19 The Federal Voter Assistance Program has been established to assist overseas voters (particularly members of the military) in casting votes. Traditionally, this has been through the development of detailed voting guides for personnel, the facilitation of postal ballots and training for military officers charged with assisting their soldiers to cast a vote. The Program has also been active in working with counties in the United States to provide a policy environment favourable to the voting requirements of military personnel.

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• Its technical approach to security was the use of 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to employ Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) encryption to guarantee the security and privacy of the interaction between the SERVE servers and the client computers • The development of the system included management processes for internal review of the software developed, and the use of a Security Peer Review Group (SPRG) to oversee the project externally.

Thus, this must be seen to represent one of the most significant attempts by government to develop a wide-scale, Internet-based voting system (multiple ballots and voting and registration rules needed to be accommodated in the system). SERVE was a “live” experiment: it was intended to be active in the 2004 United States Presidential election, collecting legally binding votes. However, due to a well-publicised pessimistic assessment of the security of the system that led to a large amount of negative media coverage, the use of the system was cancelled (Wagner, 2004) for fear of damaging the integrity of the electoral process and the legitimacy of its outcome. The Committee notes that the system may not have been shelved had the political environment in the United States regarding the integrity of the electoral process been different (see The Political Lesson of the United States’ Experience, p. 103); however, following the first election of President George W. Bush in 2000, parts of the United States public were highly sensitive to questions of electoral integrity.

The negative reporting on this system is based on a minority report, released onto the Internet by four members of the SPRG20. This report, A Security Analysis of the Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment (SERVE) (http://www.servesecurityreport.org/), makes a number of specific criticisms of the SERVE Project: • That the closed nature of software development (proprietary) affords insufficient avenues for inspection and certification of the quality of the software used • Because of this basic design, the system is vulnerable to “insider” attacks by programmers or other staff associated with the project • That the system does not provide the voter with a means (audit trail) to ensure that their vote has been successfully and accurately recorded, and thus the voter has no effective guarantee that their vote was recorded accurately. (Jefferson, Rubin, Simons and Wagner, 2004)

In addition to these specific concerns, the report also provides general criticisms of the overall environment in which Internet-voting systems would be expected to be run. These concerns are more fundamental to the overarching critique of the concept of Internet-voting offered by the analysis. The criticisms are: • The use of the Internet as the delivery mechanism for vote casting opens the system to any number of “general” Internet risks, such as: o Denial of Service (DoS) attacks against the voting system, effectively blocking access to the “virtual polling booth”

20 The Committee met with, and received extensive briefings from, both the SERVE project team and Dr Wagner, one of the members of the SPRG minority group, while undertaking its delegation to the United States.

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o Spoofing frauds to lead voters to false voting sites where their vote may be either captured (and discarded – “selective voter disenfranchisement”) or their identification details reused (vote theft) o Automated vote buying and selling, such as via online auction systems o Risks that a virus, worm or other malicious active content could be designed to disrupt the voting session, alter votes or record the voter’s actions • That these attacks could be launched on a large scale, from a foreign legal jurisdiction, by a lone individual or an organised group (such as a foreign government) • That the capacity to estimate the actual probability of the risk is unknown and that, even in the event of a “successful” election, fraud or incidents of attacks against the system may never be identified.

This assessment essentially reiterates the work of the United States National Workshop on Internet Voting, which concluded that:

Remote Internet voting systems pose significant risk to the integrity of the voting process, and should not be fielded for use in public elections until substantial technical and social science issues are addressed. The security risks associated with these systems are both numerous and pervasive, and in many cases cannot be resolved using even the most sophisticated technology today. In addition, many of the social science concerns regarding the effects of remote voting on the electoral process would need to be addressed before any such system could be responsibly deployed. For this reason, it is imperative that public officials educate themselves about the dangers posed by remote Internet voting, and the ramifications of failure on the legitimacy of the electoral process. (2001:2)

The Committee notes that some of the risks associated with Internet-based voting systems appear – at this point in time – extraordinarily remote. As Michael Shamos (2004) of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science observes, excessive perception of risk can border on paranoia:

The hypothetical omniscient hacker is able to insert arbitrary amounts of malware into a voting system in such a way that it can never be detected by any amount of code reading (source or object) or testing (before, during or after the election), yet is able to alter the votes to achieve any predetermined result in any jurisdiction for an arbitrary numbers of years into the future … If the malware ever is detected, the hacker will explain that he just didn’t do a good enough job hiding it, but he’ll succeed the next time. In this way belief in the omniscient hacker is indistinguishable from belief in a Supreme Being. There is simply no argument one can give that will dissuade a true believer, yet when the believer is asked for a demonstration he is unable to produce one. (Shamos, 2004)

It is the view of the Committee that attacks against an Internet-voting system are most likely to come from disaffected or misguided individuals and small groups, and that the sophistication of the attacks would likely be low. As Alvarez and Hall (2004) observe, the difficulty of the online environment is often associated with the proliferation of “user friendly” hacking tools that permit:

… talentless hackers who just download hacking software and run it without any understanding of how it works or even what they are doing… (Alvarez and Hall, 2004:78)

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It is the opinion of the Committee that “dumb” attacks such as: DoS or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), phishing emails and website spoofing would be much more likely outcomes than sophisticated worms or “man-in-the-middle” attacks that could substitute voter preferences mid- session without detection.

In discussion with Mr R. Kidd, General Manager Elections of SecureVote, Mr Kidd illustrated to the Committee that while spyware such as keyloggers may be problematic to the security or privacy of some voting systems, the use of mouse movement as a primary means of recording preference is a way in which modern online voting systems evade these basic programs. Other developments include the use of images to replace machine-readable textual elements (such as candidate names), which could be used by a worm to identify a voting field21.

Mr C. Burton from Everyone Counts (E1C), a provider which uses a separate voting client (not a webpage) to deliver its voting system, also noted countermeasures to many of the attacks highlighted in these reports:

PC spyware or backdoors allow a remote Internet observer in: the voter can disconnect from the Internet while voting on E1C’s solution. This makes live spying and intrusion impossible.

PC viruses and trojans: we believe it would be very difficult to affect the E1C application in such a way as to change a voter’s vote mid-session without alarming a single voter, a voter’s virus software or an Internet virus detector. Also, the voter’s home PC or similar PC may collect only a few votes and so it is not an attractive target for individual attack.

Coercion and vote selling: again, no worse under Internet voting. In fact, Internet voting lays the basis for allowing multiple voting so that selling and coercion may be less effective.

Virus downloads from a hacked campaign website: this is out of scope for Internet voting – candidate should secure their own sites to protect the representation of their campaign, let alon[e] protecting it from being a platform for attacking the election.

Political popup windows in the voter’s browser: popup blocking is now provided with all major browsers. (Submission No. a16, p. 6)

Thus, the Committee observes that the most obvious sources of security risk for the development of Internet-voting systems is focused at: • The design and implementation phase (where appropriate management practices can mitigate or eliminate the prospects of programmers tampering with code) • At the server or network level, through DoS or Domain Name Service (DNS) poisoning • At the desktop level, where the capacity of the individual citizen to secure their own operating environment may be limited. This could be due to a range of factors: o The system is not under their control (it is a corporate network or a public terminal at a library or Internet café)

21 Though the use of this approach may be problematic given WCAG considerations.

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o The user has limited knowledge or IT skills o The system is too old to be patched or upgraded against attack o The user has limited financial resources to purchase software to clean and protect their desktop o The operating system (OS). Even though the Committee does not regard the risk as remotely plausible of a significant attack whereby votes are altered by secretly distributed worms prior to an election22, the higher likelihood of human factor and “crude assault” risks are just as damaging to the electoral process. While a DoS or DDoS would appear to be the most likely form of assault on the system and could be countered (technically, or though the extension of the voting period), human-factor problems would be much harder to detect (particularly the scenario in which a phishing attack channels voters to a false website).

While these criticisms are strongly worded, the Committee accepted evidence from Mr C. Burton of E1C, who specifically responded to the SERVE report and advised that the Committee should act with caution in adopting it uncritically. Mr Burton stated:

It is not the result of a software audit and it does not report the success or otherwise of professional attempts to try and hack the SERVE system. The report was not peer reviewed before publication, nor was it sanctioned by the US Department of Defence. Finally, the report is concerned with only one solution for Internet voting and this solution was designed nearly three years ago. (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 11)

The Committee notes that similar concerns have been raised regarding the earlier critical assessments of Internet-voting concepts by Alvarez and Hall (2004) in their book Point, Click, and Vote: The Future of Internet Voting (2004). The authors note that a number of critical reviews of Internet-based voting systems have been limited in the extensiveness of their studies, that criticisms are regularly generated by a small group of active authors on the subject and that a “conventional bias” against Internet-voting systems has emerged in the United States that is under-supported by tangible evidence.

The basic criticism of proponents of Internet-voting, such as Alvarez and Hall, is that experimentation is needed to determine the likelihood of risks upon which informed risk assessments can be undertaken. Evidence, in this case, is the establishment of operational systems that are run in field conditions and should be subject to “white hat” hacking attempts. Thus, the SERVE minority report remains a hypothetical criticism of a largely untried system.

In considering ICT-enabled voting systems that have been run in real-world, legally binding elections, the Committee has turned to the evidence provided from a number of systematic and ad hoc experiments undertaken in Canada and the United Kingdom. It should be noted that, in each

22 This malware would need to combine a range of factors in order to be successful: it would need to be based on a new or redeveloped version of a piece of malware to evade common anti-virus software, the malware would need to function correctly (even though it has been newly developed) in its distribution vector, it would need to be distributed secretly in advance of the election to prevent counter measures being developed by election officials, it would need to interface with an encrypted voting client (the design of which the malware author may have limited knowledge of in advance), and act without the voter or electoral official becoming aware of its presence.

94 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy of these cases, failures of security have not been manifest, and thus the experiential evidence to date is far more positive than the analytical assessments of the United States.

In the United Kingdom, the Electoral Commission undertook a wide experiment in early 2003 with a range of new voting methods. The methods employed were used at the local government level as deliberate experiments to ensure that comparative performance and evaluation data were captured. The methods employed included: • All-postal voting • Telephone voting • SMS voting • Electronic voting machines (“kiosk” voting) • Internet voting.

The scope23 of the experiment was highly impressive:

Pilot schemes to test innovative voting and counting methods took place in 59 local authorities across England on 1 May 2003. Approximately 6.4 million people were eligible to vote in these pilot areas – over 14% of the English electorate. (Electoral Commission, 2003:5)

In order to undertake this process, that government used external technology providers, focusing the management of the process on the development and specification of standards and requirements, and measuring performance against these targets.

The United Kingdom’s Electoral Commission noted from this experience that the process of developing these specifications needs considerable experiential learning. It found some areas of the specification setting too detailed and others insufficiently so. These are not problems unique to the electronic voting arena, but reflect general observations of the need to refine and improve contract management and oversight processes when government agencies move from direct provision models to new public management approaches in acquiring “outcomes” rather than systems.

Overall, the view of the United Kingdom’s Electoral Commission was that progress had been made through the piloting process, and that the Commission was comfortable with the level of security afforded. In making its final recommendation to government, the Commission considered that a wide range of technical and administrative improvements to the system would be needed, but that – through this specificity – the Commission regarded remote voting systems as effective and manageable (Electoral Commission, 2003:7-8).

In comparing the various methods employed, the Commission was of the opinion that: • Kiosk voting systems were generally preferable to Internet-based voting, due to greater capacity to control the operating environment of the voting system and its user

23 The Committee of the 54th Parliament was informed of an allocation of A$10 million to the projects.

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• The design of the PKI approach to vote encryption on the Internet servers was insufficient to safeguard the systems against malicious attacks. However, the Commission did not identify any attacks against the system during the pilot process • Insufficient work was undertaken with regard to alternative systems and standby data centres, and in the event of the failure of a primary site (either through attack or “natural” event, such as power failure) significant voting data could have been lost • Improvements to systems monitoring would be required to identify DoS attacks rapidly in future implementations.

Overall, however, the United Kingdom’s Electoral Commission considered the processes of implementation to have been successful, and that the range of suppliers engaged had generally tended to meet the security and management specifications laid down in advance of the process. However, the Committee was cautious about the ability to generalise its findings, for three reasons.

First, the use of a range of approaches allowed the Commission to take some comfort in its security through obscurity. As the Commission stated in its final report:

In the Commission’s opinion, the risk of malicious attack was low for the May 2003 elections as the systems have recently been developed, the implementation varies widely across the different pilots, the number of voters using any particular solution is low, and the relative uptake of electronic voting is still less than traditional methods. Therefore, the motivation and capacity of potential attackers is also likely to be low. (Electoral Commission, 2003:106)

This approach is not highly regarded by the Committee. As electronic voting processes become more common, and members of the public (electors and non-electors) become familiar with the design and operations of these systems, this protection will quickly vanish. In addition, given that prestige is attached to particularly difficult or bold intrusion attempts by some parts of the hacker community, “cracking” an election system would appear to have greater psychological reward than yet another corporate mail server.

Second, the emphasis of the United Kingdom’s approach was – largely – motivated by issues of declining participation. This is not a particular problem in Victoria under compulsory voting, but appears to alter the level of acceptable risk in the United Kingdom, where there is a stronger focus on balancing participation rates and risk. This is clearly different from Victoria, where the emphasis is on improvements to a system that already has high levels of participation (with exceptions, see below).

In the context of these pilots, where participation rates in elections were low, any form of participation was considered to be valuable. However, in the Victorian environment, there is a risk that this approach might have negative impacts on the perception of the value or significance of the process of voting. The University of Melbourne’s Centre highlighted this issue for Comparative Constitutional Studies:

The act of physically attending at a polling place, and receiving and depositing a ballot paper, is a very important civic ritual. It is one of the few remaining widely shared civic rituals. The act’s formality reinforces the significant nature of voting and highlights the

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central role individual Victorians play in shaping the future of our democracy. (Submission No. a21, p. 7)

Third, the Electoral Commission (2003) of the United Kingdom considers that remote voting for national elections is some time away – possibly six years – but considers ongoing local pilots a means by which to achieve the objectives of reliability, secrecy, security and accessibility. While the Committee notes that the implementation of remote voting in municipal Victoria may be an implementation model for Internet voting in this State, it does not consider it appropriate to maintain different levels of acceptable risk for different levels of government.

It is unlikely in the Victorian context that the public would accept an implementation model that explicitly excludes the practice of Internet-voting for Parliamentary elections due to security risks, but introduces it for Local Government elections. This view was supported by the Submission of the City of Darebin (Submission No. a12, p. 1), City of Manningham (Submission No. a15, p. 2) and the Victorian Local Governance Association in Hearings (Mr A. Davies, Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 37). Trends

The Committee observes that online security risks have not been declining, but have been tending to increase over time. This appears to be driven by a number of factors in addition to the issue of basic architectural problems of the Internet, as discussed above.

These factors are: • The development of application software on OS which have basic security flaws or are not maintained properly (patched) to protect against known exploits • Market competition which drives the development and release of software, particularly Internet-based software like browsers, email clients, messaging systems, file sharing and publishing platforms, with a rapidity that often comes at the expense of rigorous security testing • The interoperability of software and systems which may open new vulnerabilities • Consumer use of technologies that have known limitations, such as Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) security in wireless routers • The increasing size of the online population and the presence of valuable data and transactions online makes it attractive to criminals • The lower risks of detection and successful prosecution of online crime makes it attractive to criminal experimentation.

While there is evidence that the general levels of information literacy amongst the public has risen over the past decade, and issues of security and privacy are becoming more important to users, the complexity of ICTs places the lay user at a disadvantage in an environment of rapid change. AusCERT states that:

… it is the evolving, more sophisticated and more “believable” nature of the techniques and the increasing rate of attacks which is most concerning. Much of the success of these scams depends on their believability – the scammer creates a pretext, supported by the

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technology, to persuade the potential victim to take certain actions necessary for the fraud to occur. (AusCERT, 2004:24)

The AusCERT Report goes on to state that, with respect to the capacity for general Internet users to apply mechanisms to verify the identity or bone fides of online identity of people and organisations with whom they interact, the immediate prognosis is not good:

... there are a variety of cryptographic solutions that can provide integrity and assurance to enable users to accurately verify on-line identity be it for a person or a machine. Unfortunately, average users don’t appear to have significant awareness, or competency, in the use of these technologies, for example, how to verify digital certificates (or digital signatures) and the technology is not being used to its full advantage. (AusCERT, 2004:24)

The Committee gave serious consideration to the experiences of the banking sector with regards to these issues, and notes that the sector has experienced ongoing problems with its online banking services and has begun discussing the need for additional levels of security beyond the traditional approach of providing user names (normally customer numbers) and secret passwords. At the time of writing, it appears that the Australian banking industry is actively considering the introduction of “two-factor” authentication approaches to address declining confidence in the traditional password approach (Finextra Research, 2005).

Two-factor authentication improves the security for users by introducing an additional security mechanism (“factor”, or “token”) to the process. This approach has been introduced by the Bendigo Bank (see http://www.bendigobank.com.au/public/e-banking/e- banking_help/Customer_services/Security_options_order.shtml) which allows Internet banking clients to purchase one of two types of security token. These tokens work by generating a unique number (based on the device’s internal clock) that is entered at the time of logging into the system. Since this number changes constantly, the loss of a particular Personal Identification Number (PIN) will not allow a third party to use the service at a later time. Other examples of this technology include hardware systems, such as USB “keys” with similar characteristics. The specific intention here is to reduce the possibility of intrusion by increasing the level of verification by the user.

However, the Committee observes that, outside of the direct cost of providing physical tokens (and accounting for their loss, theft or malfunction), security commentators have noted that there are limitations to this approach and that an increase in use of two-factor authentication will encourage countermeasures from criminals. As Bruce Schneier (2005) observes, these responses are useful in deterring “passive” attempts at password logging, but that in the online environment criminals will develop countermeasures. These are likely to be new attacks that focus on “real time” intrusion:

Unfortunately, the nature of attacks has changed over those two decades. Back then, the threats were all passive: eavesdropping and offline password guessing. Today, the threats are more active: phishing and Trojan horses. (Schneier, 2005)

Given that some ICT-enabled electoral transactions are likely to be focused on short-term windows of participation (in particular, vote casting), the “real-time” attack is clearly the focus for concern.

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The Cost of Establishing Secure Systems

With regard to the issue of security, it was the view of the Deputy Chief Information Officer, Dr S. Hodgkinson, that the costs of establishing secure voting systems would be prohibitive. With respect to comparative examples in which Internet security issues had been the focus, Dr Hodgkinson observed that:

The one thing we know and have learnt through many hard lessons over the years with regard to anything to do with online services is that, as in all things in life, you get what you pay for. If you talk to anyone in a major bank, security — particularly online security — is one of their biggest and most expensive headaches. If government is prepared to fund all the infrastructure costs required to secure electronic voting, no doubt it could be done securely. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 20)

He added that it was unlikely that the Government of Victoria would be willing to make this investment:

I am saying … that it is unlikely government will ever invest enough money in it to make it secure; therefore security will be a huge issue. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 20)

This point was underscored by Dr R. Clarke, who noted that the investment of Australia’s banking sector in security has been far in excess of the levels of investment in Internet voting systems development by any government to date, and that this investment is balanced against acceptable levels of risk – the investment of the financial sector is a function of its willingness to date to accept a degree of failure (Meeting, 01/03/05). The point to be highlighted here is that, in the case of ICT- enabled electoral transactions, government must set a much lower level of acceptable risk, with corresponding higher levels of cost (California Internet Voting Taskforce, 2000).

The Committee notes that cost is a clear factor in the degree to which any system has generalised protection against attacks that may be motivated by curiosity or the identification of a target of opportunity by an attacker. Given that the cost of security tokens like those used by the Bendigo Bank ranges from $16.50 to $99.00 per unit, the total cost of providing a token like this alone (excluding the design and implementation of the system to support it) for general electoral purposes in Victoria would be excessive for wide-scale implementation.

In the research undertaken by AusCERT (2004), the organisational investment in security – particularly in the area of maintaining systems that have up-to-date software (patches) and in the general area of human resources – is a clear causal factor in the prevalence of attacks.

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Figure 10: Contributing Factors to Electronic Attacks – Australia

Source: AusCERT, 2004:29

While this finding would indicate that an appropriate investment in security would be a serious mitigating factor for the administrators of an electoral system with connection to the Internet or other open network, in terms of: • Ensuring that all security upgrades are implemented immediately upon their release • Having a clear security management protocol • Providing sufficient investment in staff the Committee notes that this approach is somewhat problematic in an environment in which any change to the configuration of the system (the network, operating system or application software) would require re-certification to ensure transparency, security against vendor tampering and prevention of insider manipulation of the voting system.

Again, this indicates that the costs of security of ICT-enabled transactional systems will be higher than conventional, or even high-risk, online systems, due to the difficulty in maintaining a generally

100 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy secure environment responsively with the need for any configurations to the system to be recertified at a high level of confidence. This issue was recently highlighted in the Report of the Irish Commission on Electronic Voting (2004), which – while assessing a hardware-based electronic voting system – concluded that serious problems in certification were presented by the rapidity of technological change.

The presence of existing, highly secure government networks that might be used to facilitate ICT- enabled voting around the world (such as the secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade24) could be considered one way to “piggy back” security upon another organisation or purpose. However, the Committee notes the impracticality of an organisation like the VEC effectively entering into a relationship with another government agency whereby the VEC could exercise an appropriate level of verification of the integrity of its system.

It is the Committee’s view that, while the State of Victoria could invest the financial resources required to develop an independent online voting system that would provide extremely high levels of security, the cost of undertaking and, particularly, maintaining such a system in the event of eventual attack would be extraordinarily high. Given that the Committee is not able to envisage the complete replacement of paper-based voting in the immediate term, this cost would be added to the current cost of electoral administration.

As is clearly indicated in the discussion on the policy issues surrounding Internet-based voting platforms (see below), the Committee notes that the cost may provide the level of benefit that has motivated activities in other jurisdictions. Public Confidence and Risk: A Case for Caution

Given the concerns discussed above, the Committee considered the principle of informed consent of members of the public to undertake online transactions in an insecure environment. The Committee, therefore, gave consideration to the degree to which members of the public are aware of the risks of transacting with government or the private sector online (voting, making a legal declaration or application, making a purchase).

While research has been conducted in this area on information technology professionals and managers, business operators and the customers of some industry types (particularly in banking), the Committee notes a lack of quality, broad-scale data collection into perceptions of public risk undertaken by the Victorian or Federal governments. Thus, the Committee notes a number of mixed indicators in this area of public perception of risk and willingness to engage (and accept) in risky behaviour online.

The Federal Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts has reported that – as at 2002 – twenty-nine percent of Australian Internet users were cautious about engaging in online transactions because of security risks (National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE), 2003b:32), but that this has not prevented just under fifty percent of Australian Internet users engaging in online financial transactions of some kind, with steady growth over time (NOIE,

24 The advantages of this approach would be considerable. The network is highly secure, matching its role as a diplomatic and security channel, and provides access to embassies and consulates around the world.

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2004:19). As of 2005, the number of Internet banking transactions surpassed the number of paper cheques written in Australia (Woolrich, 2005).

Independent advocacy groups have also identified this type of mixed evidence. The Australian Consumers’ Association has recently highlighted concerns about decreasing security for Australian Internet users, reporting survey results indicating that fifty-seven percent of Australians have received phishing emails, but that the majority of respondents express confidence in the security offered by institutions like their bank (Innis, 2005). While the Association reported strong use of anti-virus software by survey respondents, the take-up rate of security tokens by Australian online banking customers has been modest, with one in five customers purchasing the added layer of security offered by the Bendigo Bank (Needham, 2005).

Overall, the Committee notes that the technical aspects of Internet security are considerable, and that moves are underway at a number of levels to address the fundamental architectural failings of the Internet and its hardware. Some examples include: • Consideration of ways to develop Internet hardware that is self-defending and includes a degree of intelligence to prevent or limit security vulnerabilities (Waltner, 2005) • The replacement of existing protocols and Internet technologies (such as the development of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) and the work of the Internet 2 consortia) • New attention given by some OS manufacturers to issues of security, possibly leading to better performance in this area • Recognition by application developers of the need for more reliable products, particularly in the development of systems that make a clear distinction between data (message content) and program (executable) • Considerable marketplace interest in developing anti-malware products, including a number of open-source initiatives.

However, overall, the Committee is of the view that the extent of risk in the online environment is not accurately matched by an appropriate assessment of risk by the general community. This view takes a number of dimensions: 1. The Committee considers that the perception of risk in the general community is lower than actual levels of risk and that this leads to an inadvertently high level of risk-taking behaviour in the online environment 2. The Committee considers that community education about appropriate security procedures are only now beginning to be systematically developed, and it is unclear how the level of public awareness will change in future years – given the technically complex nature of these issues, the Committee considers that there is only so much individual citizens will do to protect their systems against security risks. These actions are likely to be focused at common irritants (e.g. SPAM, pop-ups, etc.) rather than remote or infrequent risks (voting-system manipulation) 3. The Committee is concerned that the capacity for a general ICT user to maintain a comprehensive desktop security environment is both a function of technological literacy (which is highly variable throughout the community) and the capacity of the individual to pay for the range of protective software required, or to remove poorly secured “standard” software provided in favour of more secure technology. The Committee does not consider income and

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education levels as appropriate pre-requisites for the casting of a secure and private vote in the State of Victoria 4. There have been mixed messages sent to the public by industry and government in this area.

Some of the problems associated with differences between perception and risk were highlighted by the Committee’s experience in the United States, where the issue of electronic-voting machine integrity “blind sided” the Californian regulators due to the intensity to which the revelation of problems attracted a strong negative response by the community (which had been using electronic- and mechanical-voting systems for decades) and seriously undermined perceptions of the integrity of the electoral process (Meeting with Mark Kyle, Undersecretary of State, California)25. In the Californian case example, this required quick remedial action by the Californian Government, at considerable cost to that state.

This perspective has also been identified in Australia. Mr P. Green, Electoral Commissioner for the Australian Capital Territory has observed that:

… it is one thing to say that Internet voting is technologically achievable; it is another thing to say that it would be transparent, secure, accurate, secret, timely, accountable and equitable. The biggest hurdle to Internet voting is security. Despite industry claims that Internet security can be trusted for Internet voting, developments would tend to indicate otherwise. Reports regularly appear in the media of high-security Internet sites breached by intruders, credit-card databases stolen, web sites crashed by denial-of-service attacks, and so on. (Green, 2000:3)

Thus, the Committee notes that consideration of the appropriate role of technology in the electoral process must consider both actual risk (be that human factor, or technological factor) and perceived risk. The Committee considers that the systems used in the electoral process must be clear, transparent and effective, but also that the public must share this assessment. The legitimacy of electoral outcomes in Victoria and thus, by extension the legislative process and rule of law, requires public perception of the integrity of the electoral system to match its actual security – neither more or less confident than the system warrants. The Political Lesson of the United States’ Experience

The Committee notes that lessons from experiences with electronic- and online-voting systems, while often focused on issues of technology, security and administrative practice, are also largely about the need for political commitment to experimentation with these systems.

Overall, the Committee observed that there is mixed evidence for the potential of the Pentagon voting experiment – as one example – to deliver effective, Internet-based voting. While the SERVE minority report (Jefferson et al., 2004), which is critical of the project, includes a very interesting and useful assessment of the flaws of the approach taken and the underpinning environment of the Internet, the Committee did receive a very detailed briefing from the project team about its responses to most of the criticisms of the approach, such as:

25 It should be noted that, while there were serious flaws with the management of the provision of electronic-voting systems in the Californian example, both at the State, County and equipment-provider levels, the Committee did not find any evidence of attempts by any party to deliberately manipulate electoral outcomes.

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• The strength of the 128-bit encryption employed • Positioning of the voting servers close to the DNS root in order to provide resistance against DoS attacks, combined with significant redundancy across geographically diverse sites in case of physical attack on the system • Separation between Internet servers and back-end computers • Inspection of all traffic • Clear separation of management functions between parties • Third-party testing and evaluation.

Given that SERVE was not used during the 2004 Presidential Election in the United States, the hypothetical risks highlighted by the minority SPRG members remain hypothetical. This has positive and negative outcomes with regard to our knowledge.

In addition, the Committee noted in discussions with Mr W. Doherty, the Executive Director of the Verified Voting Foundation, that it appears that the technical issues associated with electronic- voting machines were quickly exploited politically and became a partisan issue – possibly at significant cost to the capacity of the state to have a meaningful public discussion of the problems associated with these technologies. Thus, while the issue of technological failure was largely related to poor planning, contract oversight and organisational capacity to review contractors’ work, the issue was exploited in a partisan manner, further eroding public confidence in the electoral system.

Given the range of non-political elections being undertaken online, and the possibility for greater security through some of the technological trends noted above, caution was needed by Government not to over-commit to a process of developing an electronic-voting system while basic architectural conditions are not favourable and where considerable lessons are being learned in less critical environments.

The Committee notes that this view supported by evidence taken by technical experts, but that only the timeframe of technological maturity remains in doubt. Thus while Dr Clarke (Meeting, 01/03/05) considered the possibility of Victorian Internet-based elections “within my lifetime”, the submission of E1C observed that: • Internet voting systems have been under development since the 1970s • Legally binding political elections have been undertaken since 1996 (the Reform Party of the USA) • Fifteen percent of private elections employ the technology. (Submission No. a16, p. 4)

It was the view of the E1C organisation that the technology was “maturing”, not emerging.

In addition, the Committee noted that one of the problems of SERVE was a lack of political commitment to the process, leading to a considerable fruitless investment of public resources into a project that, at best, may have been avoided by a comprehensive risk assessment prior to systems development. Had the SPRG minority report been released prior to major systems development, the significant cost of developing the system to the United States government might have been avoided.

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This finding is not a criticism of the SERVE project team as much as it is a criticism of executive decision making in authorising such extensive development against a critical climate of public opinion. It is the view of the Committee that, while appropriate experimentation does appear to be the most logical way to proceed, including aggressive security testing (such as “cracking challenges”), these systems are most vulnerable to a lack of confidence in the technology by the public. The need to build political support for these practices will be as important as the need for security and systems integrity. VOTER INFORMATION AND INFORMED PARTICIPATION

The quality of our democratic system and the governance its produces is based on high voter turnout, coupled with informed participation. While the State of Victoria has laws requiring compulsory voter registration and voting, ensuring that voters are “informed” is an elusive concept and one not readily addressed by government.

Presently, the Victorian Government assists in ensuring informed participation by: • Supporting civics education in the school curricula with collaboration between DET and VEC • General efforts to make public government information widely available (promotion of a rich information landscape) • The provision of rules ensuring access to information from political parties and candidates during elections, either through rules ensuring fair competition for the attention of voters at voting stations or requirements for candidates’ statements to be distributed during all postal voting (for Local Government in Victoria).

The Committee recognises the inappropriateness, within a liberal democracy, of “enforcing” informed participation. Traditionally, it has been the responsibility of those seeking public office to make their case for election, and elections are considered to be competitive and open when candidates expend their efforts in persuading and informing the public via a range of media forms and in person.

Thus, while the Committee sees no requirement to change this traditional approach to political education and competition between rivals, the Inquiry gave consideration to areas of the electoral process in which access to information may be limited. These include: • Access to voter information by people with disabilities • Access to voter information by people whose primary language is not English • The capacity for candidates to distribute information online, and for this information to be systematically “discoverable” by voters and media organisations • Specific parts of the community which may need additional information to help them make an informed vote.

It is the general view of the Committee that appropriate steps taken by Government to expand the availability of information upon which the Victorian public can cast an informed vote during State and Local elections is a useful adjunct to the system of private competition between parties and candidates of widely differing skills and resources.

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Provision of Candidates’ Statements Online

During the course of the Inquiry, and the work of the 54th Parliament, a number of projects were examined that aimed to increase the accessibility of information about individual candidates to the electorate prior to the casting of votes.

These activities included public-sector projects and the work of non-government organisations to fill what they perceived as gaps in the information landscape surrounding elections. This type of work tends to have some similarities with alternative news publishing online, with two exceptions: • The work tends not to be ongoing, but periodic – making the development and maintenance of readership and promotion of the material more difficult over time • The work feeds directly into electoral processes, which tend to be covered by a different set of electoral laws than conventional news media coverage.

In particular, the Committee examined the work of the League of Women Voters’ Education Fund (California) and the California Voters’ Foundation in the United States. The Committee of the 54th Parliament also examined the establishment of an electoral portal for the Swedish municipality of Ronneby (http://val2002.ronneby.se).

In each of these examples, the projects aimed to provide information to voters about their relevant elections, using the WWW as a means to collect, organise and distribute this information. Each served as an interactive “voter handbook”, and some of the models also included online debates between candidates, interaction between citizens and candidates, and additional information to support voting (voting location information, enrolment guides and the like).

In each case the project was motivated by perceived limitations in voter access to information about candidates, either in response to low turnout (such as in the United States) or the appropriateness of facilitating direct competition between candidates which have unequal resources (such as between large and small parties, and the involvement of independents).

All of the projects made an explicit decision to allow all candidates to participate, and the Ronneby example is candid about debate surrounding the decision to allow Sweden’s far-right political party to participate in this service. In addition, the Committee notes that in Seattle in the United States, the cable access channel provided to the City Council is used to deliver a short video address from each candidate prior to municipal elections (through the “Seattle Channel”).

In considering the application of this approach in the Victorian context, the Committee notes that: • The collection and distribution of Candidate Statements (150-word statements) from each candidate in all postal elections was an effort to compensate for the lack of a physical environment in which candidates could campaign (the polling station) • In previous years, the VEC has provided on the WWW copies of the Candidate Statements and how-to-vote cards provided to the organisation by Local Government candidates in these contests • Based on legal advice received by the organisation, the VEC ceased this practice in 2004. (Draper, 2004:10)

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With regard to the placement of Candidate Statements online, the Committee received a considerable amount of support for this activity, and that legal barriers to this practice should be overcome.

The Privacy Commissioner, Mr P. Chadwick, stated that:

I would imagine that a statement by a candidate offering himself or herself for election ought to be made available in the lead-up to the poll. (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 7)

Mr A. Davies, on behalf of the Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA), stated that:

I thought they should have been [online]. I thought that candidates’ statements should have been available. From memory it seemed to be a fairly strict legalistic interpretation of what they were and were not allowed to do which led to those being taken off. It seemed unnecessary and it would have been better if they had been posted and available for everyone to read. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 38)

Mr R. Spence, Chief Executive of the MAV, stated that there are good reasons for this to occur, and that in the absence of the provision of this material, some councils had considered providing the information themselves, but faced their own legal difficulties:

I think you should be able to see the whole shooting match. Someone should not have to go and search for the candidate statements from a different source than the VEC site. There was a lot of tension around the sector about that at the time. It did not seem logical. One of the real problems we have in local government, as you would well know, is trying to work out who the candidates are. One hundred and fifty words do not help much, but it is more than you get, and if you cannot get that through the common sources, which would potentially be the VEC site — and there is now sensitivity about councils promoting anything about the election — I would say it is a no-brainer. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 43)

He went on to add that:

The problem we have with this model is that people do not know who the candidates are. You can get past all the politics of it, but you should be able to get from the candidate statements some assessment of the reason for the person standing … So when we get 50 or 60 candidates in an election you will be able to unscramble the egg. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 43)

However, the Committee also notes that the Electoral Commissioner expressed a number of reservations about the practice that he felt should be acknowledged by the Government, and emphasised the strong position of independence his position commanded and required. The Commissioner, Mr S. Tully, observed that:

I think the public are generally more sympathetic to those with little means who want to stand and put their credentials before the electorate for local government. In letting that happen I again say there has been an evolution in that from initially in some areas just being an introduction, such as “married, two kids, engineer” and whatever factual information, to be more encompassing, and that has brought in a whole range of problems

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such as people making defamatory statements — we have got to keep that out; people using the name of another person without their particular approval, and we have to keep that out. So the rules start to evolve, and it puts the electoral administrator in the role of censor. For political processes I do not think that is a good position to be in. (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 26)

The Committee acknowledges this problem, but considers it worthy of consideration against a number of criteria: • What is the purpose of the provision of the information? • Does it achieve an objective worthy of the cost of administration? • Can the material be managed by the VEC?

With regard to the first question, the Committee considers the provision of this information – in some form – essential to all-postal Local Government elections where the ability to canvass around the polling booth is not possible. This does not, however, necessarily require online publication, and the Candidate Statements are also distributed with voting material. The general principle of more information provision is clearly supported by representative bodies of the Local Government sector.

With regard to the second and third questions, the Committee notes that – having collected the information in the first instance (restricting publication to print distribution only does not limit the data collection and vetting process), the actual cost of distribution via the WWW is very low (and lower still, under the VEC’s next-generation CMS than in previous years). In addition, open access to the information allows for access by members of the vision-impaired community through the use of adaptive technologies to access this information conveniently.

Overall, the Committee considers that the practice of publishing Candidate Statements online should be reinstated, with the Minister for Local Government working to address the legal barriers to this activity. This would require adjustment of the Local Government (Elections) Regulations 1995.

Recommendation 44

In addition, while Part I demonstrated that general adult interest in political issues is relatively high, the provision of additional information through any means cannot be discounted as unimportant. It has been noted that the high usage rate of ICTs by younger voters may mean that this is a vehicle by which to address concerns about their level of engagement with formal political processes. In national data collected for the AEC in 2004, the Committee found areas of concern around the preparedness of younger Australians to cast an informed vote, as per Figure 11 (page over).

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Figure 11: Australian Young People – Preparedness to Vote

Source: Print, Saha and Edwards 200426

The Committee notes, however, two issues in reading this evidence: • First, the Print, Saha and Edwards (2004) study provides national data. Victoria should be cautious about assuming these statistics are representative of Victorians • Second, among older Victorians, use of online sources of information for political purposes is not particularly high, and the use of the Internet in this area should not been seen as a panacea.

On the other hand, the provision of this information via the WWW may expand the informational opportunities of Victorians in direct and indirect ways: • Directly: o As an online repository of information for individual members of the public who prefer to receive information in this form o For those who will use accessible technologies to achieve this objective o To support the distribution of campaign information by minor parties or independent candidates which have limited resources to access physical communications (direct mail, leafleting) or commercial (advertising) channels of communication

26 Based on a survey sample of 4,600 students from 154 Australian secondary schools (national).

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• Indirectly: o As a centralised repository for information “gateways”, such as the syndication of the information online and as a reference for commentators such as academics or commercial, public and community journalists.

Thus, it is the opinion of the Committee that Candidate Statements should be collected and published online for all elections under the Electoral Act 2002 and the Local Government Act 2002 in Victoria.

Recommendation 45

Recommendation 46

The Electoral Act 2002 should be amended to incorporate the provision of Candidate Statements, authorised how-to-vote cards, and a candidate photograph in all Parliamentary elections.

Given these recommendations, the Committee notes that the publication of this material on the WWW should be supported with an effective means by which to locate and promote this material. The work of groups like the League of Women Voters through its Smart Voter website has been to provide a centralised repository for this information which allows voters to search by electorate or postcode. The Committee considers this approach would be useful and could be integrated with the enrolment lookup service already provided by the VEC.

Recommendation 47 The Victorian Electoral Commission should develop a centralised election portal for Candidates’ Statements for future elections. • The provision of this information through the portal should allow for the syndication of this content.

Information for Disabled and Non-English Speaking Groups

In addition to the recommendations above, the Committee notes that the provision of electoral information to members of the disabled community who do not have ready access to ICTs and the translation of electoral material would be of particular benefit in expanding the participatory opportunities of Victorians who have difficulties with electoral information provided in print or in English.

During the course of the Inquiry, the Committee received evidence about work that is already being undertaken in this area by the Victorian Liberal and Labor Parties, the VEC (in partnership with Vision Australia) and some work at the national level by Blind Citizens Australia (BCA).

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In 2002, the two major parties provided “how-to-vote” information at the VEC’s four Accessible Voting Centres (AVC) in Braille and large-print formats (Submission No. a3, p. 15). The VEC has noted that its AVCs will be redeveloped for 2006 to include: • Magnifiers • Special lighting • Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) • Specially trained staff. (Submission No. a27, p. 21)

Speaking for BCA, Ms N. Mattiazzo stated that:

In the last two federal elections we wrote to each of the political parties, and that would include some of the minor parties as well, asking that they send us information that we could then publicise to our members in audio form. In both of the last two federal elections there has only been one party that actually responded to that request and sent us information. (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, pp. 33–4)

The Committee observed the provision of voter information by non-government bodies during its delegation to North America. In California, the California Voters’ Foundation had been contracted by the Secretary of State to provide access to candidate information. This relationship saw the non-partisan group source information from candidates for general distribution to the community, utilising its specific areas of expertise (communications) to target the distribution of information and provide guidance to candidates about effective presentation strategies.

The Committee was informed that, while the uptake of these – and similar – services by candidates had been strong, the effective provision of voter information did require a significant investment of effort in order to promote the existence of the service, encourage participation by candidates and provide education for candidates to make best use of the service. Thus, as was the experience of BCA, the simple provision of translation or document conversion and distribution services by community organisations does not appear to be sufficient to automatically generate a high level of uptake, even where the service is free, or nearly so.

In the United Kingdom, the Electoral Commission has also noted the need for specific action in this area, and has taken a “focused” approach through the establishment of a special-purpose, seed funding grants scheme to encourage experimentation in means to increase public awareness and participation. (Electoral Commission, 2002:25)

The provision of accessible information for members of the community who have limited access to conventional printed material in English is regarded by the Committee as a basic democratic necessity in a diverse, multicultural community such as Victoria. The Committee therefore regards the opportunities for partnership with community groups to “link” candidate information with voters who have problems accessing print materials or whose first language is other than English as important to be embraced by the State. The model to support this used in the United States appeared to be the most appropriate way to undertake this activity.

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Recommendation 48 The Victorian Government should provide targeted funding to relevant community bodies to provide access to voter information in a wide range of accessible formats and major non- English linguistic communities for the next State election. • This funding should be provided through the Victorian Electoral Commission, which should be tasked with the process of contract management, oversight and reporting to the Parliament. • The Victorian Electoral Commission should develop and provide a policy manual for the collection and distribution of this information, including information about Victorian electoral law and issues of defamation, and should require equal access to all candidates.

It is the view of the Committee that the development of this approach should be undertaken by the VEC in conjunction with the administration of the recommended information portal, with the strong possibility that the focus of this work will be on the conversion of material stored on the portal. VOTER REGISTRATION

Given the discussion in the earlier section on A Limited Role for Networked ICTs, this section will not reiterate the Committee’s reasons for rejecting adoption of ICT-enabled remote voter enrolment. The Committee notes that the VEC has undertaken a range of activities in this area to provide increased access to the process of enrolment, such as: • The provision of a voter lookup service online which permits quick enrolment confirmation by the elector at any time (https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/OnlineEnrolment/CheckYourEnrolmentDetails.htm) • The provision of enrolment and similar forms27 online (http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/ElectoralInfo/WP_Forms.htm).

In the opinion of the Committee, this approach is reasonable, and shows that the VEC has been systematically using new technology to improve its services to the Victorian community. The Committee supports this work, and notes that: • This system does permit some remote provision of electoral enrolment forms, through post or facsimile transmission to the VEC • The VEC is working to improve its online offerings, with a proposed significant improvement to its website during the next six to twelve months • The current approach focuses on the collection of signatures or the mark of the applicant, an important piece of verification information that is held by the VEC as a security measure.

27 Application to become a general postal voter, Application to become an itinerant elector, Application to become an overseas elector, Application to become a silent elector.

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The Committee feels that the retention of signatures is appropriate and cannot realistically be accommodated in the online environment at this time for the majority of users. The Committee notes, however, that the increasing prevalence of two technologies place pressure on the status quo: • The increasing prevalence of scanning technology in multi-function printers, which provides for the capacity to email material scanned from paper sources (Davidson Consulting, 2001) • The increasing prevalence of pen-computing (such as though PDAs, tablet laptops or graphical design interface systems for desktop machines) and the implications of this on the remote collection of signatures28.

Thus, while the Electoral Commission’s view that the current Electoral Act 2002 does not permit remote registration by a service such as the Internet, it is the opinion of the Committee that this is only accurate to the extent that the two signatures (applicant and witness) must be provided. The Electoral Act 2002 specifies that (s23):

(1) A person who is entitled to enrol on the register of electors (other than under section 22(3), 22(4) or 22(5)) and whose name is not on the register of electors must within 21 days of becoming so entitled— (a) complete and sign a claim for enrolment in the prescribed form in accordance with the directions on the form; and (b) forward the claim for enrolment to the Commission.

(2) A person who is entitled to enrol on the register of electors under section 22(5) may— (a) complete and sign a claim for provisional enrolment in the prescribed form in accordance with the directions on the form; and (b) forward the claim for provisional enrolment to the Commission.

(3) A claim for enrolment under sub-section (1) or (2) must be witnessed by an elector.

(4) If a person who is enrolled on the register of electors changes the address of his or her principal place of residence, the person must notify the Commission in writing of the person's new address within 21 days after becoming entitled to be enrolled on the register of electors in respect of living at that new address.

These provisions are technologically neutral, and thus have facilitated enrolment by facsimile in the past. The prospect of electronically “signed” documents is clearly recognised in section 9 of the Electronic Transactions Act 2000. At the surface this approach would appear to be consistent with the use of facsimile machines and therefore should be investigated as an option for consideration. The Committee notes, however, that while the question of scanning of the form appears relatively straight forward, the issue of collecting data from a pen-computing device remotely may be more complex (though clearly could be accommodated in some implementations of Adobe PDF forms),

28 The committee also notes the first generation of consumer electronic devices to include biometric scanning systems have now begun to appear in the marketplace.

113 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee for example. The Committee considers that the Parliament should consider this approach based on a specific recommendation from the VEC on this matter.

Recommendation 49

Recommendation 50

The Victorian Electoral Commission should provide advice to the Parliament and Government prior to the next State election as to the appropriateness of facilitating the delivery of signed voter registration and postal vote applications using pen-interface technologies.

In addition, the Committee notes, as per the discussion provided in Part II, that there are difficulties with the use of PDFs as the only means of providing enrolment forms online. The Committee notes the evidence of Ms N. Mattiazzo, who stated that from the perspective of a blind citizen:

When I chose to participate in the electoral process firstly I had to find out where I could get a form from and this was in the 80s when computer technology was not really prevalent and so again, I had to ask somebody where I could go. I had to go to, I think, my local post office in Geelong. I was living outside of Geelong at the time and my closest post office was in Geelong and therefore I had to make my way independently in there or get somebody to take me in to pick up a form.

I had to get somebody to fill in that form. I hope they filled in the information I told them to write it down. I cannot verify that, of course. I am assuming it was right, because I am still getting postal votes. But then, if for instance I need to change my address, I do not have any independent way of doing that because I cannot do that over the Internet. I would then again have to fill in a form. I am not sure whether I could actually contact them by phone to say I have changed address. I would assume they would need some sort of written notification, so again I would have to use a friend or work colleague, or whomever I chose to use, and again I would have assume that information was correct. (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, pp. 32–3)

The Committee notes that the Internet provides a means by which persons with limited vision or mobility could complete the enrolment information online, even if the final act of signing was still required for a print-and-post/fax/mail version of this document. The process would involve the creation of a form online that is accessible to assistive technologies (WCAG compliance) and allows all the relevant information to be entered and then provides a printable version that requires only the addition of signatures or identifying mark.

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Recommendation 51 The Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the existing enrolment form maintained on the Victorian Electoral Commission website should be supplemented with: • An additional version in an accessible format. • An online form allowing users to enter their enrolment details online, but still requiring a printed version to be posted to the Victorian Electoral Commission for verification of the signature.

The Committee notes that an online version of the enrolment form would allow data entered by the user to be captured in a database maintained by VEC and imported into the electoral roll following the arrival of the paper/fax/scanned version of the form. At this time the VEC would also capture and confirm the relevant signature fields.

The advantages of this approach are: • Simplicity of the process for users – print, sign, post • Security through retention of the signature fields • Additional choice to users • Data importation would reduce costs of administration • Data stored in electronic form would limit data entry errors • The possession of the data at the time of form creation would allow the VEC to track the arrival of the final version, and prompt reminders if this version does not arrive in an appropriate timeframe (enhanced service). REMOTE VOTING SYSTEMS

Given the discussion in A Limited Role for Networked ICTs, this section will not reiterate the Committee’s reasons for rejecting adoption of ICT-enabled (e.g. Internet voting) remote voting systems for Victoria. The Committee does not feel that the introduction of remote voting systems at this time is an appropriate or safe decision.

However, the Committee notes that there have been, and will continue to be, calls for the use of new systems for undertaking voting remotely, and that there is considerable public interest in greater flexibility in the way voting is provided. This is both the view of electoral organisations that have undertaken pilot studies of remote voting (Federal Voter Assistance Program in the United States of America, the United Kingdom Electoral Commission). In the Victorian context, the VEC observes that postal voting has become increasingly popular with voters, as indicated in Figure 12 (page over).

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Figure 12: Victorian Registered General Postal Voters 1992–2002

Source: VEC, 2003a:29

It is the view of the Committee that there are no general arguments of principle upon which remote voting using ICTs should be rejected in the near term, outside of the problems of security. Elements of an appropriate response, such as a trusted PKI encryption system (e.g. the Federal Government’s Gatekeeper PKI project; Smith, 2002:5) may be moving the environment towards resolving the basic problems of security.

The State of Victoria, through acceptance of postal voting, pre-poll voting and all-postal Local Government elections, has already accepted that remote voting and widening voter choice is an appropriate means by which Victorians should be free to cast their ballot. Thus, given: • The capacity to secure these networks • The capacity of the channel to deliver the appropriate user interface29 • And reasonableness of cost given demand for new channels the Committee is of the view that remote voting via ICTs should be introduced.

The key advantages of remote voting systems are that: • They provide access for people who are travelling or who have mobility difficulties

29 This is an important consideration, and the Committee considered the example of voting via SMS – as one model used in the United Kingdom – incompatible with the mandatory preferential system of voting employed in Victoria. This system works well for first-past-the post voting only, and even for jurisdictions that have optional preferential systems, the Committee would express caution that it might encourage lower numbers of preference provision by the voter, altering the context of voting significantly.

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• They provide an interface with assistive technologies, such as screen readers or Braille computers, magnifiers or alternative data entry systems • They allow for the distribution of a wide variety of ballot papers in alternative languages, in a means far more cost effective than printing these papers • They allow for speedy (near instantaneous) processing (receipt, verification, counting, processing) • They allow electors to interface with a wider array of informational services while considering and casting their vote.

While the introduction of remote electronic voting systems does not appear to have an impact on voter turnout (based on the comparative data collected in the United Kingdom pilot studies, IDeA, 2000:5; and similar findings from the Canadian experience, Delvinia Interactive, 2004:iii), when provided remote electronic voting options a reasonable proportion of the electorate took up these channels in the UK experience (Norris reports that 24.5% of the electorate took up the option of remote voting using ICTs in the 2003 UK pilots, 2004:19).

Overall, the capacity to provide private voting to members of the vision impaired or non-English speaking Victorian communities would appear to provide the most compelling argument in favour of the adoption of these systems. This key advantage was picked up in the United Kingdom report on the 2003 pilot studies by Scope, a disability advocacy organisation that oversaw a number of the pilots. Scope noted that there was a preference in the disabled community for Internet voting, and this was seen as having benefits over postal systems, particularly with regard to privacy:

Postal voting appealed to a majority of disabled people who completed our survey. There remains however serious concern about maintaining the secrecy of the electoral process for some disabled people in all-postal vote elections. (2003)

The Committee notes, however, that any remote voting system is likely to require continued integration with the postal system in order to deliver voting information and access tokens (such as PIN numbers and/or physical tokens), and thus the limitations of postal networks (security, loss, delay, interception, theft at point of delivery) still apply to Internet voting systems.

Some have argued that the issue of delivery of PINs and other identification information or tokens negates the value of ICT-enabled remote voting. A common example cited is of the Victorian backpacker in a remote location with poor access to news and postal services. The Committee recognises this limitation, but only to a small extent. With the regularisation of Local Government and State elections (with the exception of unforseen events), the capacity for travellers to be aware well in advance of clashes between their travel plans and elections will be reduced.

While the Committee observed that the postal voting system presents some problems in remote voting as currently undertaken (a percentage of loss, the extent of which is not clear at this time; E1C, Submission No. a16; Meeting with Mr R. Kidd, SecureVote), the Committee does not consider Internet-voting as (a) a salve to these problems or (b) necessary to address any specific cases of criminal activity in the Victorian context. The Electoral Commissioner observed that:

I believe that initially there were significant perception problems with postal voting around the secrecy of the vote, around stealing of ballots and others filling them in. To a large

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extent that can be dealt with — I think I tried to explain earlier and I will have another go if I was not successful — with the secrecy of the vote issues with postals by removing the declaration flaps at a different part of the process. As far as comparing signatures to enrolment cards, that is a facility we also have available to us. I have to say that in my experience there have been only one or two cases of deliberate voter fraud, and one of those was a clear language barrier and did not result in a prosecution. (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 21)

On the balance of evidence, the Committee supports the introduction of remote ICT-enabled voting systems at the first available opportunity. In order to ensure that the State Government of Victoria can remain appraised of when this opportunity may arise, the Committee feels that it is appropriate for the VEC to appraise the Parliament on a regular basis as to the status of developments in this area and the wider security environment.

The Committee looks forward to a time when the security environment has changed to the extent that it can recommend pilot projects commence for the State of Victoria.

Recommendation 52 Parliamentary elections should not be conducted remotely via information and communications technologies in the near future. • This decision should be reviewed by Victorian Electoral Commission following each State election, unless requested to do so earlier by the Minister. • Within 12 months of a positive review by the Victorian Electoral Commission, the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee table a report in Parliament concerning the desirability of introducing Internet-based voting, either generally or for a limited purpose. ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES

While the Committee has rejected, at this time, the adoption of remote ICT-enabled voting systems, different considerations were given to the use of computer systems in voting centres that are not connected to a publicly accessible network, such as the Internet. These systems are in use around the world, and provide for the casting of the citizen’s vote using a computer or similar device.

While there have been a range of issues presented to the Committee regarding security surrounding the implementation of these systems, it is the view of the Committee that electronic voting machines, appropriately designed and configured, can provide a secure voting environment. In addition, as discussed below, there are considerable benefits in making these systems available, not to replace the conventional paper-based voting system, but as a means of providing assistive voting to the disabled and citizens with limited English language skills.

The Electoral Commissioner has stated a clear desire to introduce these systems for trial in future State and Local Government elections, and the Committee considers this an appropriate move forward for Victoria.

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Benefits of these Systems

The Committee has focused on five reasons the introduction of these systems should be piloted in Victoria: • They provide a means for the casting of private votes by Victorians with no or limited vision, or who may have limited ability to manoeuvre a pen on a conventional ballot paper • They provide a means for the provision of multilingual voting options • The successful implementation of these systems provides one part of the technology needed for remote ICT-enabled voting • They provide safeguards against accidental informal vote casting • They can assist in the tabulation of votes.

Overall, the Committee considers the first three reasons as more significant outcomes in a limited implementation of the systems across Victoria. Importantly, alternative approaches, such as Braille templates and LOTE ballot printing-on-demand were not considered to be practical solutions in the longer term. The use of Braille templates in previous State elections was seen by the Committee as well motivated, but the implementation of these was difficult; will be less feasible with larger Legislative Council ballot papers from 2006; and only of use to that proportion of the vision- impaired community who use Braille (N. Mattiazzo, Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 34; T. Clark, Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, pp. 41-2). In addition, the distribution of computers and printers to provide ballot papers on demand is seen as problematic (see Difficulties and Limitations, p. 121).

The enhanced prospect of access by voters to a private vote, is a recognition of a basic human right and thus the Committee feels this approach is necessary. In supporting the introduction of these systems, BCA noted that:

Blind Citizens Australia argues that people who are blind or vision impaired are equally entitled to the same democratic rights as all other citizens when voting at elections. Further more, we contend that our contention for democratic equity, rather than cost, should be the communities driving force for change. While the financial arguments are reasonable, they are secondary to the simple reality that Victoria's current voting process discriminates against people who are blind or vision impaired. (Submission No. a20, p.12)

With regards to the system chosen for the Irish electoral process, the Irish Commission on Electronic Voting provided a positive assessment of the application of the technology30, stating that: • election results can be calculated and published quickly; • use of the system may secure future reductions in election costs. (Commission on Electronic Voting, 2004)

These appear to be applicable to the Victorian context, and given changes to the electoral process for the Legislative Council from 2006 onwards, the complexity of the ballot paper- and vote- counting process would appear to encourage greater automation. However, the Committee

30 The Irish assessment is based on the Nedap/Powervote system, a commercial product.

119 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee observes that the question of cost should not be a driver, and that short-term costs per vote of investment will be considerably more than conventional methods. As the Electoral Commission of the United Kingdom noted in its 2003 report:

The cost per voter in these pilot schemes is an order of magnitude higher than in similar traditional elections, primarily because the methods being piloted are immature, currently have no economies of scale and require substantial professional services to support them. It is unlikely that the introduction of new electronic voting channels will provide cost savings while voting in person at the full range of polling stations is retained as an option. (2003:72)

The question of cost clearly relates to scale and the potential for developments to be co-ordinated between levels of Government and across jurisdictions, but also to the number of implementation cycles through which a single technology is put. In its submission to the Committee, SecureVote provided the Committee with a perspective on implementation costs over a longer time frame than has been the experience of either the Australian Capital Territory or the United Kingdom pilots. They observed:

Our experiences are also indicative that some of the costs associated with applying the technology tend to “plateau–out” once appropriate systems and procedures have been settled. In addition, some savings could be envisaged through application of economies of scale; unlike the expenses linked to Postal Voting (or even Attendance Voting with the concomitant costs of polling staff, polling place venues, materials and equipment), the costs associated with Internet Voting generally do not escalate according to increased scale. This is not to suggest that all costs decrease or dissipate given the benefit of experience … but variable costs remain a factor depending upon the requirements of each individual ballot/election. (Submission No. a10, p. 5)

The Committee was impressed with the Electronic Voting And Counting System (eVACS) developed by the Electoral Commission of the Australian Capital Territory. In this system: • Generic PCs were used for the purposes of voting and the cost of acquisition of these machines was relatively low. The PCs were “converted” into voting booths using relatively simple modifications (cardboard shroud, raised numeral stickers on the keypad) • These computers were networked to a central server within the voting environment where the votes were stored. This machine was stored in a highly secured case and provided an independent power supply. The use of a central voting server allowed redundancy to be focused on that machine only, with failures of the individual PCs expected and therefore not preventing voting from continuing • Voters attending the polling place were issued with a barcode token once they were marked off the electoral roll. These voters had the option of voting using the conventional method • The token was used to acquire the electronic ballot paper and confirm the vote cast • The computer provided visual and audio instructions, in a range of languages • The computer notified the user of invalid voting, but would permit it if desired by the user

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• Voting data was moved physically on two compact disks produced by the voting server and was delivered to the central processing location via two separate means (the data did not travel over the network) • Voting data is stored both as preference data and as keystrokes to allow for cross- verification of the data and voter intention • Hashing was used for the software to ensure software employed was the same as that which had been certified • The software was released as open-source software (OSS, under a General Public Licence) to allow for third-party certification and oversight, errors in the code identified by members of the public were incorporated into the system (“patch”) and sat on top of an open-source OS to maximise the transparency of the total codebase • An independent auditing firm audited the software.

In discussions with Elections ACT, the Committee was impressed by the advantage of ensuring that the voting machines remained under the physical control of electoral officials, and that the security environment they faced as a result of excluding the system from an open network produced a relatively simpler kind (ensuring code quality and preventing physical tampering with the machines during the voting, maintaining control over post-voting data). Thus, compared with Internet-voting (or other systems using an open network), the costs of development of the system are far lower, as security is focused on the integrity of the machine and the vote recording and processing code only. Difficulties and Limitations

There are a number of limitations associated with the adoption of these machines, which the Committee explored in some detail, both in discussion with Elections ACT, and with government regulators in the United States. In particular, the Committee identified a range of problems associated with electronic voting machines in the United States that have motivated considerable debate surrounding their use and the method of procurement.

These difficulties are well documented, but have resulted in problems such as: 1. Voting computers fail to record votes correctly 2. Suspicious e-voting tallies cannot be verified 3. Touch screens present incomplete ballots to voters 4. Touch screens register incorrect choice 5. Tabulation software tallies votes incorrectly 6. Voting computers break down during election; new election required 7. Voting computes fail to start up 8. Smart-card encoders fail to start up 9. Smart-card encoders fail to operate properly 10. Daisy-chained machines shut down when one breaks down 11. Smart-cards encoded incorrectly; voters receive wrong ballots

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12. Ballot too large for touch screen; paper supplements required. (Verified Voting Foundation, 2004)

The Committee notes that each of these areas of concern are based on actual experiences in the administration and implementation of these systems in the United States. In addition, Elections ACT has observed that eVACS has had some hardware difficulties (clock battery failures leading to “dud” machines, “temperamental” barcode readers slowing the process). The issues and implications are discussed in detail below.

Firstly, the Committee notes that the system of electoral administration in the United States has contributed towards the problems experienced in that country. Since elections are administered at the county level, this has led to: • A proliferation of machines and contracts that has created difficulties in certification by the State Government of California • A diffusion of machines down to very local levels of implementation, often where there is insufficient security (voting machines being stored in personal homes, for example); inappropriate storage (machines being subject to damp); rough handling through movement in private vehicles; and limited skills among part-time or volunteer electoral officials (who tend to be older persons).

In the view of the staff of the Office of the Californian Secretary of State, as the regulators, the capacity of the State of California to ensure that the software and hardware provided to county electoral administrators was limited. This was because the State had limited technical resourses to oversee the certification of machines, and because of the wide geographical spread of the systems and limited ability to physically inspect them. This led to issues associated with non-certified code being installed on some machines that was only identified after the election process, leading to public suspicion as to the legitimacy of the process overall.

Second, it is clear that there were fundamental problems with the certification of software used in these machines. Much of this debate focused on one provider, Diebold, for three reasons: • There was a political relationship between the management of the company and the Republican party • The machines had been revealed to be flawed, and some had been involved in the “non- certified” software scandal • The company aggressively attempted to prevent the release of its code and internal memos suggesting the code provided to the State was of poor quality.

As Kohno, et al. (2004) observe in their highly critical review of the source code of one of the United States vendors:

Many government entities have adopted paperless DRE systems without appearing to have critically questioned the security claims made by the systems’ vendors. Until recently, such systems have been dubiously “certified” for use without any public release of the analyses behind these certifications, much less any release of the source code that might allow independent third parties to perform their own analyses. Some vendors have claimed

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“security through obscurity” as a defense, despite the security community’s universally held belief in the inadequacy of obscurity to provide meaningful protection. (2004:4)

These debates highlight a number of problems: • The need for a certification system which is transparent • The need for a software management process that accommodates the time-critical nature of election preparation • Risks associated with reliance on internal certification • Limited public confidence in systems where the code is proprietary.

Each of these issues were highlighted in the Irish Electronic Voting Commission report (Commission on Electronic Voting, 2004). While this Commission was confident that the specified system would deliver the service and experience of voting, it could not gain – in a timely manner – access to “final” software for the systems, and thus it essentially refused to certify it. The use of the machines, therefore, was rejected. Mitigating Processes and Approaches

Given the problems above, it is clear that the implementation of these systems in Victoria would require: • Strong management and oversight by the VEC, which would maintain complete physical control over the voting environment and hardware used • Following the Irish certification issues, there is clear benefit in using established systems whereby the rapidity of software upgrades would be less frequent. There are clearly distinct disadvantages in this area of being at the leading edge of technology development • A clear and transparent software certification process, with more than one checkpoint for certification of the code, and an acceptance (as per the Irish example) to refuse certification, even at the last minute.

In this context, the Committee notes that certification of the code is essentially an information technology version of scrutineering, and thus: • Must be open to the public • Cannot be prevented by issues of patent, copyright or proprietary intellectual property.

On this matter, Dr Clarke (Meeting, 01/03/05) made the following observation:

There are a couple of fundamental rules. One is: “All software contains bugs”. Another is: “Testing confirms the presence of Bugs, not the absence of bugs”. What you can’t do in practice is prove that a piece of software does what it’s supposed to do and has no bugs in it. You always have this uncertainty about “What does the certification mean?” … What you can do is achieve levels of confidence.

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Dr Clarke went on to state that one of the advantages of developing these systems in open source – as per the eVACS model – is the expansion of the number of parties interested in scrutinising the underlying software.

The value of this approach to external review is highlighted by the report released by the Computer Science Laboratory of the ANU, in conjunction with the Logical and Computation Group of National ICT Australia (Abate, Dawson, Gore, et al., 2003):

We built the test harness required to run some of this code and tested the eVACS vote counting module against real and invented data. We found a bug in the results reported for our Teletubbies test election data. The ACT Electoral Commission and Software Improvements have acknowledged, traced, and fixed this bug. Note this bug was found with only minimal scrutiny of the code fragments of the eVACS system. It is quite feasible that a more detailed scrutiny could expose other bugs.

We also spent four to five hours scanning the code and performing a brief code review. Notably there is little documentation, the counting system is difficult to fathom, and while some of this is due to the complexity of the Hare-Clark method, the construction of the code omits basic software engineering concepts that encourage maintainability and make it understandable. While these secondary issues may result from initial design, the overall impression is that they probably result from the code being completed in a limited amount of time.

Clearly, this type of external oversight must be observed by the electoral administrator, and the Committee notes that this would require a clear and robust process for managing code evaluations outside of the formal certification process.

In addition, the Committee notes that, given that limitations of the code may still not be identified prior to the election process, due caution must demand that an audit trail be provided. It is the view of the Committee that this audit trail would be best provided as a paper version of the voting record – a printed copy.

On this matter, the Committee did receive credible evidence that the need for a paper audit trail for electronic voting is unnecessary from Elections ACT. Their view was that: • The system employed in the ACT provided the voter with a number of opportunities to confirm the vote selection • The use of “counters” on the server provided a double check against loss of the vote • Collection of preference and keystroke data provided triangulated assurance at the data level • The transportation of the voting data using two physical devices that were not moved together provided an additional layer of security • The introduction of printers or similar paper records would be an unnecessarily expense, introduce new areas of systems failure and encourage recounting of the paper ballots by candidates.

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In addition, the Committee noted that there may be limited demand for a paper trail from members of the public interested in using electronic voting systems. Certainly, for those Victorians with no or limited English or with severe visual impairment, a paper trail provides them no certainty, if their right to privacy is retained. From evidence presented by Mr C. Burton to the Committee via email, that in the case of his company’s use of a confirmation system for Internet voting in the Stratford- on-Avon election, only twenty-three of 3,128 participants utilised their receipting service (Burton, Correspondence, 22/02/05).

The Committee accepts that two-factor vote recording is likely to provide for sufficient security, particularly where the voting system is deployed in a Local Area Network (LAN) configuration. However, the Committee also notes that: • Paper audit trails have been introduced in California following voter backlash against non- physical vote recording systems. This retrofitting has been at considerable cost and required post-hoc adjustments to application software • The paper audit need not present an unnecessary burden in terms of administration, given that the systems are deployed in locations in which paper records are already being stored under strict security.

The Committee notes that the paper audit is not, and should not be, something that the voter takes with them. Instead, it should be a record stored by the administrating officials. Examples might be: • A printer, protected by a transparent barrier that allows the elector to see the record prior to final processing, and then have it deposited in ballot box when satisfied with the accuracy of the record. This record would look as close to possible like a conventional ballot paper • A tape or roll record that records the vote in a continuous role stored by the system.

In addition, while there are concerns about the existence of paper records undermining electronic counting (that is, by providing the paper record, a physical recount is possible), the Committee notes that: • The recount is an essential part of the electoral process and should not be deliberately suppressed • The printed ballot papers would be more effectively processed by ballot-scanning technology (see Automatic Ballot Scanning, p. 130) • The number of ballots envisaged will not be high in the first instance, as the focus is on the use of these systems as an accessibility tool, rather than as a general voting tool. A Modified eVACS Model for Victoria

On the balance of probabilities, the Committee considers that the use of stand-alone, or locally (closed) networked electronic voting machines, can deliver significant and sustained benefits to members of the Community who have limited or no vision, difficulties with dexterity, or who would benefit from the translation of voting material due to a lack of fluency in English.

Given the limitations of the Braille voting templates used in previous elections, and the low likelihood that these will be able to be employed for the Legislative Council ballot paper for 2006

125 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee onwards (because of its estimated size), the Committee considers that action will have to be taken to provide assistive technology for the casting of a private and secure vote by Victorians who are visually impaired or who have a low level of English literacy. The flexibility of electronic systems over the provision of large numbers of paper multilingual ballot papers is clear and this approach seems like an appropriate response to issues of access in our community.

Thus, the Committee is of the view that the introduction of these systems is justified by need. In considering the appropriate configuration for these systems, the Committee would recommend: • A limited trial, based around placement in AVCs and locations favourable to areas of access for LOTE speakers • The use of a LAN model in a closed network, not stand-alone kiosks • The use of electronic counting and tabulation • The provision of a paper trail auditing process • The development of the approach using the OSS development model.

This recommendation has strong similarities with the approach undertaken by the Australian Capital Territory. However, the Committee would prefer a number of differences and recommended different approaches: • The Committee does not consider that it is appropriate at this time to discard the paper trail in favour of electronic record keeping only. This recommendation is based on the strong need to provide the public with confidence in the system developed, using a simulacra of the model of voting with which they have familiarity • The release of the open source code in the Australian Capital Territory example requires improvement in the management of the external review process, and the provision of cleaner, better-documented code in the first instance • The Committee would like to see pre-implementation “white hat” hacking attempts undertaken prior to final certification of the hardware and software.

The Committee acknowledges that this recommendation will be disappointing to groups in the community who would like to see these machines provided universally. In their submission, the BCA proposes the introduction of a system of “kiosk” voting, called Electronic Assisted Voting (EAV). The proposed EAV comprises four elements: • The development of simple electronic voting systems based on a computer, printer and ballot-box system (with the computer acting as an interface between the user and a conventional paper ballot) • The system be developed as stand-alone units (non-networked) • The system be deployed to each polling place • The system has no role in vote counting (Submission No. a20)

While the Committee recognises the principle of universal provision, it notes that limited resources of the VEC and negative experiences in wide-scale implementation would mitigate against a State- wide rollout at this time. The Committee, therefore, considered that a phased deployment of these

126 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy systems, similar to that undertaken in the Australian Capital Territory, would be an appropriate approach, with extension of the deployment of these systems being undertaken based on: • Successful experiences with development and implementation • Public acceptance and demand.

It is possible that developments in robust hardware design may permit stand-alone units to be employed in the future (indeed, the Indian government has developed a low-cost, portable electronic voting unit it claims as robust, tamper-free and effective; however, this system does not at this time afford a paper receipt, preferential voting, spoken-word interface or the potential for networked redundancy; http://www.eci.gov.in/EVM). The Committee does not regard the recommended approach as preventing development of stand-alone kiosks following successful proof of concept testing of the modified eVACS model.

Recommendation 53 The Victorian Electoral Commission, in consultation with relevant stakeholder groups, should develop and implement a system of electronic voting machines for local and general elections in Victoria. These machines should: • Permit the casting of a private, unassisted vote for the blind, those Victorians with limited vision, and Victorians with low levels of English literacy • Provide the same voting instructions as appear on the paper ballot in a range of languages other than English • Produce a voter-verifiable paper trail to be retained by electoral officials • Allow for the electronic tabulation of votes cast • Be restricted to a closed local area network under the complete physical control of electoral officials. The implementation of this electronic voting system should be undertaken with consideration of: • The use of open-source software to provide maximum public oversight of the source code used in these machines • The capacity to collaborate between jurisdictions over the development of hardware and software • The capacity of the Victorian Electoral Commission to pilot the system on a limited basis, and expand provision of these machines based on community need and demand.

The Committee considers that the VEC, in undertaking this work, will note the value of collaboration with Elections ACT in this area, both as a means of reducing implementation costs and as a potential partner with a mature technology that would benefit through collaboration. The modular development of the system would allow different counting methods to be developed against an underlying common architecture, and further permit partnerships from other jurisdiction over time.

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DEVELOPMENTS IN ICT-ENABLED REMOTE VOTING

While the Committee opposes ICT-enabled remote voting in the medium term, it supports – in principle – this activity due to the significant benefits afforded to a proportion of the Victorian community. In making positive recommendations regarding the adoption of computer-based voting for Victoria, the Committee recognises that structures will be needed in the VPS to ensure that changes in the security and experiential environment surrounding electronic and ICT-enabled voting systems will be required if Victoria is to take advantage of technology as security issues are resolved or mitigated.

The Committee has already noted (above) that there has been significant interest in Internet-based voting systems in the corporate sector and among some unions around Australia, and that a vibrant private-sector industry is developing to support these activities. However, the Committee is concerned to ensure that the VPS also develops its own expertise and knowledge of the technologies and applications for electoral purposes.

The Committee has noted that, in the past, the VEC has undertaken research and participated in experiments overseas. This approach is valuable in improving the Commission’s knowledge base, but also in expanding the professional network of the Commission’s staff internationally; an excellent management process to establish a community or practice of knowledge and policy transfer.

Given the Committee’s interest in the prospects for ICT-enabled voting for Victoria, the Committee considers that a specific allocation of funding to the VEC to continue this work would be beneficial in ensuring that the level of awareness and technical skill in the VEC is maintained and improved, and that, as per Recommendation 52, resources are provided to allow the VEC to provide timely and accurate advice to the Parliament of Victoria if and when the prospect for ICT-enabled voting systems improves to the extent that the Government of Victoria can reconsider its introduction.

Recommendation 54

While the issue of electronic or online voting is an area in which the VEC and Committee recognise that difficulties in perception and performance have motivated due caution in the adoption of these systems, the Committee notes that the VEC has for some time adopted electronic vote-counting systems to assist with the administration of the electoral process. The use of these systems provides an alternative means for tabulation, which offer benefits over manual counting in terms of speed and the accuracy of the count.

The Committee has some observations to make regarding: • The current management of electronic vote counting in Victoria

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• The proposed acquisition of electronic vote-scanning technology for Victoria. Public Confidence in the Counting Software

The Committee makes a number of brief observations about electronic counting currently employed in Victoria. During discussions with the VEC during 2004, the Committee observed that: • The VEC has been using data-entry systems for electronic vote counting for some time • The VEC considers this system as having lower data-entry errors than manual “hand” counting • The VEC administers this process though a component of its elections-management software, a program developed and maintained “in house” • That the data-entry element is undertaken on computers leased by the VEC in or near the place of polling.

The Committee has confidence in the policy rationale for data entry and electronic counting of votes as undertaken by the VEC to date. However, the Committee notes two concerns with the practice as administered currently in Victoria.

Firstly, as per the discussion of certification above, the Committee is not assured that the quality of the vote-entry software or the counting component of the elections-management program has been certified to the extent that it should be. The code maintained by the VEC is not transparent and is internally maintained at this time.

It was the view of the VEC that this is appropriate because the software represents a considerable investment by the organisation, and that it has been subject to ongoing development to improve its performance (Submission No. a16).

Second, the use of short-term leasing of the data-entry locations appear to present some risks to the integrity of the process. While the VEC notes that the computers, while remaining on the LAN, are re-imaged (their hard drives are written over with a “fresh” operating system installation) by the provider prior to the installation of the data-entry software, it is not clear that this would necessarily protect against malware.

Theoretical risks that the Committee identified are that: • It is not clear to the VEC that the image provided by the data centre is necessarily “clean” • It is not clear whether the network separation is provided by a software function or physical break in the connection • The VEC needs to assure itself that there are no secondary storage drives in the LAN machines that remain uncleaned • The VEC needs to consider the hypothetical risk that peripherals connected to the LAN are compromised (such as printer memory).

While there are a number of limitations presented here, the Committee acknowledges that these risks are likely to be remote, and that they are hypothetical only. It would be useful for the VEC to stage an attempted corruption of this system as a test of its integrity.

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In the medium term, however, the Committee considers that the protection of this aspect of the electoral process would be further safeguarded by: • Immediate introduction of a system for certification of the vote counting, data-entry, and ballot drawing software used by an independent third party (a software certification firm or similar) • The adoption of a software management and review process similar to that recommended for electronic voting machines in the State of Victoria (OSS with external oversight) • A risk assessment be undertaken into the current procurement practices for short-term data entry terminals.

Recommendation 55 The Victorian Electoral Commission should be required to provide independent technical certification of its current electronic vote-counting software. • Certification should be required following each modification of the software used.

Recommendation 56 The Victorian Electoral Commission should be required to ensure that future acquisition or development of electronic vote-counting software be open-source software. This requirement should also specify that: • This source code be released by the Electoral Commission via its website. • A process for the collection, review and incorporation (where appropriate) of comments and bug reports from the public be developed.

Recommendation 57

This risk assessment should be tabled before the Parliament at the soonest possible date.

Automatic Ballot Scanning

The VEC has expressed a desire to trial the use of automatic ballot-scanning technology in Victoria. This technology uses optical scanners (“digitisers”) and character-recognition technology to convert written ballots into digital data31. The advantages of these systems are that: • They are fast and can count votes very accurately

31 This is a fundamentally different technology to the mark-sensing systems used in first-past-the-post elections, which are based on the absence or presence of a single mark. These systems are much simpler, and have high levels of accuracy at low cost (Brady, Buchler, Jarvis and McNulty, 2001), but are not feasible for preferential voting environments.

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• They remove the manual, tedious process of data entry from the process of electronic vote counting • They can allow for fast re-processing • They are effective for ballots that are very large • The technology is becoming increasingly common in desktop computing environments and thus the public is familiar with it and its limitations.

The VEC sums up the proposition in its submission:

Vote scanning technology was successfully used for local government elections in New Zealand in October 2004 to count 400,000 votes. The system used there was successful, and the accuracy of the machines has even survived legal challenge. The machine automatically imports the voters’ preferences into its database, but also provides an image of the ballot on a screen next to the data as it has read it, so that a human operator can verify that the machine has read the ballot correctly. By using this technology, the electoral authority was able to use half as many casual staff and half as much IT equipment (excluding scanners) than in previous elections. Results were also known sooner than in the past.

The Australian Electoral Commission is currently undertaking a feasibility study of this possibility. The VEC considers that this technology could provide substantial cost savings. From the next State election, voters for the Legislative Council will be able to vote “above the line” or “below the line”. Data entering below the line preferences … would be very time consuming and is likely to be prone to error, as voting will be optional preferential (therefore, most ballots are likely to contain a substantial number of blank spaces). In contrast, automated scanning would be more accurate (for those that it successfully reads) and substantially faster (it takes approximately five minutes for a person to enter the data from a federal Upper House ballot into a computer using the Australian Electoral Commission’s software; the automated scanning machines used in New Zealand processed 120 double-sided A3 ballots per minute).

There would be a large cost involved in providing the scanners (the models used in New Zealand cost $120,000 each) and a service contract for equipment support on polling day. However, this cost may be partly/largely offset by the reduction in the number of people required to enter data. In addition, results would be known in a more timely manner … Therefore, the VEC considers this an option worth pursuit, subject to the findings of the AEC. (Submission No. a27, pp. 23–4)

A similarly positive recommendation of this technology was provided by SecureVote, who noted that the technology underlying the systems are now highly mature (optical character recognition) and that the advantages of speed can be matched with accuracy improvements. The systems are also developed with regard to human oversight, allowing: • A digital image of the ballot to be stored with the data collected • Including “logic tests” to spark review by an operator (e.g. are all the numbers sequential?)

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• Variable “thresholds” of user review (depending on user requirements) for instances where the software is uncertain of the correct interpretation of the writing.

In addition, the Committee notes that when all Local Government elections in Victoria are brought into alignment, this may place an additional burden on the VEC for the administration of these elections (provided it is the successful tenderer).

Overall, the Committee regards the use of this technology as appropriate, and supports the intention of the VEC to trial this technology. If the technology can, in the Victorian environment, show a higher level of accuracy than current counting systems in a comparative study, then the technology has clear benefits to the administration of the electoral process given the speed by which counting can be undertaking with these systems. The Government of Victoria, therefore, should provide the funding for this technology, based on a business case that can demonstrate the cost effectiveness of the technology as compared with hand- and data-entry counting methods.

In addition, the Committee notes that the acquisition of this technology should see the VEC engage in collaborative efforts with other jurisdictions that may lower the cost of purchase, storage, maintenance and staffing for these systems.

Recommendation 58 The Victorian Electoral Commission should prepare a business case for the Victorian Government on the use of automatic ballot-scanning technology on a pilot basis. This review should consider: • Models for the implementation of these systems (acquisition, lease, etc.) • Means by which acquisition costs can be shared with other jurisdictions • Costs and benefits of implementation • Effectiveness of the technology and minimum thresholds by which recounts should be required by law (margin-of-error assessments).

It should be noted that the Committee considers the points made in Recommendation 56 relevant to the proposed acquisition of this project.

Consultation and Participation

Of specific interest to the Inquiry was the use of ICTs to expand the capacity of citizens to engage in Government consultation and participation processes, as noted in the Terms of Reference for the Inquiry.

The Government of Victoria, like other governments around Australia and throughout the world, has embraced the notion of community consultation as a means to better ensure that public policy is aligned with the interests of the community – be that the broader general community of Victoria, or specific communities of interest and stakeholder groups – and that information relevant to policy decisions is obtained from those who are often closest to the issues under consideration (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2001:11)).

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This view is shared by other jurisdictions across Australia. The Western Australian Government’s guide on citizen consultation states that the benefits of investment in consultation and inclusion can be seen to:

• Raise the quality of policies

• Raise the chances for successful implementation

• Reinforce the legitimacy of the decision-making process and its final results

• Increase the chance of voluntary compliance

• Increase the scope for forms of partnerships with citizens. (OECD, 2002:1)

This view is supported by policy scholars, such as Peter Bridgman (Deputy Director-General of the Department of Education and the Arts) and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Melbourne, Glyn Davis (Bridgman and Davis, 2004:79), who see the growth of consultation as a reflection of shifting community attitudes to government, and changes in government about the role of the public in decision making.

In stating the democratic case for greater use of consultation by government, they argue:

Whereas secrecy was one hallmark of the political and policy domains alike, community expectations have shifted. Groups outside the government expect involvement in decision making. The legitimacy of much public policy now rests on an exchange between citizens and their government. (p.78)

Historically, public involvement in Government decision making has focused on consultation, with participation an expectation of the formal electoral processes only. This has sometimes been referred to as the “Board of Directors model”: with the anticipation that the public’s role in democratic life was only expressed at elections, where the performance of the government of the day was either approved or rejected in favour of the alternative government presented by the Opposition.

This view, projected from political leaders through their departments and agencies, was reinforced through the response of the public sector, which developed and refined a range of consultation techniques and supporting definitions. These tended to reflect the view that consultation was a process of information collection, with decision making retained by the Executive.

This perspective has been changing over the past four decades, with governments recognising – and citizens increasingly demanding – more active involvement in decision-making processes. The Committee recognises that the increasing expectations of the public for information and involvement in decision-making processes must be provided by Government, but in a planned and managed way that does not favour the few at the expense of the majority.

In this process of change, the use of ICTs has expanded the capacity of the Victorian Government to provide information to the community about policy proposals and plans, and the interactive nature of these technologies has provided a new array of ways by which greater public involvement in decision-making processes can be facilitated.

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DEFINITIONS AND DIRECTIONS

There is a broad range of definitions used by public sector organisations to define consultation. While each definition is subtly different, they tend to share a number of consensus elements about what consultation is: • Consultation involves two or more parties • It is a process that is structured in some way • Consultation involves the collection and sharing of information or points of view • Its objective is to inform the process of decision making (in that it explicitly occurs before decisions are made).

From these commonalities, there are considerable differences within the definitions used as to other characteristics of consultation. For some, consultation may involve consensus-building (O’Malley, undated), or expressly exclude shared decision making (Scales, 1997:1). For others, consultation represents an ongoing communications process between government and the public, while others see it as a short-term, or “one-off”, process of information exchange (KPMG, 2000:81).

These differences are the result of an attempt, wittingly or unwittingly, to conceive of consultation as “an activity” or a “specific process”. While this may have been the case a decade ago, the Committee notes that large parts of the VPS have recognised a clear shift to conceive of consultation as an array of techniques and methods with various levels of public engagement and participation.

Bridgman and Davis (2004) illustrate this shift with a “consultation continuum” or typology of methods of consultation that range from activities that require or encourage little or no direct public participation in formulating the final policy decision (information provision) through to activities whereby control over the process of consultation and decision making is handed over to the participants. Within this broad spectrum fit the range of consultation and deliberation approaches used across Government.

The Committee prefers the expression consultation and participation, emphasising the participatory and interactive elements of civic engagement by Government. The lower levels of interactivity consultation invariably “bleed” into the decision-making process in three ways: • They shape community views and attitudes to policy decisions through the provision of (or failure to provide) information • They provide the basis for decision making through the collection of information • They can provide for direct decision making by the citizenry or relevant stakeholders.

On this theme, Professor Stephen Coleman and Dr John Gøtze (2001) provide a three-stage model for thinking about consultation and participation, illustrating differences between one-way (on which subject Part II of this Report is largely concerned), two-way and ongoing information flows between government and the public. These three forms of consultation and participation are:

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Information: a one-way relation in which government produces and delivers information for use by citizens. It covers both “passive” access to information upon demand by citizens and “active” measures by government to disseminate information to citizens. Examples include: access to public records, official gazettes, government web sites.

Consultation: a two-way relation in which citizens provide feedback to government. It is based on the prior definition by government of the issue on which citizens' views are being sought and requires the provision of information. Examples include: public opinion surveys, comments on draft legislation.

Active participation: a relation based on partnership with government, in which citizens actively engage in the decision- and policy-making process. It acknowledges a role for citizens in proposing policy options and shaping the policy dialogue – although the responsibility for the final decision or policy formulation rests with government. (2001:13) Selecting the Right Approach

Consultation and participation, therefore, represents an array of methods and strategies. For any Victorian department or agency undertaking a consultation process, their consultation managers need to ensure that the selection of the appropriate methodology is aligned with: • The nature of, and importance of, the issue under consideration (the priority, scope and scale of the process should match its importance) • The need for information by Government (the extent to which the Government needs to acquire new information to make an effective decision) • The extent to which the establishment of a consensus is required (where levels of dispute over an issue are high) or where a consensus cannot be reached, where the introduction of a open and transparent process for decision making will increase the legitimacy of the outcome • The range of other outcomes that can result from engaging with the public (such as the stimulation or formation of local community groups or representative bodies, increased information provision to the community, or the formation of public–private or public– community partnerships for action).

It has become very clear over the past decade that the inappropriate use of consultation (such as where a decision has already been reached, or in subjects with limited public-interest value) undermines the rationale for the investment of public monies in this activity.

Following this general approach, the International Association for Public Participation provides a spectrum of consultation and participation tools that range from information provision to active participation32: • Information provision: fact sheets, web sites, open houses • Consultation: public comment, focus groups, surveys, public meetings • Involving the public: workshops, deliberative polling

32 In this case using a five-level scale or typology.

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• Collaboration: citizen advisory committees, consensus-building, participatory decision making • Empowerment: citizens’ juries, ballots, delegated decisions. (IAP2, 2000)

These are examples only, with IAP2 listing forty-seven different consultation and participation methodologies in its more detailed literature (2004). While some of these techniques are specific to ICTs, in general each approach is one that can be undertaken on- or offline (though the Committee observes that some techniques are likely to be more valuable in face-to-face environments, particularly if levels of trust are low, and need to be developed and reinforced). Issues and Tensions

The Committee observes a number of issues in the area of consultation and participation that would benefit from further discussion. These issues focus around the appropriate selection of consultation and participations methodologies, and the need for reflection about the benefits gained from different approaches at either end of the “spectrum of consultation”.

First, the introduction of active participation in shared or delegated decision making is an inherently political act. The Committee is not blind to the tensions that shifts towards direct democratic processes bring to the policy process. Parkinson has identified that the citizen’s jury model, popular in the United Kingdom, has been:

… used by bureaucrats specifically to sideline activists, to ensure that decision makers hear from people other than “the usual suspects” who are assumed to be the self- interested purveyors of only those facts and values which suit their strategic goals. (2002:16–7)

While, in a review of a similar process undertaken in New South Wales in 2001, Hendriks observed the:

… Citizens’ Jury [process] met strong opposition by key interest groups. This was particularly the case by those groups … who had previously had a powerful influence on government policy. The strategic behaviour of these groups included demands to restrict the content of the background material, the Citizens’ Jury agenda and the consultation process design. (2002:16)

Thus, while the Committee observes the clear benefit of more direct consultation and participation approaches in “cutting through” areas of policy making that are perceived as being “captured” by commercial interests or groups with considerable financial resources or “insider status”, the selection of consultation and participation methodologies that provide for deliberative and direct democracy must be undertaken with: • A clear acceptance of the inherently political nature of selecting a deliberative methodology for policy consultation • A recognition of the impact of this approach on established political interests, and the need to secure the relevant political commitment to the process prior to initiation. Deliberative consultation and participation processes cannot be undertaken without the direct and explicit authorisation to do so, by the relevant Minister

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• Appropriate reflection on the correct approach to use (methodology) and an awareness of the ways in which different deliberative methodologies shape process, and possibly outcome • A refusal to use these processes in a cynical or instrumental manner, engineering desired outcomes through controlling access to the process, or the type of information employed within it (Bishop, et al., 2002).

What is required is a degree of transparency in the way that Government selects and implements its consultation and participation methodologies, and an explicit recognition of some of the underlying motivations about their selection and use. Where the intention of the Government is to select a course of action from an array of information – with public input only serving as one source of input for the decision – then informational and consultation strategies are the most honest approach to the selection of an appropriate tool.

Second, and on a related point to the above discussion, the Committee recognises a problem in seeing consultation and participation as a “sliding scale” of techniques along one axis only (degree of participation and ownership of the process by the community). While the various “continuum” or “spectrum” diagrams of consultation and participation methodologies represent a useful means to consider the type of tool needed to achieve the consultative process by Government, the “ascending scale” model can be misinterpreted to imply a greater normative good (“more democratic”) associated with each methodology as one moves from information provision to implementations of direct democracy. See Figure 13, below. Figure 13: OECD Definitional Diagram, Illustrating “Consultation Continuum”

Source: OECD, 2001: 23 (originally adapted from Health Canada)

This is not necessarily the case, and the Committee does not consider it appropriate to over- emphasise devolution of decision making away from Ministers and the Parliament. Methodological legitimacy remains the question that should be considered in any consultation and participation design process, and the role of decision makers is a key aspect of this process.

Thus, while Governments have accepted the value of devolving decisions, either to resolve intractable tensions over policy, or where devolution allows a discrete group within the community to manage its own affairs through co-regulatory models, the Committee notes that this can never

137 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee be at the expense of the primacy of the Parliament, through its legislative functions and the compulsory electoral process that supports it through mass participation, or Executive Government, as a responsible form of administration.

While it is the clear intention of the Committee to stimulate and encourage the use of more participatory models of consultation, the overuse of these techniques can undermine the democratic processes. The Committee recognises that there is a proportion of the Victorian community which is, and remains, comfortable with their level of political participation contained within the electoral process only, and that the Government of Victoria cannot, and should not, necessarily force more active participation across the community.

This recognises that direct democracy has clear advantages, but if misused, undermines the democratic system through undercutting the responsible decision-making processes of the Westminster system. Thus, while the Committee supports the introduction of direct democracy methodologies in Government consultation and participation processes in Victoria, it considers that these will be undertaken: • Selectively, observing the inherent tensions between direct and representative democratic forms of Government • Reflectively, to build knowledge and practical skills associated with these processes.

Therefore, it is the finding of the Committee that the VPS and Executive needs appropriate information and tools to determine the best form of consultation and participation to apply, and that these tools need to note, weigh and provide guidance on appropriate application of deliberative processes that do not undervalue non-binding consultative processes with respect to devolved decision making.

Illustrating a non-normative classification approach is a useful diagrammatic representation developed by Fife Council in the Scotland. Intended as a guide for policy officers, it shows the respective benefits of different types of consultation depending upon which of the three objectives is required or desired. This type of model, or a further refinement of it, which emphasises: • Benefits and costs • Risks and aspects of best practice • Appropriate or maximum levels of reasonable participation • Example policy areas where the method has been utilised would be of greater practical value to the VPS (see Consultation and Participation Best Practice Reference Guide, p. 167).

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Figure 14: Consultation and Participation Methods – Fife Council Scorecard

Source: Fife Council, 2002:1

Third, even where a department or agency does not pursue direct democracy approaches, the Victorian Government must recognise that policy advice is becoming increasingly open and contestable. This approach has been seen as a public benefit, only countered where there is a need for expediency in decision making. As Professor Iris Marion Young (2000) observes:

… in some situations greater inclusion may lead to greater complexity and difficulty in reaching decisions. This is an argument against attending to situated knowledge only if the political goal is to arrive at public decisions as quickly and with as little contest as possible. Public and private policy-makers often do have this goal, of course, but to reach it they often need to keep a process under tight and exclusive control. For many routine, trivial, or administrative decisions such a goal may not be inappropriate, though it can be called democratic only if the decisions are embedded in a wider and more contestable public policy discussion. A primary goal of democratic discussion and decision-making ought to be to promote justice in solving problems, however, and I have argued that this goal requires inclusion even if it creates complexity and reveals conflicts of interest that can only be resolved by changing structural relations. (2000:119)

At one level, the increasing use of external advisors and consultants recognises that the VPS need not be the sole repository of policy expertise in Government, but this approach can be, and should

139 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee be, applied more broadly where the Government makes a specific appeal for public participation. The type of inclusion under discussion by Professor Young is a broader approach than simple outsourcing of analysis to specialists and consultants, but one that recognises the value of social difference in determining decisions and making evaluations of policy options.

In this case, we have to recognise that Victoria is an (and is part of a wider) information society, in that:

The digital revolution in information and communications technologies has created the platform for a free flow of information, ideas and knowledge across the globe. This revolution has made a profound impression on the way the world functions. The Internet has become an important global resource, a resource that is critical to both the developed world as a business and social tool and the developing world as a passport to equitable participation, as well as economic, social and educational development. (World Summit on the Information Society, 2005)

The implications of this “profound impression” are that: • Government must recognise competing sources of information in policy making • Government must recognise competing capacity of analysis outside of the public sector and traditionally recognised areas of technical expertise • Government must facilitate debate over policy development and decision making through the provision of data, as well as information.

These points recognise that the Victorian population is better educated than ever before, and that some of the tools needed to analyse large and complex data sets – once the preserve of mainframe computers or large organisational budgets – are now standard desktop applications (spreadsheets, database systems) or available at low cost or as open-source applications (for example, the R project for statistical computing provides a free analysis package similar to commercial offerings; http://www.r-project.org/).

The prospect of “contestable policy” through the release of Government data is highlighted by the submission of Dr M. Wigan, who observed that:

While it is widely accepted that Evidence Based Policies are becoming normal, it is equally clear that making them genuinely contestable is being resisted strongly. This is occurring at a time when Government is more and more heavily reliant on outside consultants for such work, and most of the skills are in the community and not in government. This raises the question as to what the role of information provision should be in eGovernment. The trend in at least one government department to refer to high level consulting as simply “procurement” is an interesting indicator that as internal skills diminish the engagement with even the technically expert community … may be fading. (Submission No. a30)

In addition, from evidence collected in North America, the provision of raw data to local community organisations can be beneficial in stimulating community action on issues of local concern, or in the creation of locally relevant content.

Mr Ari Schwartz of the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington illustrated this point in his discussion of how local community groups had used government geographic data sets and

140 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy combined them with pollution data collected by volunteers to place pressure on local administrations to improve water quality.

Similarly, Professor Peter Levine of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Michigan State University talked about the role of schools encouraging multimedia content related to local history, using similar data released by government agencies.

The Committee notes that the State of Victoria has recognised the need for data provision to local groups and activities. The Department for Victorian Communities (DVC) has produced a guide for local organisations, Getting to Know Your Local Community: A Guide to Using Local Data that provides: • Information about how to use data to assist the work of community organisations • A basic statistical primer • An annotated list of available data. (DVC, 2004b)

The Committee regards this work as valuable, and believes it should be continued. The Committee also notes that the DVC has been proactive in drawing together lists of data from outside of the Victorian State Government, making the resource richer to the public.

However, the Committee finds that, just as the Government has responded to criticisms about the over-use of commercial-in-confidence agreements to shelter documents from FoI applications (see Current Performance of the Freedom of Information Act in Part II, p. 40), care needs to be taken around the commercialisation of Government data sets, where this may preclude oversight and re- analysis.

The primary purpose of the activities of the Government of Victoria is to ensure the public interest, and issues of commercialisation and cost-recovery must be secondary to this value. By nature, re- analysis demands the release of primary data, in its raw form, supported by explanatory information about the way the data was collected.

While some may argue that all data sets should be readily available, the Committee notes that there are instances in which this is not warranted, particularly: • Where the data contains information that directly or indirectly can allow for the identification of individuals (a violation of the Information Privacy Act) • Where the collection of the data needs specific interpretation and clarification in order to be meaningful (essentially where the data needs significant “cleaning” or is of poor quality).

The Committee accepts that not all data collected by the VPS meets high standards of usability or accuracy, and that this is often a function of the relative needs of the organisation at the time of collection (appropriate time and cost investment based on need).

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The Committee rejects the proposition, however, that data that can be released to facilitate contestable policy analysis should be withheld due to issues of cost recovery. It is the view of the Committee that this can be used to limit democratic debate, but also reflects three unsound propositions: • That the data is owned by the State of Victoria to the exclusion of its citizens • The State is the only source of analysis and expertise • No mechanism exists to ensure that data can be released for non-commercial purposes and still ensure resale of the data.

While the first and second points reflect a general principle of the collective ownership of the State by its citizens, the rejection of the final point is based on developments in the area of intellectual property licensing. Specifically, the Committee notes the recent development of localised versions of the “Creative Commons” licensing system. This approach allows for the release of intellectual property, such as data, under a flexible licensing system which protects the commercial value of the resource.

This approach of intellectual property, initially conceived and developed in the United States, allows content distributors to: • Determine and publish a Creative Commons licensing agreement, from a template that meets their needs • Provide a range of different aspects to the licence which permit limited free distribution and retain rights to commercial distribution.

This has been localised, and is undergoing further work by a project team led by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Tom Cochrane and Law School Professor Brian Fitzgerald, of the Queensland University of Technology, and Mr Ian Oi of Blake Dawson Waldron Lawyers.

Recommendation 59

Fourth, the effective use of consultation and participation can also challenge our assumptions about what information or “knowledge” is relevant to the decision-making process. In essence, consideration of consultation techniques and public engagement can open a number of epistemological questions: • What types of evidence are relevant to the process of policy making (what information do we capture)?

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• Do some data-collection methods have greater value than others (either due to the form of collection, such as qualitative versus quantitative methods, or because of other factors (such as representative sampling))?

This point recognises a clear divergence in the way governments have conceptualised and undertaken the processes of policy making. Following industrialisation, with the growth of the scientific method in the physical and social sciences, there was a tendency in developed nations around the world to view government policy making and program implementation as the task of experts, undertaken using the best scientific methods of the day: clear data collection, classification, analysis and rational selection from an array of alternatives. For many, both outside and inside of government, this scientific and rationalist approach represents the only appropriate way in which public decision making should be undertaken.

While the Committee does not underplay the importance of clear, theory driven and evidence-led processes of policy development and implementation (Scottish Executive, 2003:6), it also recognises that alternative forms and sources of information can provide balance to strictly quantitative and statistical methods. A rigid focus on scientific methods and behaviourist approaches to public policy has sometimes been considered a means by which the public has been shut out of meaningful dialogue with governments, which have favoured a technocratic class of policy advisors.

The shift to consultation and participation, in one respect, is a response to these perceptions, but more importantly is also a means by which government has recognised that different types of knowledge should be available to policy makers (Siedman, 1977:415): experiential knowledge, for example, represents a type of information and policy related knowledge that is only recently becoming recognised as an important input into policy making processes.

In making this positive observation, however, the Committee is cognisant of the difficulties that our expanding understanding of relevant policy-related information can have. These difficulties relate to questions surrounding how policy officers balance different types of knowledge when making recommendations and decisions. The problems of balancing statistical findings (which may be based on broad, but shallow data-collection processes) versus qualitative (textual) case studies will continue to remain a problem across government.

It is the view of the Committee that ICTs will have positive and negative impacts on the resolution of some of these concerns. In negative terms, the Committee notes that ICTs will exacerbate epistemological difficulties through an expansion of the amount of, format of and type of information and knowledge collected by policy makers. While on the positive side, the collection of information in digital format will allow for the increased use of indexing and analysis tools by policy officers as a means to manage information overload.

Thus, the Committee wishes to stress two factors in considering the implementation of consultation and participation methodologies, particularly where new technologies are involved. These factors are that: • There is a risk that policy makers, because of its ease of access, representation, summation, indexing and analysis, will subtly favour consultation and participation collected via ICTs

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• The Government of Victoria, through professional, systematic and reflective management of consultation and participation processes, needs to be explicit about the equal treatment of information and evidence provided across media forms. THE ROLE OF ICTS IN CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION IN VICTORIA

As indicated in the discussion above, the Committee does not regard the use of ICTs in consultation and participation processes as a separate class or type of democratic activity. It is the view of the Committee that the question of how new technology may assist the Government in Victoria in extending its use of consultation and participation methodologies is not one of recommending a single, specific approach for adoption, but noting that consultations processes are able to incorporate an ICT component.

There are three general models for the incorporation of ICTs in consultation and participation: • As a supporting information channel: where information about a consultation process is provided using ICTs, such as a consultation website which includes background information, or the provision of consultation materials via email or other means • ICT support in a physical location: where technology is employed within a physical meeting to support the consultation process. This may be as simple as the provision of audio-visual equipment, or computers for co-authorship of outcomes documents, but also may include the use of networked computers to “scale up” the scope of a consultation process. One example of the latter approach is the use of networked computers and electronic handheld voting devices by the America Speaks group. During the delegation to the United States, the Committee observed how the organisation had conducted “town hall” meetings using these technologies to run interactive meetings with as many as five thousand citizens. In this example, the use of technology was specifically designed to increase the representative nature of the consultative process and was employed in policy areas where “visioning” was undertaken (the redevelopment of the World Trade Centre; Rosegrant, 2003) or significant political consensus required (for a new city plan for Washington aimed at battling civic decline; Potapchuk, 2002) • Online consultation and participation: where the interactive and participative elements of the consultation process are entirely or partially undertaken online. Many examples of this approach exist, but the most frequently cited would be the use of email mailing lists for policy discussions, use of video streaming (webcasting) for “online meetings”, or the creation of online equivalents to small group meeting methodologies (such as focus groups or citizen juries).

It should be emphasised here that the Committee prefers to consider the issue of the use of new technologies in consultation and participation processes as more than simply the introduction of online consultation; for example, the use of the Internet to consult with the public. It is clear from the experiences observed by the Committee, and the delegation of the 54th Parliament, that while significant effort has been put into using the Internet in this way, ICTs have a much broader role in civic engagement.

One of the difficulties with the introduction of ICTs in consultation and participation around the world has been an over-emphasis on the use of technology as an end in itself, and under- emphasis on the relationship between technology and clear, demonstrable policy making

144 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy outcomes (OECD, 2003). This has tended to result in online-consultation processes that were not well planned, leading to failures that caused governments to shy away from further experimentation and innovation.

The Committee notes that governments are not the only victims of excessively high expectations of the benefits offered by new technology. The so-called “dot.com” boom and crash that occurred in the private sector in the late 1990s demonstrates how the impacts of a disruptive technology like the Internet take time to develop and be understood. We are still in the midst of this process of change. As Hill (2003) observed:

Use [online technologies] for those areas which are well suited to electronic communications, use conventional methods for other things. Remember the inflated claims for E-Commerce, such as that all car buying would take place on the web and that conventional car dealerships were part of the prehistoric past? What happened to them? They are part of the dot-com bust.

So don't fall into the E-Everything trap. (2003:5)

It is the view of the Committee that the use of ICTs provides clear benefits to the public, through opening up new channels for participation. In addition, there are examples whereby effective participation can only be delivered through the use of alternative technologies rather than face-to- face meetings or conventional correspondence.

The advantages of using new technologies in consultation and participation processes can be found in: • Areas of access to consultation and participation processes: o Participation by people with limited time or mobility, or who live in remote locations o Non-business hours participation (for asynchronous processes) o Participation by those with a disability • Changing the environment of consultation: o Benefits of informality, where appropriate o Options for anonymity o Reaching members of the community with high information literacy but low levels of participation in formal political processes, such as young people • Exploring new avenues for participation: o The facilitation of citizen-to-citizen interaction and debate o Capacity to increase the numerical level of predication in more complex consultation processes o Introduction of polling and voting practices o Combining processes that focus on individual contributions as well as contributions from peak bodies or community organisations

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• Applying effective and enhanced information management to consultation: o Provision of greater levels of information, or information in multimedia formats, in a way that allows participants to determine how much or how little information they require o Ability for participants to be provided with information about the results of the process in a direct and expedient manner o The ability to digitally capture information provided, and apply analytical or indexing software to the contributions.

What is clear is that the nature of the various technologies employed will have significant advantages and limitations, depending upon the context of the consultation and participation process being considered. Victorian Examples to Date

It is the Committee’s view that the State of Victoria (State and Local Government) has already demonstrated an interest in the role of ICTs in the consultation and participation process, and has made a number of positive steps in applying the technology.

It should be noted that, at this time, the emphasis has been on online consultation processes with some emerging work in citizen-to-citizen interaction, and thus the Committee notes a considerable scope for expanding and developing our understanding and experience across a range of approaches to ICT integration in civic participation and participatory democratic approaches.

During the course of the Inquiry, the Committee observed a number of online consultation processes in this State, either first hand, or through evidence provided in hearings and submissions.

The Committee notes a number of relevant activities: • The establishment of the “Have Your Say” pilot online consultation project by the Department of Premier and Cabinet • An online consultation run by the Office of Women’s Policy on workplace supports for working mothers • The online consultation registration system by Parks Victoria for development of Box- Ironbark Park management plans • A number of ongoing consultation activities within the Department for Human Services • The Same Sex Relationships Electronic Discussion Group run by the Department of Premier and Cabinet • Incorporation of the capacity for intra-Government and stakeholder consultation through the redevelopment of shared workspaces on the State’s Public Sector intranet, “Central Station”.

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In the Local Government arena, the Committee observed a number of activities to date, including: • Wellington Shire allows citizens to ask questions of its elected representatives via the Internet during webcast council meetings • Darebin City Council has recently concluded, and will continue to deploy, a structured online discussion forum for residents • Moreland City Council and Latrobe City maintain an e-discussion forum for residents to talk about a wide range of local issues • Ballarat City Council solicited email input into its visioning document (Kowalski, 2002:2). Role of ICTs in Consultation and Participation

Given the advantages of employing ICTs in consultation and participation processes, it is the Committee’s view that the Victorian Government should foster the use of new technologies. This is a corresponding finding to that provided for the Parliament of Victoria, as discussed in Part IV.

Thus, the Committee recommends that all Government and Parliamentary processes be developed with explicit consideration of the role ICTs may have in their conduct. This does not require all Government consultation and participation processes to include ICTs; however, the Committee is keen to ensure that the design of any process of civic engagement in Victoria gives reasoned consideration to the full range of communications and participation tools available. Evidence from Canada has indicated that, with appropriate recognition of the importance of ICTs as an additional channel for government-to-citizen interaction, there is a high level of interest expressed by public managers in the use of these tools (Public Works and Services Canada, 2003:4).

This recommendation, therefore, is an effort to mainstream the use of ICTs in our democratic processes. With increasing numbers of Victorians using ICTs in their day-to-day business and personal dealings, it is inevitable that the public will expect, and the Government will respond to, public demand to access conventional consultations online.

Recommendation 60 All Parliamentary and Government consultation and participation processes should include, where feasible and appropriate to the target audience, the use of ICTs. • ICT-enabled consultation and participation processes should be developed in conjunction with key stakeholder groups and academic institutions in order to develop relevant frameworks for participation and evaluation. • These processes should be undertaken to provide an evaluation of effectiveness, both qualitative and quantitative. With regards to online consultation: • Any consultation undertaken without an online component should include in the methodology of the final report of the consultation, a statement outlining the reasons against undertaking an element of the consultation online.

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Recommendation 60 – continued • The inclusion of online participation should not be limited to restrict participation in offline forms. • Where possible, online consultation should allow citizen-to-citizen communication, moderated only to prevent incidence of defamation or legal risk to the State or Parliament of Victoria.

In making this recommendation, the Committee wishes to ensure that two caveats are emphasised.

First, the Committee wishes to reiterate that the adoption of ICTs in consultation and participation activities of the Government and Parliament of Victoria should be undertaken with consideration to Recommendation 4, in Part I – that ICT-enabled consultation cannot, nor should be, considered a low-cost means of replacing conventional consultation processes. The use of ICTs in Government consultation and participation processes must be seen as an adjunct, or additional, communication channel only, except in those very rare cases in which the entire population relevant to the consultation processes is online and is willing to engage with Government online.

It is important to reiterate this final point: even where a population may consist of people who all have access to new technologies, this should not be interpreted as meaning that the group necessarily wishes to communicate and participate with Government using these technologies. Democracy, a system of choice, needs to recognise that people have their own preferences about how, when and where they participate.

Second, even where a Government consultation process is not specifically transacted online (e.g. that the consultation does not include an interactive aspect using ICTs), the Committee recognises that the online provision of printed material associated with the consultation processes in advance of any meeting or forum must be considered best practice with respect to allowing those members of the vision-impaired community to access the content using assistive technologies (NILS, Submission No. a3, p. 10). In addition, where the consultation process is likely to include groups whose primary language is not English, this also affords participants time to secure translation or interpretation of the material, if the material is not automatically provided as a translation or translated summation. Practical Investment in Tools to Support ICTs Use

In making Recommendation 60, the Committee notes that the Victorian Government and Parliament may interpret this as a requirement for the specific development of an array of new tools. This is not necessarily the case, though areas of investment will be needed.

While there are occasions in which the appropriate consultation methodology necessitates the creation or modification of a specific tool, existing technologies and website functionality can be employed to provide for consultation using ICTs. Thus, any move into online or ICT-enabled consultation and participation by the VPS should be undertaken with reference to the existing capabilities of the department’s or agency’s technology base, and with reference to technologies that can be shared across Government.

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In addition, departments or agencies interested in engaging stakeholders online need to be aware of pre-existing online communities, either those established through projects like the MC2 initiative of VICNET or others that have developed independently of Government (Curtain, 2004). Many professional associations maintain extensive online mailing lists, and there is a range of independent discussion lists and forums that focus on general political and policy discussion (e.g., the Yahoo! Group maintained by On Line Opinion; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OnLineOpinions/) or are specifically focused on Victoria (for example, insidepolitics.com.au contains a mailing list just for Victorian political discussion; http://www.insidepolitics.com.au/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/forum/3.html).

Any consultation approach should, as a matter of course, identify key stakeholders and representative organisations with insight or relevance to the policy issue under consideration. The proliferation of email list systems in the community means that the Victorian Government is able to form partnerships with community organisations to use their resources and subscription base as part of the consultation process, or as a passive source for information gathering.

The advantages of these practical approaches to toolset development have been recognised by some governments and civil society groups engaged with technology. Speaking from the perspective of a policy practitioner in government, Ms Elizabeth Richard (2000) of the Canadian Federal Government observed that governments and Members of parliament need to be more active in utilising the existing areas of policy discussion and debate, even if this is simply for environmental scanning purposes:

Newsgroups monitoring is a growing mass-listening practice, useful to follow the concerns of specific stakeholders to qualify opinion polling. But if issues are to be detected through newsgroup monitoring, tools for content analysis are needed. There is a reluctance to “listen in” even though many departments’ policy issues are discussed on newsgroups. (2000:9–10)

While from the corresponding position outside of government, Mr Michael Weiksner and Mr Scott Reents, founders of the e-the-people discussion board (http://www.e-thepeople.org/), explained to the Committee’s delegation to North America how greater involvement in their civil society conversation space would be a good way to support and encourage these types of “online agora” civic spaces. It was their view that the involvement of public officials and policy makers would be beneficial to both parties, increasing the “pull” of these sites to members of the public, and providing the government and decision makers a ready source of interlocutors.

More specifically, an approach to online consultation that saw the incorporation of existing third- party organisations as a source of expertise and/or participants, has more direct benefits in improving consultation outcomes. This view was made strongly by Dr Liss Jeffrey of the byDesign eLab group (http://www.bydesign-elab.net/) during the Committee’s visit to Canada. Dr Jeffrey, whose organisation had provided expertise in the delivery of the Canadian Foreign Policy Dialogue (http://www.foreign-policy-dialogue.ca/), observed that departments or agencies interested in online consultation should consider the following questions: • Are there organisations in the community that currently maintain a list or system that could be used for online consultation by government?

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• Are there organisations in the community that possess special expertise with regard to the moderation of consultations with the specific target group (e.g. an organisation with specific cultural experience, or with credibility to act as an impartial broker in highly charged areas of political debate)? • Does a highly structured process need to be undertaken at all? Can government solicit and receive the type of information it needs through engagement with an existing online community?

Clearly these are questions of “fit”. Where significantly representative and vibrant online communities already exist, incorporation of a government-sponsored consultation process in these groups would provide benefits in: • Reducing the costs and time associated with the recruitment of participants • Reducing the costs and time associated with the development or modification of tool sets for the conduct of online consultations • Faster access to information: the need to establish and formalise ground rules for participation of the participants is negated – these groups will have their own cultural norms and rules • Higher levels of trust through engagement of the community in its own online “space” • Stimulation of non-government civic activity.

Recommendation 61

The Need for Promotion

In order for ICTs to find their appropriate place in the array of public engagement tools available to policy makers, the Victorian Parliament and Government cannot shy away from promoting these activities. While some governments have taken bold moves into online consultation, establishing whole-of-government portals and consultations tools (such as seen in the United Kingdom, http://www.direct.gov.uk/QuickFind/Consultations/fs/en and Queensland, http://www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/Get_involved/), the Committee notes that many governments have experimented very tentatively with the interactive power of ICTs.

It is the view of the Committee that experimentation is important, but that timidity on the part of the Victorian Government will not assist in developing an effective understanding of how these tools and processes can assist governments to produce better policy outcomes for citizens using ICTs. Stephen Clift (2004), a well-known advocate of online consultation, has been critical of the way in which online consultation has been implemented in some jurisdictions. His view is that some governments:

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… have limited the promotion of their initial online consultation experiments by avoiding profile links from their government's main portal. Many governments are concerned over negative attention that might come from a less than successful effort. They are also concerned about the precedent a successful e-participation project may establish. Unfortunately without a participatory audience, interactive projects fail to generate the required interest. (Clift, 2004)

Clearly, there are risks in implementing ICTs in consultation and participation processes, which include: • Failure to produce meaningful outcomes (lack of informative response received given the effort expended by the department, agency or parliament) • Malicious attacks or failure of the technology to provide reliable outcomes • Deliberate misuse by unrepresentative elements of the community, to promote specific political purposes, or to “spoil” the outcome • Lack of interest by the public.

Yet, the Committee contends that these risks are inherent in all consultation processes. Given a degree of “hype” often associated with new technologies, the implementation of ICTs in consultation and participation activities does need to be realistic, with a clear statement of the expected benefits as well as the limits of the process.

In evidence presented on behalf of the City of Darebin on its experience with online consultation, Mr P. Shanahan observed that: • Considerable investment had been required in establishing the forum, particularly around the moderation of messages and recruitment of participants • Careful consultation between the list managers and policy officers was required to ensure that valuable information could be solicited from participants • The purpose of the list needed to be closely aligned with decision-making processes in order for participants to see a benefit from their participation. (Submission No. a12, pp. 5–7)

Indeed, the Committee’s experience with its own discussion list was that considerable investment was required to maintain participation in the list, and when staff were not actively encouraging participation, it tended to fall away.

Thus, it is the view of the Committee that the process of stimulating the use of ICTs in citizen engagement will need a demonstrable political commitment in the medium term. While the recommendations above aim to promote online engagement methods across the whole of the public sector, as a “standard” tool considered in the development of any consultation process, the Committee notes that the introduction of a number of demonstration projects should be undertaken to: • Increase awareness across the VPS of the Government’s commitment to extending citizen participation using ICTs

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• Engage the community and raise its expectations of Government to include the appropriate use of ICTs in consultation and participation • Begin a process of general awareness raising as to the capacity of ICT-enabled consultation to enhance public participation, but not provide a panacea to the inevitable reality that politics and policy making is about balancing the views of sometimes- conflicting parties, and that tensions are an inevitable part of the political process.

Recommendation 62

The State Government of Victoria should identify and develop a number of policy areas where demonstration online-consultation projects can be conducted. SUSTAINING A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE FOR ICT-ENABLED CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION

Given the focus of Recommendation 60 on stimulating the use of ICTs for consultation and participation processes across Government, and the desire of the Committee – through Recommendation 62 – to encourage visible political commitment and action in this area, the Committee considered three additional questions: 1. To what extent has the VPS the capacity to effectively develop and implement the use of ICTs in consultation and participation practices? 2. What structural mechanisms will be required to develop and sustain a vibrant and innovative community of practice in and around the area of ICT-enabled citizen engagement? 3. Are there eternal drivers that present risks in allowing the current process of learning to continue?

The Committee examined whether activities such as online consultation require a specific skill set, and best-practice models to develop and sustain these skills. During its delegation to Canada, the Committee sought to gather specific evidence on this issue, since this country’s national government has taken a number of policy decisions on the development of a structural response to the skills issue. The Committee was also particularly attentive to the evidence collected by the delegation to the United Kingdom of the 54th Parliament.

The Committee is cognisant of an array of skills within the VPS. These include: • The experience gathered during projects conducted to date, as noted in the discussion above • Expertise in the area of online consultation and moderation practices has been developed by VICNET for past projects, and the non-profit organisation Infoxchange Australia is currently providing moderation skills for the DHS • The Inquiry received submissions from two private-sector organisations (Big Pulses and JustSys) which had developed specific online consultation and participation administration and moderation skills (Submission Nos. a8 and a9)

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• Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) training has been provided to the staff of Consumer Affairs Victoria by the International Conflict Resolution Centre of The University of Melbourne, which offers a one-day course on this subject (Submission No. a24, p. 2).

While the Committee considers these activities to be a positive step towards the development of a community of practice in and around the area of ICT-enabled consultation and participation, the Committee did receive a number of submissions that noted the particular difficulties of some Government organisations in developing and sustaining a minimum skill set required to introduce and maintain these services effectively.

The Cities of Port Phillip (Submission No. a22, pp. 4–5) and Darebin (Submission No. a12, p. 9) and the VLGA (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 236) were very clear in their statements about the need for additional assistance from the State Government in the development and maintenance of skills for online moderation and consultation purposes. In making these statements, none of the organisations stated a preference for a single, specific training or education package; emphasising instead the need for areas of expertise and experimentation to be identified and linkages formed between, and across, levels of Government.

The Committee gave particular attention to the risk of defamation arising from participation in online discussion forums. While the Committee does not wish to over-emphasise this aspect of risk – given the comparative infrequency that the publication of content online has resulted in legal action when compared with the explosive growth of participatory publishing – the Committee notes that the risk of defamation does act as a strong driver for clear policy processes surrounding the use of ICTs in consultation and participation, as well as the development of an appropriately informed and skilled set of moderators for this process. Defamation: Current Developments in the Law

It is the view of the Committee that the general issue of defamation remains largely outside of the terms of reference of the Inquiry. While it notes a number of issues associated with the laws regarding defamation in Victoria, the primary concern of the Committee with regard to defamation is not to challenge the existing intention of the legislation, but to concern itself where defamation law: • Has direct relevance to the matters included in the Terms of Reference • Requires specific action on the part of the Victorian Government in the administration of electronic democracy initiatives.

In Victoria, the specific prohibition for defamation (“defamatory libel”) is currently included in the Wrongs Act 1958, though a stand-alone act is currently being developed.

The Committee observes and notes that the Federal Attorney-General has proposed a national law covering defamation, and is asserting the capacity of the Commonwealth to assume responsibility for defamation based on a combination of powers granted under the Constitution of Australia (Corporations, Telecommunications and Territories; Hull, 2004).

The status of this approach remains unclear at the time of writing (Gibbs, 2004), and the States and Territories have, as at the November 2004 meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-

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General (SCAG), adopted a uniform piece of model legislation for adoption by each State and Territory.

The outcome of this decision will be the introduction of uniform, consistent legislation across Australia. However, it is not clear whether the Federal Government will press ahead with its proposal – a step that would introduce new complexity (Grattan, 2005) to the administration of this law. Thus, while South Australia has already introduced this legislation (The Advertiser, 2005) and it is accepted that all the remaining jurisdictions will follow suit by January of 2006, there is potential for the benefits of a uniform code for defamation to be undermined through the introduction of a Federal law. This may give rise to: • Legal challenge and uncertainty • Different treatment for some matters, where the Federal jurisdiction does not apply.

The model laws provide a number of certainties, but is still situated within the common law (for a full draft of the model legislation see: http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/CA2569020010922A/page/About+the+Department- Policy+Development+and+Consultation- State+and+Territory+Uniform+Defamation+Law?OpenDocument&1=0- About+the+Department~&2=0-Policy+Development+and+Consultation~&3=0- State+and+Territory). The law: • Recognises truth as a defence (there is no need to add a public-interest test; truth alone is an adequate defence against defamation), this is a national acceptance of the legal practice that Victorians have enjoyed for many years • No longer provides the capacity for the dead to be defamed (preventing suits from family members) • Does not provide for corporations to sue for defamation (as was the case in New South Wales) • Requires that actions must be initiated within one year (placing a cap on the time period, but also possibly hastening litigation) • Provides a cap for damages (AAP, 2004).

Given the developments in this area, this discussion focuses on: • The applicability of concerns regarding defamation to ICT-enabled consultation and participation processes • Cross-jurisdictional issues • Action to be taken by the Victorian Government in the introduction and management of electronic democracy.

The Committee is of the opinion that issues of defamation should not be used as a barrier to progressing the implementation of ICTs in public participation and consultation in Victoria33. The preferred approach of the Committee would be for the Federal Government to acknowledge the

33 Note that a further discussion of these issues, pertaining to Parliamentary Privilege, is provided in Part IV.

154 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy action taken by the States and Territories in normalising the law and to indicate that no further action will be taken by the Federal Government that would re-instate uncertainty. Defamation and Moderation

One of the common misconceptions about the Internet and ICTs in a general sense, is that ICTs represent some form of pure, ungoverned space, with infinite personal freedoms. While the Internet was very loosely regulated in its early period of growth, and governments have found considerable difficulties in applying local laws to what is an international network of communication and communities (Chen, 2004b), the Internet is not, and should not be, beyond the scope of the law.

With specific regard to consultation and participation via ICTs, the issue of censorship and editorial control over published content is an area in which the Committee recognises there lies considerable tensions between those who desire complete freedom of expression and absence of regulation online (either because of a negative perception of the motivation of governments or due to a philosophical view that a free interchange online can lead to a form of mutualism and enlightened civic discourse) and those who view aspects of communication online as undermining the social norms of behaviour (the distribution of mistruths, attacks on character and the use of anonymity for this purpose).

The first perspective often perceives the encouragement of ICT use in civic participation processes by Government as an activity by means of which the State becomes the provider of the technology and “space” in the first instance, and then moves into the role of passive observer of the debate it fosters. This view is captured by the submission of the VLGA. The VLGA, as an organisation that focuses on fostering and sustaining local democracy, stated that:

Ideally an online discussion forum should be un-moderated to allow a free and rapid flow of discussion and avoid any perception of censorship. (Submission No. b20, p. 3)

This point of view focuses on concerns that moderation may, at its most benign, act as a “brake” on the interchange of ideas between citizens or, at its more insidious, represent an act of censorship by the department or agency overseeing the process. This can be a particularly crippling form of censorship which, unlike other forms of censorship, where the absence of the message is often noted and can thus be “overseen” (e.g. the work of the Australian Film and Literature Classification Board in the regulation of films often prompts considerable public debate around decisions made by the Board), the control of online messages may be difficult to observe externally (Penfold, 2001).

It is the view of the Committee that, while this concern is valid and should be addressed through professional moderation undertaken with a clear statement of policy (see below), moderation is a necessary element of online consultation processes of Government, because of the legal risks associated with defamation and the implications for the State and Parliament of Victoria, as publishers of this content.

Unlike some of the online communities established in the United States of America, where the First Amendment of that country’s constitution favours the right of free speech over the protection of individual reputation, the law in Victoria and the model Bill maintains a strict prohibition on defamatory libel. Libel is the publication of a falsehood that damages or undermines another’s

155 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee reputation. The laws against libel have been designed to protect individuals against personal loss through malicious attacks upon their reputation. A common definition is that cited in the case of Parmiter v. Coupland (1840), which defines defamation as a communication:

... calculated to injure the reputation of another, by exposing him [sic] to hatred, contempt or ridicule.

The action taken through litigation focuses on a recovery of damages associated with the loss of reputation and esteem of those associated with the plaintiff, although some jurisdictions provide for mitigation through retractions or apologies and the possibility of imprisonment.

It can be argued that, without oversight of the content of messages, no legal liability for the transmission of defamation material exists. This argument, that the owner of the service is not acting as a “publisher”, but is merely an “innocent disseminator”, was upheld in the case of Laurence Godfrey v. Demon Internet Limited (1999) to the extent that the service provider becomes a publisher if informed of the presence of defamatory content and does not act to remove it (Akdeniz, 1999). Locally, the Melbourne PC Users Group settled a similar case by Godfrey in 1998 – a serial litigant – based on disparaging remarks against him published on one of their email discussion lists.

The Committee notes, however, that this arrangement cannot be made for Government-sponsored online consultation and participation processes, as the content of the discussion must be read by an officer or appointed facilitator of the hosting organisation in order to compile the views of participants.

The Committee is of the opinion that there is no demonstrable need for the State Government of Victoria to provide and service general discussion lists or online communities for Victorian citizens beyond those it currently maintains through the MC2 service. This view is based on the recognition that, as in other jurisdictions around the world, a range of general discussion forums has been developed outside of Government, often with great creativity and innovation. The prevalence of these existing services and the availability of relatively simple tools to establish them, counter- indicate the need for Government action in this area. In addition, the Committee reiterates and underscores the view that consultation and participation processes run by the Parliament and Government of Victoria should be tied to specific policy outcomes, and thus need to be relatively instrumental in meeting specific objectives.

While this view could be considered as dismissing the issue of defamation, the Committee notes that the issue of jurisdiction and defamation has been of particular interest in the community in recent years, largely due to the impact of new technology on what remains, at this time, State- based laws. As Handford (1983) observes, the introduction of mass media has highlighted the fact that each Australian jurisdiction maintains its own set of laws covering defamation, and that the differences between these laws present particular problems for, particularly, the publishers of printed matter distributed nationally and the integration of television and radio into nationally syndicated networks (1983:454).

While this legal environment has been recognised by commercial and public media companies as a source of considerable difficulty in the preparation of material for distribution through increasingly integrated distribution systems, the development of the Internet as an international medium of

156 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy public and private communication in which non-professional publishers are active has added new difficulties to the regulation of defamation. In particular, issues exist where: • The publisher of online content is subject to litigation in a foreign jurisdiction, possibly one of which they are unaware of the laws associated with defamation • General members of the public find themselves subject to defamation.

This problem was recently highlighted and to some extent resolved, in Dow Jones & Company Inc. v. Gutnick (2002). The basis of this case was an appeal made to the High Court of Australia against a Victorian Supreme Court decision that a case of defamation against the Dow Jones Company could be heard in Victoria. Dow Jones was seeking to have the decision overturned, arguing that the relevant jurisdiction was New Jersey in the United States, where the material was loaded onto the company’s webserver.

In this case, the High Court determined that, with regard to the publication of material online, Australian State jurisdictions applied where it could be shown that the material published was accessed (downloaded) from that jurisdiction. In making its finding, the High Court considered that defamation, as a legal protection against damages received to one’s reputation, by nature must occur at the point of consumption, and that Dow Jones, in arguing the publication occurred where its Internet hardware was located, was not presenting a reasonable claim under Australian law. In this case, therefore, the Court considered that the jurisdiction of Victoria was appropriate for the action to proceed.

The importance of the case is noted by Thompson and van der Toorn (2003), who observed that Dow Jones, in attempting to argue against the jurisdiction of the Victorian Courts in this matter, were seeking:

… to reformulate the law of defamatory publication by arguing that publication via the Internet should be deemed to occur in the place where the material is uploaded on to the Internet and that dissemination of material via the Internet should be treated as a “single publication” emanating from the jurisdiction where the material is placed online. (2003)

The “single publication” concept is a rule found in some legal jurisdictions that makes the distribution of a single communication, even across different media forms, one act of publication. This is the case in over twenty states in the United States of America. In Australia, however, defamation is deemed to be “bilateral”; that is, that a statement is not published until one or more third parties consumes it (Transnational Law Associates, 2002). This opens the prospect for material to be considered “published” in a range of jurisdictions, presenting the prospect for multiple actions of defamation, or the strategic selection of legal jurisdiction based on the plaintiff’s assessment of likelihood of a successful outcome.

The SCAG Working Group of State and Territory Officers explicitly considered this issue in its development of the model code, and determined that the existing approach is acceptable:

In considering this question, three factors need to borne in mind. First, any limitation on the jurisdiction of Australian courts may have the effect of denying ordinary Australians a remedy for damage they suffer, as litigating in a foreign country is beyond the means of most Australians. Second, as the High Court pointed out, Australian courts themselves impose restraints on the jurisdiction they will exercise … Traditional choice of law principles

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may well produce a different result if a plaintiff attempts to sue in Australia for damage suffered in other countries. Third, for the purposes of any future international negotiations it may not be in Australia's interests if other countries see that it has unilaterally restricted the jurisdiction of its courts without, by treaty, extracting their agreement to limit the jurisdiction of their courts and to guarantee the recognition of Australian defamation judgments. (2004:37)

While much has been made of the impact of Dow Jones & Company Inc. v. Gutnick on online publishing, the Committee notes a number of aspects that limit the reach of the precedent in this case: • Legal action is unlikely in jurisdictions in which the defendant has neither residence nor assets, due to the limited likelihood that damages could be pursued • Mr Gutnick’s choice of Victoria for the suit reflected the jurisdiction in which his social and professional acquaintances were concentrated; it was not chosen because it necessarily had the most favourable defamation laws for the plaintiff per se • The publication at the heart of the suit was one where the publisher had control over, and knowledge of, the location of readers (it required paid subscription to access it, which included location information of subscribers). (Beyer, 2004)

However, the Committee does note that the implication of Dow Jones & Company Inc. v. Gutnick means that material generated through online consultation and participation in Victoria could be subject to action in other jurisdictions – if the plaintiff can show that it was accessed in that jurisdiction. In the case of online consultation and participation processes, the State of Victoria would be considered the publisher in the context of defamation actions that arise as a result of the publication of a message, document or statement online via a citizen of Victoria.

While this and other cases have stimulated a discussion of the effectiveness of technological systems for filtering, particularly where specific jurisdictions have general or specific laws that would prohibit the publication of certain material (Macgregor and Vincent, 2003), the effectiveness of these technologies is limited to cases in which: • The filtering is based on a closed subscription service that maintains an accurate record of the location of participants (as was the case in Dow Jones & Company Inc. v. Gutnick) • Filtering is most effective between nations (focusing on the second-level domain address of recipients) and tends to be less effective within nations, requiring a significant investment in capacity at the ISP or network level to develop. The capacity for the State of Victoria, which is not the telecommunications regulator in Australia, to achieve this would be negligible.

In addition, the Committee is of the opinion that it is inappropriate for a State Government to systematically attempt to filter Internet content in order to prevent access to material stored in Victoria by a user in another State or Territory within Australia. The Committee feels this is somewhat counter-productive to the federalist project in Australia. Therefore, the Committee finds that the relevance of this filtering to protect the legal interest of the State and citizens of Victoria is very limited, particularly where the most likely risk of litigation would be either local (Victorian), or domestic. While the eventual design of some of these participation systems may entail the

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“closure” of content, by nature many will be open publishing environments, readable across the network.

Given the increasing number of citizens engaging in online publication, the Committee is of the opinion that the normalisation of laws across Australia is necessary, and the Committee commends the work undertaken by SCAG to resolve ambiguity in this area. While this will add clarity to the publishing decisions of people online, it does not, however mitigate the need for clear moderation to protect the State and its citizens against defamation charges – local or domestic. Moderation and Good Communication

In presenting the evidence above, the Committee also wishes to note that the role of moderation need not be simply considered one of risk mitigation. Moderation, if skilfully and reflectively undertaken in a transparent manner, can improve consultation outcomes for all participating parties. This finding has relevance across a number of levels.

At the most fundamental level, the submission of the National Forum – an organisation that provides a moderated public discussion service – reflects upon the role of moderation in increasing the public’s awareness of issues of defamation and the implications of publication online. In his submission on behalf of the National Forum, Mr G. Young notes that:

These technical legal publication issues raise the need for expert intermediaries who can deal with these issues on behalf of "non-professional" journalists and commentators … It is of concern to us that some online users do not properly observe the laws relating to defamation, particularly those who are involved in online discussions and blogging. Education is necessary to ensure that these users understand the legal position in the first place, and sanctions need to be in place to prevent them abusing the web. (Submission No. a23, pp. 30–1)

In one way this represents a necessary educative process borne out of the application of poor metaphors. Many of the initial proponents of electronic discussion lists for civic dialogue explicitly used the imagery of the “agora”, or romanticised town square of ancient Greek democracy. This likened discussions online to that of small conversations between friends or acquaintances. While this is partially true, in that these discussions can be causal, personal interactions between people who come to know their interlocutors well, the reality for many of these lists is that they are either archived on publicly accessible servers, or have much larger membership than the active participants assume (including non-participating readers or subscribers, often referred to as “lurkers”). The more appropriate metaphor is that of an informal public meeting, at which the conversation is transcribed and published for all to see.

At a deeper level, however, the role of moderation can be seen as positive and important for Government to get the most from the consultation process and for users to understand the rules of participation. In his submission on the Same Sex Relationships electronic discussion list, Mr J. Buckley observed that:

A balance needs to be found between deliberative and instrumental goals. For deliberation moderators need to ensure [discussion lists] involve awareness raising, working through of issues, and reconciling differences to form consensus. If a moderator is not clear on their

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task and function then the effectiveness can be lost. In some cases moderators could be overbearing and democratic talk is compromised. (Submission No. b17, p. 51)

This view is reiterated and expanded in evidence from the United Kingdom, where the Hansard Society has taken a leadership role in championing online consultation and providing training for moderators. In her report into pilot Parliamentary online consultations undertaken by the Society, Ms N. Hall (2001) summarised the argument, not for moderation, but for the degree to which the moderator takes an active and interventionist role in the flow of dialogue and debate. She provided a spectrum of moderation to consider in the development of the project methodology:

For strong moderation: • Keeps the consultation on-topic • Keeps the flow of the discussion going (by throwing in new questions or adding new ideas) • Can explain issues to users • Can set negative and positive tone levels for discussion (what is not acceptable, what would be useful) • Gives a friendly face (first point of contact if any difficulties arise) • Provides assurance that someone is paying attention

Against strong moderation: • Difficult position on key issues – how far should the moderator defend the MPs' role? • When does encouraging people to get involved become too forceful? • Can interfere with the natural flow (if it is too regular it becomes overpowering and detracts from the interaction between participants) • Difficult to get the tone right – it is easy to patronise people. (2001:23–4)

Clearly, effective moderation requires alignment with the audience and subject matter. Consultation and participation processes held for a small, professional community may require minium oversight as a means of providing due diligence against litigation, as the group has established professional norms of behaviour.

On the other hand, for highly emotive issues, a stronger role may be required for the moderator, in order to ensure that the discussion does not degenerate into simple polarisation or abuse. The means by which the appropriate approach to moderation should be determined should include: • Discussions with stakeholders prior to the initiation of the processes • Determining “ground rules” with participants • Having a policy framework for moderators • Having an appropriate process for handling disputes between participants and moderators.

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The Committee notes that the last is a particularly useful means by which to address concerns about censorship. The Brisbane City Council, which runs the Your City, Your Say discussion list, makes it a regular policy to: • Correspond with authors who post messages that are not acceptable, to attempt to negotiate an appropriate form of words that are not defamatory • Has an appeals process to a senior manager for disputes that are not resolved through negotiation.

Similarly, the United Kingdom Government, through the Office of the e-Envoy, has established a generic policy framework and guidelines for the use of discussion lists by departments and agencies (Office of the e-Envoy, 2002) which provide an overview of different approaches, with suggested management approaches and elements for acceptable use guidelines.

This perspective has also been recognised in Victoria. In evidence presented to the Committee on behalf of the City of Darebin, Mr P. Shanahan noted that this municipality’s experience with moderation and participation of public employees on the discussion list triggered a need to review and reiterate the expectations of the Council in the dealings with the public (Submission No. a12, p. 7).

The Committee considers that a clear policy framework for staff undertaking these processes is necessary for the State of Victoria as a means to balance the concerns of: • Providing a structure which prevents the misuse of moderation to unnecessarily censor participants • Protects participants (and third parties) from the risk of defamation and litigation • Encourages effective consultation and participation processes through the facilitation of dialogue • Guidance of public servants in their role as moderator within the conditions laid down within Section 95 of the Constitution Act 1975 which relate to the appropriate conduct of public servants in areas of political discussion associated with their department or agency.

Recommendation 63 The moderation of online consultation and participation processes needs a clear policy statement for staff that provides direction as to: • The purpose of moderation • The degree of moderation appropriate, depending on circumstances • Policies or procedures for resolving disputes • The necessity for the policy statement to be available to participants.

Skilling for ICT use in Consultation and Participation

Given the discussion above, and following a careful review of the evidence provided to the Committee and supported by the evidence collected during the 54th Parliament, the Committee is

161 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee of the opinion that the integration of ICTs into consultation and participation processes, particularly the more interactive aspects of participation such as deliberative and direct democracy, requires the application of skills that are not strictly transferable from experience with conventional processes.

The development of consultation and participation processes that make effective use of new technology tends to require expertise in four areas: • Specific expertise in the nature of communication, interaction and deliberation in online environments (an understanding of the social processes that occur when people interact through new media) • Specific expertise with the consultation and participation methodology being applied • Specific knowledge of, and capacity to communicate, information associated with the specific policy issue under consideration • The technical skills required to develop, test and maintain the ICTs employed, combined with an ability to communicate technology related issues to users.

While there are individuals who may possess all four of these specific skill sets, it is the view of the Committee that the Victorian Government cannot expect these skills necessarily to exist in all of the departments and agencies that seek to introduce technology into their consultative and participatory civic engagement activities.

In addition, the Committee notes that the area of online consultation is subject to a number of difficulties and considerations that require specific expertise to manage effectively. Given the limited experience of the VPS to date, there is no reasonable basis upon which we can expect the skills to have established themselves across the State Government. The evidence from the Local Government arena is that the development of the skills is a process that is currently being conducted with a degree of trial and error. Yet, the area is one of considerable complexity. Mr A. Davies of the VLGA commented that:

Moderating an online discussion is quite a specialised skill, and looking at some of the online forums and so on that have already been tried in local government, that job often seems to get handed to a council officer who may have no training in that area. That can create some quite difficult situations where the moderating is not as good as it might be and the person feels very much under stress. It is also one of those things that seems to make councils very wary of taking on such things because of their concern about who will run it. It is quite a daunting and difficult task. Specialised training for moderators that was available to councils would be very helpful. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 36)

In the Committee’s discussions with the Online Consultation Technologies Centre of Expertise in Canada, Ms Elizabeth Richard pointed out some of the complexities associated with converting conventional offline consultation processes into the online environment. Ms Richard highlighted two specific issues: • The conduct of online consultation can sometime be undermined through poor communication between service providers and policy officers. Too often, policy officers bring technical staff into the consultation development process too late, and toolsets are

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either not appropriately configured to the needs of the consultation process or are applied without appropriate user testing and refinement • Online consultation required moderation of a different type to that employed for face-to- face moderation. Because online consultations are often limited to a textual environment, the processes of social interaction online can be very different to that experienced in a face-to-face meeting. Sometimes this is the result of anonymity of the process, which may result in uncivil conduct that discourages participation (Davis, 1999:177), or can result from issues of scale or social factors online (such as the loss of paralinguistic cues, facial expressions, that serve as an important part of the communication process in many meetings).

Similarly, discussions between Professor S. Coleman of the Hansard Society and the delegation of the 54th Parliament observed that:

• Moderators are required for online forums. • E-democracy requires a connection with deliberative and civic skills. • Commercially available software is manifestly inadequate for e-democracy. (SARC, 2002b:8)

And appropriate planning and management of these processes was needed because of risks associated with:

• Failing to manage expectations • Hijacking of the debate • Abuse by MPs: Some reportedly regard e-democracy as another tool to get re-elected; and/or as a way to corral debate on an issue. (SARC, 2002b:8)

It is clear that the characteristics of the different types of technologies that can be employed, combined with the range of consultation methodologies available, create different operating environments for consultation staff and facilitators. Different consultation methods examined by the Committee resolved these approaches in different ways. One of the earliest electronic consultation and discussion systems of note, Minnesota E-Democracy, resolved some of these problems through: • Focusing discussions at a local level • Including journalists as participants, to provide informed coverage of the event • Incorporating decision makers in the process • Limiting the number of messages posted to the discussion each day • Placing rules around appropriate behaviour (Dahlberg, 2001).

However, the Committee notes that the experience of governments around the world in the effective ways to develop and implement online consultations shows that a range of approaches can be effective, depending on the nature of the issues under consideration and the target audiences for the consultation process. Thus, the Committee observed a range of approaches to online consultation, including:

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• Un-moderated, wide-ranging discussions (the Canadian Foreign Policy Dialogue) • Projects designed to capturing personal stories (Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Inquiry into Hate Crime) • Deliberative decision-making (direct democracy) conferencing (the World Trade Centre redevelopment dialogue) • Structured, survey-like approaches (Victoria’s Work Family Balance Consultation).

It is important that Victoria avoids the trap, identified in other jurisdictions that have invested heavily in online consultation development, of over-focusing on the rollout of new consultation websites with limited consideration to the significant lessons that still need to be learnt about the effective use of the online environment in consultation processes. As Ann Macintosh and Angus Whyte (2002) of the International Teledemocracy Centre (Scotland) noted:

Although there has been considerable financial investment in the development of consultation tools, there has been no corresponding investment to date into the impact of this "enhanced" government to citizen relationship. (2002:3)

The Committee warns that it is too early for a specific “best practice” manual, or single toolset, to be developed. Online consultations, when they are effective, are designed reflectively, in consultation between technologists, policy makers and stakeholders, and they use the tools appropriate for the target audience (electronic mail, online forms, instant messaging, SMS, etc.).

Recommendation 64

Online consultations should provide detailed reports on outcomes, including problems, to encourage learning across Government and the civil society.

Where possible and feasible, online consultation systems should be developed in open source, with the source code widely available to other Government agencies and civil society groups.

A Guiding Agency for Consultation and Participation

From the discussion and recommendations made above, it is clear that the range of electronic democracy activities and enablers relevant to fostering greater political participation, awareness and interest are broad. While the State of Queensland, for example, has adopted a specific, focused electronic democracy policy with key initiatives, the Committee considers that this approach is unsuited to the more amorphus and dynamic characteristics of technological change envisaged for Victoria, specifically given the mutability of the technologies in question (and applications yet to be developed) and the early state of research of the impacts of ICTs on political processes, institutions and public participation.

In addition, the Committee concedes that periodic Parliamentary inquiries into electronic democracy may have difficulty maintaining the pace of reform, and that a body tasked with oversight in this area would serve the State well by systematically collecting best-practice information, distributing it and fostering projects and initiatives. In addition, it may be necessary for

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Victoria to focus initial expertise in ICT-enabled engagement skills and moderation in a central agency, which can then act in an advisory or consulting capacity throughout the public sector.

As each political jurisdiction is different, due to different political institutions, laws, customs and norms, the Committee feels that local understanding and experimentation is required if electronic democracy is to evolve in an effective manner.

It is the Committee’s view, therefore, that a centralised agency to oversee developments in electronic democracy practice in Victoria is necessary. During the delegation to the United Kingdom, Members of the 54th Parliament were impressed by the work of the Hansard Society in working with the national parliament to develop online consultation that included a strong component of evaluation. This evaluation was used to develop the proof of concept, refine practice and form the basis of online mediation training offered by the Society. This training has been employed by the Canadian federal public service, which has established a best-practice unit within the Department of Public Works and Government Services, to develop expertise and act in an advisory capacity to other agencies interested in applying online consultation methods in their work.

The Committee, therefore, recognises a need for a centralised clearinghouse for information on electronic democracy practices, but without the restrictive ambit of a top-down implementing agency or body. In the submission from the CCNR (Submission No. a5a, p. 8), it was recommended that an academic body, such as itself, would be best placed to provide the management for electronic democracy initiatives, particularly those focused on community based projects, with the advantage of freedom from “bureaucratic inertia” and onerous reporting requirements.

While the Committee recognises and accepts the advantages of a strong research basis, this approach was not deemed as optimal, since: • Any co-ordinating body would need to administer public funding to projects within and outside of Government; the placement of this agency outside of Government would not mitigate against due accountability procedures • Administrative expertise resides within the VPS • The short- to medium-term potential for electronic democracy initiatives is likely to be driven by the public sector (as per the experience in other Westminster democracies, as opposed to experience in the United States) and a Government department or agency has greater authority with respect to the performance of implementing agencies.

While the Queensland model positioned this role in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet for the initial introduction of that state’s electronic democracy strategy, the Committee considers the Department for Victorian Communities is best placed to house this body in the Victorian context. While some may argue that a technology focused agency would be more appropriate (such as the OCIO or MMV), the Committee regarded the DVC as best suited, because: • Issues of community building and participation should be the primary focus of this agency, followed by technology concerns as facilitators of social objectives • The DVC has specific experience with, and is responsible for, facilitating action across Government and through community partnerships

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• The DVC reports to a large group of Ministers and can therefore expand its educational and service-delivery assistance widely.

Recommendation 65

An electronic democracy co-ordinating body should be established in the Department for Victorian Communities.

In identifying the DVC as the preferred location for the co-ordinating body, the Committee recognises the need for wide-scale participation and collaboration in this area (L. Stillman, Submission No. a5, p. 6); not simply to incorporate an external research component, but to develop and locate projects at the local level and in conjunction with local community groups and municipalities.

It has been demonstrated in the collaboration between the DHS and Swinburne University of Technology to establish the Wired High Rise project, that forming linkages between Government departments, academic institutions and private providers can be an effective means by which to develop community based information projects. This model appears worthy for emulation by this agency. In addition, good project co-ordination can provide for increased access to Federal Government research funding via the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grants scheme, with ARC funding already employed in Victoria to provide IT training and access to senior members of the community (through the Department of Veteran’s Affairs’ partnership with academics of the RMIT University of Technology).

The Committee therefore considers that this body should be specifically responsible for the development and maintenance of good linkages across the three levels of government (Federal, State and Local), between the community and academic communities, and incorporate, where possible, industry representation. This would develop and strengthen ad hoc networks of practitioners that have already begun to form around this area of practice (such as the practitioner networks maintained by the VLGA and the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO); the City of Darebin City, Submission No. a12), and provide continuity and longevity to projects and the lessons gathered from them.

Recommendation 66 The Department for Victorian Communities, through the electronic democracy co-ordinating unit should: • Forge and maintain ongoing networks of practitioners and scholars, from across all levels of Government. • Develop a set of evolving benchmarks and performance measures for online consultation, to assist in establishing and advancing best practice. • Include seconded membership from across the public sector. • Be advised by industry and academic experts. • Have active participation from key Local Government organisations, either directly or through relevant peak bodies.

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Consultation and Participation Best Practice Reference Guide

It is anticipated that the outcomes of the two recommendations above include the creation of general and specific resources for public managers and community groups regarding the facilitation of ICT-enabled consultation and participation processes and technologies. Through the work of the co-ordinating unit, the Committee recognises the need for the systemisation of evidence collected and resources available to new and experienced practitioners.

Across Australia, and internationally, governments have been attempting to underscore their commitment to consultation and participation innovation through the development of centralised policies and guidance documents for their public-sector organisations. Examples of this approach are: • The creation of the Western Australian Consulting Citizens: A Resource Guide by the Department of Premier and Cabinet (2002) • The Australian Capital Territory’s 2001 Consultation Manual (Chief Minister’s Department, 2001) • The United Kingdom has developed a Code of Practice on Consultation that provides advice, as well as a set of criteria that must be presented to the public as minimum standards for government consultations (Cabinet Office, 2004).

Victoria has not been negligent in this area, and the Committee has identified a range of materials generated at the whole-of-government level (A Guide to Electronic Discussion Groups, Department of Premier and Cabinet, 2002), sectoral (Best Value Victoria Community Consultation Guide, 2001; the Local Government Consultation and Engagement website, http://www.vlgaconsultation.org.au/), and various departmental, agency or audience-specific reference material (for example, A Guide to Community Consultation in Rural and Regional Communities; DHS, 2003).

The Committee therefore gave consideration to the need for a State-wide approach to community consultation and participation strategies, in line with practice in other jurisdictions. The advantages of a centralised manual and policy framework would be: • Announcement of a clear intention by the Government to pursue community consultation as an aspect of good governance practice • Clear direction to departments and agencies in order to minimum expectations of the Government as to the conduct of consultations • Ability to produce up-to-date and broad-ranging documentation that includes new or rarely used approaches (participatory forms of shared decision making, use of ICTs) • Elimination of redundancy in the development of departmental, agency or program-level guidance documentation.

However, the Committee also recognises problems with this approach. These include: • The need to develop documentation with application so wide as to limit its directive and instructional value • Lack of relevance to specific audiences or policy areas

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• Co-ordination and promotional costs of development and distribution of whole-of- government documents.

Thus, the Committee prefers the creation of a best practice reference guide for the VPS in electronic form, rather than a singular, centralised manual. This view is based on consideration of the range of consultation and participation methodologies available, the diverse nature of the public sector and its stakeholder base and the important recognition that considerable expertise exists in departments and agencies which have, and will continue to, conduct, review and refine consultation and participation processes (on- and offline) into the future.

Overall, therefore, it is the view of the Committee that a document that provides: • An overarching rationale for consultation and participation • Typological classification of methodologies • A review of technologies associated with consultation • A clear, reviewable process for implementation of effective consultations • A detailed description of consultation and participation methodologies, with case examples • A discussion forum for consultation managers and staff • Up-to-date links to existing resources of a specific nature for agencies to access and use would provide a better resource for the VPS, Local Government and community-based organisations in Victoria. In effect, this would serve as a clearinghouse, with clear expectations that content would be co-created by all Government departments and agencies, and their partners in Local Government and the community sector.

The Committee notes that the Federal Government, through AGIMO, has already developed a number of “better practice checklists” that focus on issues around online consultation and information management, and that the Canadian Public Works and Government Services Department has established a very broad range of materials on this and related subjects. Thus, an inter-governmental approach to resource sharing and rationalisation would appear to be of value to the VPS and its wider stakeholder groups, to gain access to and distribute, the best material available internationally34 – particularly those based on experiential learning.

The Committee considers the advantages of this approach would be: • The addition of a co-ordinating body to the systematic creation, indexing and discovery of practical, experience-based information about consultation and participation processes in Victoria

34 This would also permit the transfer of technologies from other jurisdictions. For example, during the delegation of the 54th parliament to Europe, the Committee received a briefing on the development of the EDEN project, a complex electronic democracy toolset development project sponsored by the European Union that focused on the development of “natural language processing” technology to assist in the communication between citizens and government through technologies such as address guessing, translation and interpretation, and the development of customised information provision through artificial intelligence.

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• Distributing the creation and maintenance of this information across the VPS, Local Government and participating community groups • Stimulating a community of best practice in and around Government with regard to consultation and participation strategies and techniques generally.

Recommendation 67 The Department for Victorian Communities should establish a best-practice reference guide for public consultations in Victoria, with supporting documentation, references and check lists, to provide an ongoing resource for the successful and effective conduct of consultation processes in the State. • This reference should be regularly reviewed and updated, and should form the basis of ongoing improvement in best practice throughout the State. • This reference should be supported by a professional network of public servants engaged in the conduct of consultations, as reference points for other agencies and officers. ENCOURAGING ONLINE CONSULTATION OUTSIDE OF GOVERNMENT

Electronic democracy through online consultation is not, and should not be, restricted to policy- related consultation processes managed and initiated by Government. Just as the Committee recognised a valuable role for the community, non-profit organisations and the private sector in the development of a rich information commons for Victoria (see Part II), the Committee also notes that democracy is a value shared across a society. Democracy, therefore, can be seen as a political value, a civic activity and an industrial process.

On one level, democratic decision-making structures are a legal requirement of companies and community organisations, exercised through regular and formalised decision-making processes, annual meetings, elections and debate. Corporate and community organisations are often key contributors to Government consultations, formal and informal, with an important role played by industry peak bodies, charitable and non-profit organisations and citizens groups in representing their members’ interests to Governments.

However, the role of industry bodies, peak organisations or non-profit groups is not without controversy. While there is often a general concern about the disproportionate influence of large interests (such as corporate and business) on Governments through political donations (Gettler, 2004), to which the greater inclusion of the public via online consultation can seek to address, another area of concern is the “representativeness” of representative organisations which often act as regular advisors to Government or participants in consultative processes.

As Dr R. Melville states in her 2003 review of non-profit peak bodies in Australia:

One of the common criticisms of peaks is that they are not “representative” and do not speak on behalf of their constituent base, or that their constituent base is too narrow. Peak [body organisations] are seen as unable to widen their constituent base to be able to provide government with “one united voice” on sector needs and issues. (2003:93)

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The Committee recognises that this can be problematic, producing lopsided policy outcomes, or necessitating the submissions of peak bodies to be substantiated from other sources. While Dr Melville notes the response of the Federal Government has tended to be forced or encouraged aggregation of peak bodies, or the specific “licensing” of one group to speak on behalf of an industry segment, there remains a need for genuinely representative organisations to demonstrate that they are acting on behalf of their membership base, regardless of who they are.

For many industry bodies, and the larger charities, this is achieved through regular meetings, member surveys and by their internal processes of election. In making representations to Government or the Parliament, these groups are often willing to show the basis upon which they are making claims or providing evidence. For smaller groups, or those organisations with more limited resource base, this can be difficult, and the Committee recognises that some of the work undertaken by Government to facilitate government-to-citizen online consultation would also be beneficial for member surveying and internal consultation within representative organisations.

Thus, it is the view of the Committee that the use of ICT-enabled consultation and participation methods developed by Government and the Parliament can be catalytic in improving the internal communications and democratic processes of member-based organisations across our community. Any skills and technology transfer between Government and representative organisations in this area is beneficial in: • Improving the democratic character of non-Government organisations in Victoria (a general benefit to all, resulting in a more democratic society) • Improving the flow of information from these organisations to Government (a specific benefit in improving the outcome of civic engagement processes).

Recommendation 68 The use of online consultation by Government departments and agencies should consider the value of these experiences for technology and skills transfer to stakeholder groups in the community, in order to develop and expand the use of online consultation within their governance practices. • Where practical and feasible, consultation processes should encourage stakeholder groups to poll or solicit member responses using the technology appropriate to solicit the widest possible participation.

The Specific Provision of Online Consultation Tools to Third Parties

Given the interest of the Committee in means by which the increased use of online consultation in, and by, Government can be transferred to organisations outside of Government, the Committee gave consideration to two questions: 1. Is there a source of online consultation toolsets available to corporate and community groups? 2. To what extent do existing tools available meet the Government’s objective in assisting organisations outside of Government to adopt online consultation?

With regard to the first question, the Committee clearly has an interest in determining whether, like the provision of inexpensive or free online community hosting and CMS, a ready supply of online

170 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy consultation tools exists. The Committee identified a range of tools available free or at cost. These include: • A wide array of email list management systems through existing “virtual communities” tools, including a number specifically targeted to policy discussion processes (e.g. Australian Public Policy Research Network) • An expanding number of open-source publishing tools, from CMS (e.g. PostNuke, Plone and many others that often include discussion list capabilities) to collaborative publishing and editing (“wiki”) systems (such as TWiki or MediaWiki) • A small, but developing market for online consultation services (such as that provided by CommunityPeople, BigPulse’s Opinion Markets or JustSys’s deliberative discussion technologies) • A range of open-source e-democracy tools (e.g. GroupServer) • Corporate collaboration and deliberation tools (such as phpGroupWare, Blackboard, MeetingWorks or ThinkVirtual).

Thus, while the availability of online consultation tools to the wider community – particularly those groups with limited resources and skills – remains limited and tends to be focused towards general-purpose tools, the Committee does not regard it appropriate at this time for the State Government of Victoria to invest in the development of ICTs for consultation and participation purposes beyond its internal needs. This is because: • Demand is uncertain at this time • Some toolsets do exist, particularly at the high end (groupware) and low end (email lists) of the technological spectrum • The specific types of tool needed by representative organisations or community groups remains unclear, making investment beyond Government application – at this time – unwise.

However, in making this finding, the Committee wishes to note two mitigating factors.

First, it is clear that Recommendation 64, which allows third-party organisations access to the tools developed by Government via OSS licensing, will “grow” the available range of localised or locally developed consultation and participation tools over time. In addition, the use of open source will encourage organisations and individuals from around the world to develop and improve these tools, providing a net benefit in the rapidity of innovation and array of applications by which the tools can be applied.

Second, where resources are maintained by the VPS, it appears appropriate to share these systems with community organisations, where appropriate and in the public interest. This appropriateness may be where there is a demonstrable need to assist the group in canvassing members to feed into a formal consultation process, or where the organisation is under-resourced. In evidence presented by the Director of Government and Community Information of the DVC with regard to “Central Station”, Ms J. Duffy (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, pp. 5-6) observed that this is already underway to some extent.

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Thus, the Committee notes that the Victorian Government should consider creating a policy environment which allows relevant community groups access to facilities hosted or maintained by Government where the sponsoring agency is not a direct participant.

Clearly, a public-interest test would justify this use of public resources, but a policy framework may be required to ensure that these consultations remain confidential and that an acceptable-use agreement can be provided to protect the State Government. A VICTORIAN CONSULTATION PORTAL AND NOTIFICATION SERVICE

Awareness of the existence of a consultation mechanism is a key requirement to utilising these opportunities for accessing Government. Historically, Governments have requested participation through the publication of advertisements in specific and general-readership periodicals, through direct mail to existing lists of stakeholders, television and radio advertising, and through innovative marketing exercises like the production of free postcards, stickers and other merchandising.

In recent years, this approach has been extended to the Internet, with a wide range of departments, agencies and the Parliament advertising and promoting consultations online. Often these are published via departmental or agency press release websites, though organisations which have regular need for public participation will also maintain specific consultation pages on their websites, with current and previous consultations listed (for example, the Essential Services Commission maintains a “Consultation Centre” on its website with a link from the main page; http://www.esc.vic.gov.au/index79.html).

In addition, governments such as those of Western Australia, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the United Kingdom have established consultation portal websites or directories whereby citizens can access a centralised list of government consultations and reports. This approach does not specifically mandate the use of online consultation methods, but increases the ability of citizens to locate, and participate in, government consultations. Individual departments and agencies are responsible for providing notification information into the system, broadening the reach of their consultation processes and distributing costs across government.

While these websites represent intelligent application of web-publishing technology, often built on database systems and producing dynamically updated content, this approach has been taken further by some jurisdictions. In the State of Virginia in the United States, the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall (http://www.townhall.state.va.us/) provides a subscription service for citizens interested in government regulatory decision making. According to the State of Virginia, this allows for a targeted and customised service for citizens to increase their participation in policy making:

The Town Hall notification service allows registered users to receive highly customized e- mail messages about upcoming regulatory changes and meetings. With this new notification service, you no longer need to receive paper mailings from agencies or go the library to search through issues of the Virginia Register. To avoid cluttering up your e-mail box, all notices you are scheduled to receive on any one day will be combined in one e- mail message. (Virginia Regulatory Town Hall, Undated)

The advantages of this approach have already been noted and detailed in the Victorian context. The SARC of the 54th Parliament made explicit reference to the value of this approach (a centralised system that aggregates information from agencies and provides an internal

172 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy management process and means for public participation) in its September 2002 report Inquiry into the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 (SARC, 2002a). In addition, evidence from other centralised access systems has shown that streamlining access provides efficiency benefits to government and can increase levels of public access (Sternstein, 2005)

The SARC report noted that the benefits of the model included: • Quick and easy access to regulatory proposals and related information • Capacity for people to log in to personal accounts and receive information about regulatory proposals with the appropriate time to participate • Allows personalisation of the site • Allows tracking of regulatory proposals through the decision-making process • Provides the public with greater capacity for input • Contains information about public meetings. (2002a:286–7)

The Committee considers that the views of the previous Committee are accurate, and recommends that this approach be adopted in Victoria. In particular, from evidence collected in the United States in 2004, the Committee would recommend this approach to: • Emphasise the development of a customised website (site personalisation) and email notification with a high degree of plasticity to user requirements (type of information required, subject, format, frequency) • Provide the capacity for registered users of the site to act as content re-distributors to “social networking” message construction: the easy capacity for users to “refer” others to content of relevance to them, either via “pass along” emails or “email this page” functionality. This approach, empowering subscribers to identify information of interest to their professional, familial or social networks and pass on content, was seen as a particularly valuable approach to electronic democracy design by Associate Professor B. Noveck, the Director of the Democracy Design Workshop at New York University Law School, whom the Committee met with during the delegation to the United States.

Recommendation 69 A centralised portal and subscription service for Government and Parliamentary publications, consultations and legislative work should be established, allowing free public access to Government policy processes in a timely manner, in order to encourage public participation. • Local Governments should be allowed to contribute relevant material into the subscription service.

The Committee regards this approach as overdue for Victoria, and one that may have a range of additional possibilities for content syndication and alternative access to the content database, such as access via telephone, issue tracking and means by which interested citizens could organise pre-consultation “caucuses” prior to providing formal responses to requests by Government for participation.

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Online Resources for Community Strengthening

During the Inquiry, the Committee took evidence about the relationship between work being undertaken in Victoria and around Australia to assist local community groups and organisations in developing programs and strategies to address issues of local concern. This approach, community strengthening, was first introduced in the late 1990s in New South Wales, in recognition that: • Communities have an inherent interest in local problems and a willingness to fix them • Local communities and organisations are often best placed to respond to local concerns because of local knowledge and existing infrastructure • Partnerships between Federal, State, and local organisations are necessary to ensure that resources and skills are available at the local level, and that co-ordination between projects and initiatives is maintained.

The success of this approach, as well as the general acceptance of the need for greater Government involvement in community capacity building saw the establishment of the Victorian Government’s Community Building Initiative in October 2001. The subsequent creation of the DVC the following year as the lead Victorian agency in this area, gave it responsibility for networking and co-ordinating across and between Governments, and with local organisations. This overall approach reflects a renewed interest by Government in developing, maintaining and sustaining partnerships between Government and the public that can empower local communities.

In New South Wales, the communitybuilders.nsw website (http://www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/) was established in 1999 as an online clearinghouse for information and resources for local community groups to develop their capacity to respond to local community needs, access information about government assistance programs (training, funding, support) and to network with other groups to share information and form partnerships to address shared concerns. This site demonstrated that: • There existed strong community interest in an online resource to support community organisations’ work • The positive benefit of ICTs in social networking between groups, to share information and form new partnerships.

In recognition of the value of the New South Wales model, a similar website (www.communitybuilding.vic.gov.au) was established in Victoria in 2003. This site provides information for community organizations, to assist in their internal management, applying for and managing government grants and other funds and developing and implementing programs.

At present, the DVC, in conjunction with Infoxchange Australia, has redeveloped the Community Building website, incorporating a new “newsboard” function, revised and updated library of online resources and new back-end functionality to increase information discoverability. The Committee commends the work of the DVC in continuing to develop this resource.

However, from evidence presented to the AGIMO Enabling Government, Engaging Communities: An Online Perspective conference held in Brisbane in late 2004, the Committee observed that there may be areas of overlap and duplication between states. In a presentation on the

174 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy communitybuilders.nsw website by the senior project manager, Ms C. Leigh, approximately eight percent of users of the New South Wales website were located in Victoria, indicating that the Victorian resource may not yet provide the full range of material of interest to local groups, or that general awareness of it could be improved (Leigh, 2004).

This finding is not surprising. The New South Wales Government was an early leader in this specific area of community strengthening, recognising how an online information repository and citizen-to-citizen discussion forum could be beneficial in empowering local groups to address issues of local concern and form networks between public-, private-, and community-based organisations. Because of this, the New South Wales website has received considerable publicity, and it is reasonable to expect that it may take some time for the Victorian site to be fully promoted and embraced by local groups.

While the Committee notes that the success of the Victorian site’s new design will take some time to determine, it considers that the current approach could be developed further in two ways: • Increasing the level of citizen-to-citizen interaction via the Community Building website • Better intergovernmental information sharing in the community building policy area.

With regard to the first area, the Committee observes that one of the most interesting features of the New South Wales model is the capacity for community groups to directly interact online. In the New South Wales model, an online discussion area is provided via the website, which provides practitioners with the capacity to share information and post requests directly to other groups. This moderated form allows direct information sharing between participants, as well as the capacity for government staff to respond with additional information and links to other resources.

The Committee asked the DVC about the utility of the model for Victoria. Noting that the DVC was aware and had been interested in the outcomes of the approach, Dr D. Adams, Executive Director, Strategic Policy and Research, DVC observed that the ICT enablement of community based projects was already underway in Victoria and that: All of those have an ICT component and as the evaluations of those are completed we will look at whether we could develop a broader model. So there are a number of pilots in train that are looking at how we might do this in Victoria. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 9)

Dr Adams went on to say that: … the important question that New South Wales asked is: “Should and can that be elevated up to a statewide resource as distinct from a series of local resources”? That is one of the challenges we are looking at at the moment.

In keeping with the general perspective that Government ICT use in community participation processes should, where possible, facilitate citizen-to-citizen interaction, the Committee commends this approach by the DVC.

Following the results of these pilot projects, the Committee considers that it would be appropriate for the DVC to consider means by which the project-specific online discussion spaces could be incorporated within Victoria’s www.communitybuilding.vic.gov.au, but in such a way as to maintain the capacity for local projects to use private workspaces as appropriate, and have access to the wider community building sector for more general discussion, networking and information

175 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee exchange. This may be achieved through open and closed discussion list threads, or by adding general discussion spaces “above” local project lists.

Recommendation 70 www.communitybuilding.vic.gov.au should adopt a moderated citizen-to-citizen discussion forum to develop and deepen linkages between community groups within Victoria.

In addition, the Committee notes that the value of the community strengthening approach in Victoria is being recognised by other jurisdictions. Queensland has recently established a Department of Communities, and the Federal Government has begun further work on developing community capacity and resilience. There is an increasingly large amount of online information being published by governments around Australia, aimed at assisting local groups to develop their capacity to engage in partnerships with government. It would appear that, while some information is specific to local jurisdictions, there is a clear tendency for overlap and duplication, and the prospect of “losing” Victorians to other resources that may be of limited relevance to local conditions.

The Committee does not consider it necessary, nor appropriate, for Victoria to jointly develop and maintain a shared resource with other jurisdictions. However, it would appear prudent at this time if the developers of state-based online resources were to more closely collaborate to develop a method of syndication and redirection between the comparable websites around Australia. The advantages of this approach would be: • Low costs associated with the creation of material that is generic • Greater amounts of content available across Australia • Greater information sharing and collaboration between community building and strengthening agencies around Australia • Low rates of “loss” of users to websites in other jurisdictions • Possibilities for joint development of website functionality.

176 Part IV – The Parliament

Introduction

The Parliament remains a central focus of democracy in Victoria. This is for two reasons: First, it serves as the primary law-making body, charged with ultimate responsibility for the development, debate and enactment of legislation. Second, the physical building of the Parliament represents a focus for the relationship between the legislators and their constituency.

As a Committee of the Parliament, the SARC considered that any report into the future of electronic democracy in Victoria must make explicit reference to the future role of Parliament and the way in which Parliament and its Members make effective use of ICTs in the service of democracy.

The University of Melbourne’s Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies argued the need for a strong emphasis on the role of Parliament in the development of electronic democracy. On behalf of that Centre, Dr S. Evans and Ms A. Hood stated – in response to the proposition that a pluralisation of democratic institutions and point of oversight has occurred over the years – that:

… it is the decisions of the Parliament that provide legitimacy to the exercise of public power and the people through the Parliament that hold the executive to account for the exercise of public power. Harry Evans, Clerk of the Senate since 1988, rightly observes that “accountability is essentially a political process” that consists of “public exposure of matters that affect the public perception of government”; extra-parliamentary mechanisms can only be successful “to the extent that they expose matters that threaten to turn the public perception of governments”. (Submission No. a21, p. 2)

Thus, the Centre observed that:

Parliament retains its central role in enforcing accountability.

Further investment in the technology of Parliament is therefore undoubtedly a legitimate use of public resources.

The discussion in this section, therefore, complements and reinforces the discussion of Parts I through III, and the Committee is of the opinion that the Parliament of Victoria must: 1. Consider access to the information it places online as a fundamental requirement of good governance

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2. Focus attention on ways in which the Parliament can both extend the reach of the content it produces, and produce greater and richer levels of content for the citizens of Victoria 3. Invest in mechanisms to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its processes, both in the two Chambers and through its Committee system 4. Consider how it can use ICTs in consultation and participation practices undertaken by the Parliament 5. Resource and support the work of MPs through the effective use of new technologies.

This part of the Report, therefore, examines each of these five issues. The Committee wishes to note that none of the discussion contained in this part of the report violates any of the recommendations or considerations given to the effective implementation of ICTs in the VPS. With regard to the development of electronic democracy, it is the view of the Committee that the Parliament of Victoria must strive, through individual innovation and in partnership with the wider public and community sectors of Victoria, to be seen as a lead agency in the development of new initiatives and better processes for engaging the community of Victoria through the use of technology.

While the Parliament as a building has always been open to the people of Victoria, the Committee recognises the specific characteristics of ICTs which will allow this institution, and its Members, greater means to involve and inform the people of Victoria.

The standard set by Parliament will serve to represent the benchmark for Victoria.

Parliament as a Content Provider

The Parliament of Victoria, as a deliberative law maker and house of oversight and review, produces large amounts of publicly available information of direct relevance to (a) the democratic process and (b) the awareness of issues of public interest by the community.

The Committee notes three specific areas of particular importance: • The proceedings of Parliament – Hansard – which contains the debate of Members and consideration of issues of public policy through legislative and oversight activities • The reports and associated publications of the Committees of the Parliament charged with the oversight and investigation of the effectiveness of legislation, the activities of the Government of the day and matters of public concern. These documents include an array of policy-related information, and are often associated with considerable supporting material in the form of minutes of evidence, public documents and submissions, and references to other sources of information • Documents published by the Parliament to support the public’s use and understanding of Parliament. These include information and fact sheets about Parliament and its operations, guides to assist in participation in hearings and inquiry processes, and a range of other documents of educational value.

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Over the past decade, the Parliament of Victoria has progressively placed this material online, and the Committee notes that the growth of information published does reflect, on a smaller scale, a similar ad hoc publishing process as that identified by the OCIO with respect to the VPS.

This is largely due to the somewhat autonomous nature of parts of the Parliament (particularly the Committees) which publish their own material according to the needs of these Parliamentary processes. Thus, the website of the Parliament, while generally attractive and containing a depth of content, has a range of different sub-elements, with sometimes idiosyncratic design elements (areas of HTML, areas of PDF-only content, use of dynamic menu system, fixed links and deep linking, use of a range of styles, framed and unframed elements of the site, etc.).

Thus, the first consideration of the Committee is what aspects of “best practice” the Parliament should consider with regard to its use of ICTs purely as a communications tool. ACCESSIBILITY AND REACH OF PARLIAMENTARY CONTENT

Without reiterating the points covered in Part II of the report, the Committee notes that the observations made with regard to Government information online are equally applicable to the Parliamentary web presence, particularly relating to: • The accessibility of online content to all members of the community • Extending the reach of Parliamentary information through syndication.

During the course of the Inquiry, the Committee received evidence from Dr S. O’Kane, Secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services. Dr O’Kane noted that: • The current assessment of the Department was that the Parliament maintained a level-A compliance with the WCAG • The Parliament planned to upgrade its website to AAA compliance in the 2005–06 financial year. (Department of Parliamentary Services, Correspondence, 25/02/05)

In addition, Dr O’Kane noted that the current capacity of the Parliament to maintain its level-A rating is limited by the distributed nature of publishing through the Parliamentary website, with some authors (such as Committees) sometimes violating the WCAG guidelines. Because of this, there are some difficulties for the Parliament to maintain level-A compliance rating.

The Committee commends the Department for its attention to this matter and supports the upgrading of the website to the highest level of WCAG compliance. The Parliament, through the work of the Department in setting a high standard for the website design, is demonstrating a clear leadership position for the VPS.

The Committee is of the view that, in making this transition, the Department should consider the issues of content syndication and the portability of ICTs, and also how the issue of distributed publishing might be managed to ensure that the Parliamentary website can be sustained to WCAG AAA compliance through appropriate acquisition of a CMS.

The work of Parliamentary Committees will be well served through syndication of content online, allowing the various activities of the Victorian Parliamentary committee system to be supported by an array of customisable news feeds. As most committees undertake a number of functions

179 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee simultaneously, serving a range of stakeholders and policy issues, the Committee observes that the range of content feeds is potentially very large and will need appropriate management by the Parliament.

In addition, the Committee notes that the Legislature of Texas in the United States of America has established a specific information service for Members and the public who use PDAs (http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/help/pda.htm). This information service serves as an updateable and customisable news feed provided through the AvantGo information service (https://my.avantgo.com/home/), and provides the user with information about Members, committee work and meetings schedules.

The advantage of this approach for some users is that the system provides an update of information stored on the user’s PDA when the device is synchronised with their desktop computer, and therefore does not require the user to have a continuous Internet connection (such as Wi-Fi). In meetings with Mr B. Wyatt, the Public Affairs Manager for the United States’ National Conference of State Legislatures, the advantages of this approach were seen as: • Providing portable information for regular visitors to the legislature • Providing a portable resource for staff and members.

The Committee considers this approach as one that should be considered in the development of the new website of the Parliament, as a possible adjunct to web-based syndication approaches (the systems would likely share similar data).

The Committee wishes to make special note of the need to effectively develop and maintain a consistent user interface across the Parliament and its Committees, in order to assist users with low information literacies. The Committee is of the opinion that the Parliament should establish its own stylistic templates to establish a consistent user experience (across a range of device types). The Committee notes that the Parliament, as a distinct entity from the VPS, should provide a consistent user experience that: • Provides the advantages of navigability through similarities with the approach of the website templates of the VPS • But which maintains a unique appearance appropriate for the separate institution of Parliament.

Recommendation 72 A redevelopment of the website of the Parliament of Victoria should be undertaken with consideration of the means to ensure: • The capacity of publishers in the Parliament to provide content that can be syndicated • The use of appropriate authoring and content presentation tools to allow the Parliamentary website to be accessible on devices with unusual screen sizes • The use of a consistent user-experience model for website design • The capacity of the Parliament, as a distributed publishing environment, to sustain Web Content Accessibility Guidelines level AAA compliance.

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Given the requirement for the VPS and the Local Government sector to report on performance in this area on a regular basis, the Committee also notes that the performance of the Parliamentary website should be regularly monitored and reported upon. It is the opinion of the Committee that pursuing the aggressive approach to accessibility indicated by Dr O’Kane should be matched with a regular reporting process.

The Committee feels that a strong leadership position on this issue is important for the Parliament of Victoria, reflecting its place in the community and as a reference point for performance by Victorian departments and agencies.

Recommendation 73 The Department of Parliamentary Services should provide to the Presiding Officers, for tabling in the Parliament, an annual certification of compliance by the Parliamentary website with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. • This document should note, where appropriate, areas of, and for, improvement and actions to be taken to improve and sustain compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

In making these recommendations, the Committee notes the difficulties in meeting WCAG compliance that are related to real-time captioning of audio and video transmissions (see Webcasting, Live Captioning and Accessibility, p. 192). INCREASING THE DEPTH OF PARLIAMENTARY ONLINE CONTENT

The Committee also gave consideration to the continuous improvement and expansion of the information presented by the Parliament and its Committees online. In making these comments, however, the Committee notes that it did not receive any general or specific submissions that highlighted a lack of content on the Parliamentary website.

Of particular interest to the Committee was the provision of material associated with the participatory consultative processes of the Committees of the Parliament. In this area the Committee noted that the SARC of the 54th Parliament recommended in its 2002 Report Improving Victoria’s Parliamentary Committee System that:

The Committee is of the view that submissions received by Victorian committees should generally be made available on the internet. However, concern was raised in relation to submissions made to committees in private. Obviously such submissions should not be available on the internet. The Committee believes that persons who make submissions should be informed that their submissions may be made available to the public. (SARC, 2002c)

The current performance in this area is good, but mixed. Most Parliamentary committees place background material and hearing transcripts online, and a reasonable number make submissions available or provide a list of submissions online. Given the stated need for consultation and participation processes to be supported with as much available online content as possible (see The Role of ICTs in Consultation and Participation in Victoria, in Part III, p. 144), it is the Committee’s view that this necessitates the publication of public submissions online, with the exception of confidential submissions.

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The Committee notes that the upgrade of the Parliamentary website will necessitate the acquisition of a CMS system which will support committee staff in meeting this requirement. However, the Committee observed that: • Submissions are often made in a range of formats (in print, electronic, different file types) • Some submissions will not be received in an accessible format • There is a tendency for submissions received electronically to be provided in PDF format, and paper submissions to be scanned as PDFs, often only as image files • It is unreasonable, in most instances, to require the public to provide submissions that meet WCAG guidelines.

It has been the traditional approach of the Parliament to supply requested information in printed format. During the electronic democracy Inquiry, discussions were held with some members of the public about the conversion of documents from PDF to RTF in order to meet accessibility requirements, and considerations given to conversion of paper documents to screen-readable text on request. However, the Committee notes that the conversion of large amounts of documents into electronic formats may be difficult and time consuming.

One approach taken to mitigate against this problem is that taken by the Outer Suburban/Interface Services and Development Committee. This committee makes it a policy to request that submissions, where possible, are provided with an electronic version to assist in online publication, and this approach should be followed by other committees to assist in providing accessible copies of submissions online.

The Committee commends this approach to the Parliament as a procedure that should be adopted generally. Hansard Online

The Committee notes the considerable effort of Hansard in making the proceedings of Parliament available online; not simply through the conversion of printed material into electronic documents, but also through the establishment of searchable archives. The Victorian Parliamentary Hansard service has been one of the early innovators in placing the proceedings of Parliament online in a textual form, and the Committee thanks the service for its performance in recent years.

The Committee notes that the adoption of Recommendation 72, particularly in the area of syndication of content, would be valuable in further developing the excellent service already offered by Hansard. The development of a CMS, which stores Hansard in a format like Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), will be an essential underpinning technology to provide for: • Customised syndicated feeds from Hansard, based on user searches (see the discussion of this approach in Extending Accessibility and Reach of Government Content, in Part II, p. 33) • The integration of Hansard material in webcast archives, if adopted – see below.

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WEBCASTING PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS

Following the specific requirement for the Inquiry to consider the potential for the “netcasting” (referred to herein as “webcasting”, or “streaming”) of Parliamentary proceedings over the Internet, the Committee has given consideration to the advantages and costs of adopting this technology to expand access to Parliamentary proceedings online.

Webcasting is a process of narrowcasting audio or video material over the Internet in a steady, continuous stream that allows the end user to access the material as it downloads. Depending on the technology used, this may be a system whereby the user’s browser or media program stores material until enough of the download has arrived to allow the rest of the file to be played continuously (“buffering” at the client end), or it may be based on a system whereby the stream is customised to match the access speeds of the client and overall demand (“load balancing” at the server end).

The use of webcasting is increasingly common around the world, driven by improvements in the quality, speed and reliability of the Internet to distribute content. In addition, the development of 3G telephony services provides for the ability for mobile telephone users to access live video and to serve as a source of streaming video. As this technology is distributed through our society, the integration of portable devices and the WWW will see a proliferation in the creation and distribution of video and audio content, with new applications for the technology being developed every day.

As increasing numbers of people become accustomed to having the ability to distribute and receive multimedia content in a pervasive computing environment, the applications for these technologies have expanded. While video distribution on the WWW started with the uploading and downloading of small files (“clips”) of video material, the multimedia capacities of Internet browsers have encouraged software and hardware developers to provide means to embed live streams in websites, and to make the capture of audio and video material in digital form easier.

The latest generation of consumer video cameras, for example, focus on the capacity of members of the public to take their video content and then edit and redistribute it, while the popularity of digital portable music players has motivated renewed interest in the integration of online content with these devices (such as the legitimation of music download services, or the development of “podcasting” – the periodic delivery of radio feeds to portable music players).

The advantages of webcasting are in the capacity to deliver large amounts of multimedia content over the Internet, with limited delay, and to provide ongoing live feeds of material without having to break the stream into a set of individual files. This technology is used across the Internet, and popular examples include: • The redistribution of live content online, such as radio programs or television shows (e.g. an Internet radio station, such as Sub FM; http://www.subfm.org/) to reach a broader audience • The delivery of stored content online, such as individual television programs, pop music clips, movies or trailers (e.g. see the ABC’s broadband content collection; http://abc.net.au/broadband/) to service the demand for content-on-demand services.

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In the political context, political parties and civil society organisations have employed this technology to distribute multimedia content. This has been evidenced in particular in the provision of political advertising online during recent election campaigns. During the 2005 Federal election, all of the major political parties (the Australian Labor Party, the Liberal Party of Australia, the Nationals, the Greens and the Australian Democrats) provided at least one piece of audio and/or video material online (Chen, 2004a).

With specific reference to the role this technology may play in the Parliamentary context in Victoria, streaming media could be used to allow: • Complete, real-time narrowcasting of all Parliamentary work, including the public meetings of Parliamentary committees in audio and video formats • Partial or edited narrowcasting of parts of Parliamentary proceedings • The provision of audio and video material for retransmission (e.g. rebroadcasting) • Archiving and indexing of broadcast or narrowcast material.

This capacity has been recognised around the world, both in the Parliamentary context and in other governance environments, such as for the public meetings of corporations or in the Local Government sector. In this sector, Victoria has taken an active approach to providing access to its deliberative meetings via this method. As Mr A. Davis of the VLGA observed:

Webcasting is cool! Making council meetings available? A handful of councils are now doing it. I am not sure how much it is actually used but what a great way of making a council accountable to its electorate. I think it is a great idea and we encourage it. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 39)

Currently, a significant number of parliaments are webcasting, or developing the capacity to do so. Australian examples include: • Federal Government (http://www.aph.gov.au/live/) • New South Wales (http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/hhbwebcastnonsittingday) • Queensland (http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Broadcast/) • Western Australia (http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/web/newwebparl.nsf/iframewebpages/Legislative%2BA ssembly%2B-%2BLive%2BBroadcast).

International examples include: • Austria (http://www.parlinkom.gv.at/pd/audio/Audio_Provider.html), including the State of Vorarlberg • Brazil (http://www2.camara.gov.br/index3.html?cel=4) • Canada (http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/webcast.asp?Language=E), including the provinces of British Columbia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan • Denmark (http://www.direktetv.folketinget.dk/), including the Faroe Islands

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• Estonia (http://web.riigikogu.ee/live/istung2.ram) • European Union (http://europa.eu.int/comm/ebs/schedule.cfm?jour=4&semaine=28) • France (http://www.assemblee-nat.fr/lcp/index.asp) • Germany (http://www.bundestag.de/aktuell/tv.htm) • Greece (http://www.parliament.gr/videoaudio/default.asp) • Israel (http://www.knesset.gov.il/broadcast/eng/screen_eng.asp) • Italy (http://www.camera.it/index.asp?content=%2Forganiparlamentarism%2F241%2F934 6%2Fdocumentotesto%2Easp%3F) • Mexico (http://www.canaldelcongreso.gob.mx/) • Netherlands (http://www.tweede-kamer.nl/applicaties/livedebat/index.jsp) • Norway (http://www.nrk.no/stortinget/) • Northern Ireland (currently suspended) • Poland (http://www.sejm.gov.pl/real.htm) • Scotland (http://www.holyrood.tv/) • Slovenia (http://www.dz-rs.si/en/aktualno/spremljanje_sej/seje.html) • Sweden (http://www.riksdagen.se/debatt/ljudbild.htm) • Wales (http://www.wales.gov.uk/index.htm) • Westminister (http://www.parliamentlive.tv/) • United States of America (http://www.c-span.org/watch/). Why Webcast?

The rationale behind the introduction of this technology within Parliament tends to focus on expanding public access to the operations of the Parliament, not simply through the formal record, but being able to sit in the public gallery “remotely”. This has advantages for people who: • Have limited time and/or have an interest in only a small part of the business of the day • Live at a distance to the Parliament • Have responsibilities that prevent travel (parents, carers) • Have a disability.

In addition, it is argued that understanding the work of Parliament through observing its form, procedures, language and ritual is important in understanding the way parliament works as an institution based on tradition and as a fixed set of procedural rules. This view of the work of Parliament, it is argued, is distinctly different to accessing the written record of its proceedings through Hansard.

On this issue the House of Lords (2004:49) in the United Kingdom has made the comment that, while the Internet has expanded the availability of information online, parliaments must also be

185 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee cognisant of the form and format of this provision. In this context, the provision of material that engages the public. Webcasting thus has a benefit in its ease of consumption and multimedia component.

At a different level, experience with the introduction of webcasting in Queensland and Canada has shown that the introduction of the service is useful for public servants, MPs and their staff to monitor the debate or progression of business in the Chamber. For Members whose electorates are some distance from Melbourne, webcasting may be a useful service by which to retain a connection between the MP’s activities in the Parliament and their staff in the electorate office.

However, while webcasting provides these advantages to the public and to the Parliament, it should be noted that: • The introduction of webcasting of Parliaments is generally an expensive undertaking. Hansard, in its report of 22 July 2004, notes service estimates ranging from $150,000 to $1.5 million per Chamber • The information provided is available in another form, Hansard, which in the Victorian context is online, can be searched and is archived. Thus, the introduction of webcasting provides a different experience of Parliamentary proceedings • In the course of informal discussions with Professor Coleman in Melbourne during 2004, Professor Coleman told the Committee that, from his experience in the United Kingdom: o The majority of Parliamentary business tends to be relatively routine, and is not engaging to the general public o Demand for this service outside of the social and professional circles of Members is low o The relative cost outweighs the benefits, when compared with other electronic democracy activities that could be invested in, such as online consultation.

The Committee notes these concerns, and observes that the Victorian Treasury has already rejected a proposal of the Parliament for a funding allocation for webcasting. Clearly, webcasting of Parliamentary proceedings has a place in the array of engagement techniques that a modern legislature should engage in, but not at the expense of new approaches that provide information that is not currently available to the community.

On the other hand, the Committee does note two important drivers for the provision of webcasting services.

First – against the background of vertical and horizontal integration of commercial and public news media – it may be the regional and State-based parliaments of the world that have most to gain from the adoption of webcasting.

In evidence taken during the visit to the United States, the National Conference of State Legislatures told the Committee that some legislatures had decided to provide multimedia content online in order to overcome a lack of coverage of their activities. This took two forms:

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• The provision of material that could be used by local media to more effectively cover the work of the legislature, such as Internet-accessible, print-ready (high resolution) photographs and video feeds (Alaska) • As a means to bypass under-performing local media through the provision of this direct connection between the legislature and the public.

Second, in addition to the use of webcasting as a tool for information distribution and public education, the Committee notes that these approaches can be used to foster community participation. Thus, while the general availability of webcasts from the two Chambers is of public benefit, the Committee regards the work of Inquiries as an area in which particular public benefit may be achieved.

Given that public hearings are often held during conventional business hours, the ability to access this material remotely can be catalytic of greater levels of public participation. Inquiry discussion list member Mr T. Leeuwenburg stated that:

I’d probably watch question time, and maybe some committee work. If there was some opportunity for interaction, I would definitely feed back into any IT direction committees. (Post, 11/11/04)

What this does necessitate, however, is the requirement for this material to be provided live and as an archive (see below).

On a more direct level, the Committee also notes that in Victoria (Wellington Shire; http://www.wellington.vic.gov.au/page/Page.asp?Page_Id=387&h=1) and Europe (Municipality of Issy-Les-Moulineaux; http://213.186.44.35/issytv/index.asp#), the introduction of webcasting has permitted members of the public to submit questions to the meeting, as an online adjunct to their conventional meeting processes (McGrath, 2002). Project Identification Work of the Parliament

As indicated above, the Committee has identified that preparatory work for the introduction of webcasting has been undertaken by the Parliament. This work has resulted in the development of an initial project identification document by the Manager of Hansard, Mr C. Gentner. The Committee commends the work of Mr Gentner and acknowledges that the Parliament, through the Presiding Officers, has identified a clear preference to proceed with this approach.

In hearings before the Committee, the President of the Legislative Council, Ms M. Gould MLC, stated that, as a matter of general principle:

The Parliament is very keen for the proceedings to be broadcast. We just make a note that webcasting is a medium of broadcasting so that is an issue that we would just like to put to one side and speak generally of the principle of broadcasting. As I said, we are keen to have it. (Minutes of Evidence, 16/02/05, p. 33)

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But Ms Gould went on to state that:

One of the things that this all depends upon is the level of funding to allow for such broadcasting to take place … There are issues of heritage that need to be looked at in the respective chambers.

And thus the preferred approach of the Parliament would be to:

We would propose to instigate such broadcasting in a staged approach and again depending on the financial availability of it. (Minutes of Evidence, 16/02/05, p. 33)

The Committee agrees that, given the possible expenses required, a “staged” or phased process of implementation and experimentation is needed. In examining the work of Hansard to date, the Committee notes that this phased implementation is currently being considered across a number of dimensions: • How to implement the system in stages, such as the selection of an appropriate Chamber in which to begin the initial work • What level of transmission quality should be captured • What level of transmission quality archived material should be stored in • What additional documentation should be provided through the service (such as Chamber documents) • Whether the material should be provided as an online archive • Integration with other systems • Rebroadcasting capacity of the system.

While the Committee is generally supportive of the approach taken to date, it does have a number of difficulties with the discussion of this proposed project in Parliament to date. The Committee has identified four areas of departure.

First, the Committee is uncomfortable with the use of the term “customer” in preference to “citizen” in the discussion of the appropriate design for the service in the existing project identification document. The Committee considers that this term is problematic in that it conflates viewers internal to the Parliament or VPS (one specific target consumption base) with the general citizenry (another target audience).

The focus of the project should be, in the estimation of the Committee, the public of Victoria primarily, followed by an internal audience and re-broadcasters. If the project identification process fails to identify an audience base beyond internal customers, it will be difficult to justify the expense of investment in this area to Treasury, or to the wider Victorian community.

Second, while the project rightly identifies a range of standards issues up to and including high definition television (HDTV), the Committee is of the opinion that the maximum distribution quality provided in the initial phase of the project should be the provision of standard definition television (SDTV). The provision of webcasting across the world tends to focus on far lower levels of

188 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy resolution, and the capture of SDTV quality feeds would only be necessary for the re-broadcasting over conventional television networks (free-to-air or subscription services).

While the Committee considers this possibility as worthy of further investigation (see below), the low take up of HDTV televisions in Australia (Gallacher and Skinner, 1999; IDC Australia, 2005) combined with the high costs associated with producing HDTV content at this time make this an unwarranted area for investigation. The Committee notes that the provision of this material in HDTV format may drive re-broadcasters’ interest in the service, as a low-cost means of meeting Federal Government regulatory requirements for minium provision of material at this resolution, but that this is a poor motivation for investment in such expensive hardware. Thus, rather than an investment in HDTV, the Committee considered the provision of digital content for multichannelling to be the best option for re-broadcasting of the Victorian Parliament.

Third, based on an assessment of the practical use of Parliamentary webcasting in other jurisdictions, the Committee does not regard the issue of archiving of content as a secondary aspect to the service. This view is based on the opinion of the Committee that the advantages of webcasting are both its provision of remote access and its capacity for users to access the record at times suitable to them. This issue is discussed in detail below.

Fourth, there is an over-emphasis in parts of the current work on ensuring that MPs are perceived in the “best light”. While the Committee recognises that the current configuration of the physical building will require some considerable work to ensure that lighting issues are resolved for an effective broadcast, project work in this area should set a minimum standard so that the audio and video presentation is clearly perceivable to the end-user only. Excessive attention to the vanity of MPs should not be an overriding concern of the project team, nor should it serve as the basis of excessive project costing.

The Committee considers that informing Members of what can be expected from webcasting in terms of quality is a better approach than altering the scope of the project unnecessarily in this area. The Committee is of the view that MPs should be responsible for their own appearance and deportment, just as there is no expectation by Members that Parliamentary staff will modify the public galleries to ensure they are viewed from the best angle. The experience of the Committee in viewing the range of examples internationally is that the webcast versions tend to focus on sound quality, with the smaller size of video images making minor matters of lighting often moot points. Flexible Provision and Access

The Committee recommends the adoption of webcasting for the Parliament of Victoria. It is the view of the Committee, however, that the effective use of this service by members of the public can only be reasonably guaranteed by: • The introduction of a service that allows the users to select a transmission quality and format suitable to them • The introduction of a service that is automatically stored online as an archive, with the archived material accessible through an integrated, text-based search of the written proceedings of Parliament (Hansard Online).

The Committee notes that, while administrative procedures for webcasting are already in place to some degree, the adoption of Recommendation 74 would require minor amendment to the

189 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee broadcasting provisions of the Standing Orders (chapter 27 for the Legislative Assembly and 3.10 and R6 for the Legislative Council).

Recommendation 74 The Parliament of Victoria should systematically introduce webcasting of both Chambers of Parliament. The webcasting of public meetings of Parliamentary Committees should be available at the discretion of each committee’s chairperson. This system should allow: • Viewers and listeners to select a level of transmission quality suitable to their Internet service • Archiving of two Parliamentary terms of webcasts for online retrieval • Indexing of the webcast through the Hansard database.

In making this recommendation, the Committee is aware that it has recommended an initial introduction that has a higher performance criterion than would be anticipated in the current project identification work undertaken by Hansard. The Committee is of the view that this approach is necessary, if the emphasis of this activity is to be on the impact on members of the public, rather than questions of technological firsts or costs.

The question of transmission quality is one recognised across the world, and is generally determined by consideration of two factors: • The access speeds of users • The cost of bandwidth and hardware for the provider.

The Parliament of Queensland, for example, has recognised that its large bandwidth requirements creates access problems for many of its citizens, and has elected to provide only a version of proceedings that provides audio of the Parliament, with a small image (static) and details of the MP’s name, party and electorate.

Whereas some parliaments provide options in this area (such as audio-only streams as well as video streams), appropriate design of the streaming system allows the video material to be stored and reprocessed for different user demands “on the fly”. The advantage of this approach lies in the customisation of the service by the end user (not the provider), which meets their preference, and the capacity to provide a minimum level of service for those Victorians who have poor Internet connections for a variety of reasons (including older technology) and those who have high-speed connections and modern technology. This approach, serving the spectrum of demand, would appear to be the most appropriate approach to providing content that is engaging to the end user.

On the second point, that of archiving, the Committee notes considerable issues here, particularly with regard to: • The costs of storing large amounts of video and audio material (which would require large storage capacity) • The need to establish effective mechanisms for searching this material and retrieving it.

While the archiving of Parliamentary webcasts does not appear to be controversial in any way, the Committee observes that the long-term storage and provision of video and audio records of the

190 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy proceedings of parliaments around the world are seldom undertaken, and that this decision is normally driven by issues of cost.

The question of storage and archiving was discussed during the Committee’s overseas mission to Canada, where Members of the Committee met with representatives of the National Parliament’s Multimedia Services & ISD Business Planning Division. The National Parliamentary webcasting system, ParlVU system (http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/parlvuen-ca/), is currently in the process of being integrated with the Canadian national parliamentary database to allow users to view material archived for two parliamentary terms.

This process required not only the expansion of storage capacity for archived material, but also a systematic process of integrating the video material into the CMS of the Parliament. This integration represented the most technically difficult part of the process, but affords the public the means to quickly and effectively locate stored content through keyword searches, or searching by speaking Member or item.

The Committee notes the example of archiving provided by the Welsh Assembly, which has an archive for both the National Assembly and its committees (http://www.webcasting.wales.gov.uk/archive_e.asp). The archive allows the user to select their preferred access format and search the archive, and provides a small amount of information associated with the broadcast (Assembly or Committee). In addition, webcasts of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster are now archived online fourteen days after the original transmission, with audio-only provision of Committee work as a “next day” service (Parry, 2004:2).

Archiving has been identified as a critical factor in the success of webcasting. It allows members of the public to use existing search facilities provided by the parliament to locate multimedia content, and acknowledges that most citizens are unlikely to listen to the proceedings live. However, most citizens do: • Locate the material through referral from another source (such as a link from a news story) • Search out material in response to awareness of an issue debated in Parliament, or as part of a general search • View the material as syndicated content through another website.

Given the somewhat unpredictable progression of Parliamentary business, the advantages offered by webcasting would be undermined if the content were not archived for some period of time. The Committee notes that the Parliament of Canada has elected to store its webcasts online for a period of two parliamentary terms, a period of time that appears reasonable in the first instance. Long-term Storage Issues

The Committee notes that the issue of webcasting will also force a consideration of the capacity to store older material into the longer term. As the volume of material captured will accrete over time, some process of managing older material with lower levels of ongoing interest will be required. The Canadian parliamentary staff provided the Committee with the view that, given the amount of video material that would be collected, a policy of moving older material into long-term storage would be required.

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While the SLV has been identified as one place in which the material may be stored, the Committee notes from the submission of the PROV (Submission No. a28, p. 5), that the public archives have developed expertise in the storage and indexing of video material through work undertaken to store records from surveillance cameras and other CCTV systems.

The Committee feels this approach would be appropriate, as PROV has already given consideration to effective compression formats for long-term storage and future access, as well as the most effective formats for the creation – if required – of portable copies (such as DVD).

Recommendation 75

Archived streaming video older than two Parliamentary terms should be archived with the Public Record Office Victoria, in consultation with relevant preservation specialists.

It is the view of the Committee that this process will include discussions with the SLV – as the local representatives of the Pandora Archive – but will also include other relevant bodies, such as the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. Webcasting, Live Captioning and Accessibility

It should be noted that the Committee, in making Recommendation 74, recognises that the adoption of webcasting presents difficulties with the stated intention of Dr O’Kane in meeting WCAG AAA accessibility targets for the Parliamentary web service.

This issue here is in the requirement for level-A compliance for multimedia material to include synchronised textual elements. That is, a matching textual version of the spoken text (or description) that is set to the timing of the original material.

For archived material, this capability can be achieved through the reintegration of transcriptions with the original record, and the Committee notes that systems can be developed that would allow the synchronisation (through time and date stamping) of archived video material and Hansard. This would allow Hansard to be overlayed back into the archived video stream at a later date. This represents an expense required for providers of multimedia content to meet the requirements of the WCAG.

However, the current WCAG (version 1.0) also requires material broadcast live be captioned. This requires the simultaneous transcription of spoken material to be inserted into the stream. The Committee notes that under the proposed version 2.0, this requirement is removed from the level- A target, and is placed back at the AA level – a reflection of the difficulty in meeting this particular level of compliance for any organisation, regardless of its level of resources. The Committee notes, however, that the capacity to meet Dr O’Kane’s intended performance level and the introduction of webcasting are incompatible.

It is the opinion of the Committee that there is a clear case for an exemption from the current (and future) requirements in the area of webcasting for the Parliament. As Hansard is already provided, generally within twenty-four hours of the utterance, the addition of a second set of simultaneous transcribers would represent an excessive expense, given the near duplication of service to the community. While the Committee recognises the intention of the W3C in the original formulation of this part of the WCAG, the public benefit of compliance is not justified in this area.

192 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

However, with regard to the post hoc captioning of webcast archives, the Committee recognises that this is more readily achieved, but notes that this form of technology would require significant investment in integrating the information systems of Hansard with the webcasting system. The Committee considers, however, that the appropriate approach to this issue would be to note the possible future extension of the webcasting capacity in this way, and to develop systems that have the capacity for this functionality to be added retrospectively (e.g. ensuring very accurate time and date stamping of archived video material, introducing automatic digital time and date stamping in Hansard systems). Conventional Broadcasting of Parliament

In addition to general support for the introduction of webcasting in Victoria, a number of submissions to the Inquiry (BCA, Submission No. a20; G. Lloyd-Smith, Submission No. a6, p. 1) suggested that the Parliament should also provide terrestrial broadcasting of the Parliament.

The Committee observes that municipalities in the United States, such as Seattle (http://www.seattlechannel.org/), maintain cable television channels to increase exposure to the community of the work of local administrations based on their regulatory powers over cable television providers.

In the work currently undertaken by the Parliament to date, the Parliament has noted the possibility of re-broadcasting material, either through radio services (such as Radio for the Print Handicapped), free-to-air (such as multichannelling), or the provision of this feed to subscription television providers.

The Committee considers this approach as appropriate, and that the development of the technical design of a webcasting system for the Victorian Parliament should be undertaken in consideration to the possibility for re-broadcasting. The Committee considers the appropriate approach at this time would be for the Parliament of Victoria, through the Presiding Officers, to enter into discussions with relevant broadcasters to determine whether there is interest in taking on such a service, prior to the development of the costed technical proposal.

Even if there is no present interest in re-broadcasting by the commercial, public and/or community broadcasting sectors, the potential to introduce this capacity as a subsequent implementation phase should be planned for in the initial technology acquisition process. Maintaining the capacity to capture parliament in SDTV quality would be a logical “future proof” approach.

Recommendation 76

Parliamentary Privilege Concerns and Narrowcasting

In making a positive recommendation for the adoption of webcasting, the Committee gave careful consideration to the issue of Parliamentary Privilege and the broad- and narrowcasting of the proceedings. Privilege is addressed in the Victoria Constitution Act 1975, which states (s19):

193 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

(1) The Council and the Assembly respectively and the committees and members thereof respectively shall hold enjoy and exercise such and the like privileges immunities and powers as at the 21st day of July, 1855 were held enjoyed and exercised by the House of Commons of Great Britain and Ireland and by the committees and members thereof, so far as the same are not inconsistent with any Act of the Parliament of Victoria, whether such privileges immunities or powers were so held possessed or enjoyed by custom statute or otherwise.

While this section goes on to focus on “printed matter”:

(3) Any copy of the Journals of the House of Commons printed or purporting to be printed by the order or printer of the House of Commons shall be received as prima facie evidence without proof of its being such copy, upon any inquiry touching the privileges immunities and powers of the Council or the Assembly or of any committee or member thereof respectively.

The Constitution Act 1975 clearly grants Parliament to legislate to adjust the scope of privilege:

(2) The Parliament may by Act legislate for or with respect to the privileges immunities and powers to be held enjoyed and exercised by the Council and the Assembly and by the committees and the members thereof respectively.

In addition, the Wrongs Act 1958 also makes explicit reference to the publication of the proceedings of Parliament, to ensure that reports of debate are protected from charges of defamation. This Act extends protection to the Parliament’s sister institutions around Australia, to provide protection for those legislatures from action taken under Victorian law (s3A):

The publication of a fair and accurate report of the proceedings of the Parliament of the Commonwealth, the Parliament of a State of the Commonwealth, or the legislature of a Territory of the Commonwealth, or of the proceedings in public of any Committee of any such Parliament or legislature shall be privileged unless the publication is proved to be made with malice.

While this would appear to ensure Parliamentary Privilege is afforded to the broad- and narrowcasting of the material sourced from the Parliament, there are some concerns that the selective distribution of the proceedings of Parliament are not privileged. For example, Campbell (2003) argues that:

The general view is that republication or effective repetition by a member of what he or she has said in the course of parliamentary debate does not attract the protection of Article 9 of the Bill of Rights [privilege]. Republication by the member, could, however, attract the extended defence of qualified privilege enunciated by the High Court of Australia in Lange v. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2003:13)

In addition, in the context of New South Wales, Griffith (1996:32) has expressed concerns about the distribution of online content with respect to the status of Hansard as the official record of parliamentary proceedings. Overall, while it would appear logical that a video or audio recording of Parliament would appear “definitive”, the Committee recognises that Hansard should remain the journal of record for Parliamentary debates, and that due caution should be exercised to protect

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MPs from defamation while facilitating the widest possible distribution of the proceedings of Parliament.

In addition, the Committee notes that the implication of the decision of the High Court of Australia in Dow Jones & Company Inc. v Gutnick (2002) has presented parliaments with new uncertainty about the status of records of parliamentary proceedings that are transported across jurisdictional boundaries. As the act of “publication” under this decision is determined by the action of the end user (“pull”), the Parliament of Victoria has limited capacity to control the jurisdiction of publication (or multiple publications of proceedings).

Thus, the Committee recognises a situation in which matters relating to an individual or company that has residency or significant financial interest in another State of the Commonwealth are discussed in the Victorian Parliament in the public interest, but ambiguity regarding the reciprocal nature of Privilege and new media technology gives rise to litigation. This may give rise to a charge of defamation outside of Victoria, resulting from webcast material or Hansard online.

In informal discussions of the Committee with Mr N. Laurie, Clerk of the Queensland Parliament, Mr Laurie expressed the opinion that: • The defence of Privilege is unlikely to be rejected by an Australian court with relation to the publication or narrowcasting of parliamentary proceedings online • The issue of Privilege is subject to ongoing legal redefinition, particularly around the area of new publishing and distribution technology, or approaches to information management (e.g. if a press release which reiterated an announcement of Government policy constitutes Privileged speech) • That the High Court determination in the Dow Jones case introduced a new degree of uncertainty as to the application of laws in other jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Australia.

However, while noting these difficulties, the Committee highlights that this has not prevented the Parliaments of Queensland or the Federal Government from continuing to provide their webcasting services, or for the Commonwealth, to provide its broadcast through the Parliamentary News Network of the ABC.

The Committee notes, however, that this issue reiterates problems identified with the evidentiary powers of Parliamentary Committees; concerns which have been previously identified by the Economic Development Committee of the 52nd Parliament, which noted difficulties in collecting evidence, particularly under summons, extraterritorially. At this time, the Economic Development Committee recommended (1993, s2.1) that:

The Attorney-General take any necessary action, including legislation, to provide a Joint Investigatory Committee with adequate powers to send for persons, papers and records from interstate.

The Committee considers that this represents a more general concern about issues of Privilege beyond the strict application of ICTs covered by this report. The Committee finds, however, that following the adoption of the new national defamation laws, this matter will be resolved. Section 31 of the model law states:

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31 Defence of absolute privilege

(1) It is a defence to the publication of defamatory matter if the defendant proves that the publication was subject to absolute privilege.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the following publications are subject to absolute privilege:

(a) the publication of matter in the course of the proceedings of a parliamentary body, including (but not limited to) the following:

(i) the publication of a document by order, or under the authority, of the parliamentary body,

(ii) the publication of the debates and proceedings of the parliamentary body by, or under the authority of, the parliamentary body,

(iii) the publication of matter while giving evidence before the parliamentary body,

(iv) the publication of matter while presenting or submitting a document to the parliamentary body,

And the law makes explicit the extension of this privilege between jurisdictions (s31):

(c) the publication of matter that, if published in another Australian jurisdiction, would be subject to absolute privilege in that jurisdiction under a provision of a law of the jurisdiction corresponding to this section.

Clearly, the desire of the Parliament to make its proceedings available to the citizens of Victoria should not be prevented through this ambiguity. However, the Committee finds that there is insufficient risk to prevent the adoption of webcasting. While the risk of litigation is real, particularly where a MP selectively syndicates content, the new draft defamation laws will resolve the uncertainty within Australia to a large degree.

In expressing satisfaction with this approach, the Committee does recognise that selective redistribution of recordings of the proceedings of Parliament could be used with malice by a MP or person, allowing the unlimited repetition of a defamatory claim made in Parliament in such a manner as to undermine the established legal protection to Members afforded by principle of Parliamentary Privilege.

The Committee sought to distinguish between, for example, the case in which a MP regularly, automatically syndicated their speeches (in any format) in Parliament via a personal website to improve public awareness of their work in the legislature, and a MP who simply selected a specific allegation or allegations made under privilege for syndication out of malice towards a third party (as a quote or clip). It is clear that the former should attract the protection of qualified privilege, while the latter should be open to a charge of defamation.

The Committee is not of the view that adjusting the laws to protect Parliamentarians who wish to use ICTs should be interpreted as a means of extending their protections to areas of selective republication with malice of intent.

196 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

It is clear that, under the model defamation legislation to be introduced, this defamatory nature of the second example would be upheld, but that the regular syndication of content or distribution to a third party of material in the public interest would attract an appropriate defence of qualified privilege. The model legislation states (s34):

34 Defence of qualified privilege for provision of certain information

(1) There is a defence of qualified privilege for the publication of defamatory matter to a person (the recipient) if the defendant proves that:

(a) the recipient has an interest or apparent interest in having information on some subject, and

(b) the matter is published to the recipient in the course of giving to the recipient information on that subject, and

It is the finding of the Committee that this approach is appropriate, and balances the needs of Parliament and the rights of citizens. Potential Wider Application of Webcasting Infrastructure

In considering the issue of webcasting acquisition by the Parliament of Victoria, the Committee observes that the application of shared service or community access provision models may be valuable in optimising the investment in underpinning streaming servers across the State Government, and in partnership with the municipal and community sectors.

Webcasting, and the development of multimedia content in general, have been identified by a number of sectors as valuable technology, but the costs of adoption appear to be a barrier to greater use at present.

As previously indicated, Local Government is a potential beneficiary of this technology in application to its own democratic processes. Mr J. Hennessy of the MAV observed that:

… the webcasting of council meetings in five councils was really a bit of a trailblazer, certainly in Australia, and that has led to in excess of 1000 people viewing some council meetings. … You can go to the web site and download a particular council meeting from, say, six months ago and look at what part of the council meeting you would like to access. Also at the end of the meeting in some cases you are able to ask questions of the mayor or councillors and get a response. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, pp. 41–2)

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Mr Hennessy also articulated the benefits for rural and regional Victorians:

There were some extremely positive stories coming out of places like Wellington where some people used to travel in some cases, say, 200 kilometres to attend a council meeting for a particular purpose. Instead they could watch the council meeting from their house and get the same information they required, and in some cases people from the media who were covering the council meetings could have a similar experience. There was some very positive feedback from those outlying shires in terms of overcoming the tyranny of distance and enabling far greater participation in council meetings, and in some cases not just the council meeting but also the subcommittees of council were also being webcast. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, pp. 41-2)

In the State Government, the use of webcast video has been identified in the Justice portfolio, where the technology has been applied to facilitate the judicial process in situations in which the physical attendance of a witness may be unwise (such as in sexual assault cases) or unnecessary (such as interim bail hearings) (Dr C. Noone, Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 31). Similarly, Victoria Police has begun to enter into partnerships with private providers and Local Government to establish security cameras using Internet technologies (Milestone Systems, 2005). In addition, a range of ad hoc uses for the technology has occurred within the VPS: • Arts Victoria oversaw the webcast of the opening of the Melbourne Museum in 2001 • The Victorian Treasury provided a live webcast of the budget speech in 2000 • A range of departments and agencies are employing video streams to promote activities as diverse as: o Business migration (http://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au/CA256E8400227764/Immigration/Migrating +to+VictoriaBusiness+Migration+VisasBusiness+Migrant+Stories) o The Australian Synchrotron project (http://www.synchrotron.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=1524) o Mediation (http://www.vcat.vic.gov.au/CA256DBB0022825D/page/Mediation- Mediation+Video?OpenDocument&1=30-Mediation~&2=20-Mediation+Video~&3=~) o Franchising (http://www.business.vic.gov.au/CA256E36001D1550/BSU/21993CE3E30E4D61CA 256E6A0011BA80?Open).

The development of rich media content is also an increasingly important tool in education, both at the primary and secondary levels, and through higher education. An increasing number of schools in Victoria are emphasising new media content creation, through participation in 90.7FM Syn FM (http://www.syn.org.au/) or via ICT integration in the art curriculum (see, e.g. Northland Secondary College; http://www.northland.vic.edu.au/), while the higher education sector has been increasingly exploring the use of streaming technology to deliver educational materials online (see, e.g., http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/media/lectover.html; University of Melbourne Lectures- on-Demand project).

198 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Overall, therefore, the Committee questioned whether the ongoing development of webcasting and streaming technology in the VPS should be an area of infrastructure acquisition by individual organisations, or whether the range of ongoing applications combined with the rapidity of occasional applications might warrant the consideration of a State-wide approach to infrastructure development which would provide for sharing capacity between organisations or the subsidised use of infrastructure by non-profit community or educational organisations.

This can take a number of forms: • Allowing access to a facility from which streams can be provided • Hosting stored content on a server for a third party • Realtime sharing of a server designed or optimised to deliver video (e.g. a fast distributor).

At the level of physical access provision, the Committee observes that the establishment of three or more locations in the Parliament with access to streaming would allow the Parliament to provide this space to other organisations, where this did not come into conflict with the sitting of Parliament.

In the United States, access to streaming and broadcasting services via the Congress is a regular activity (via the C-SPAN network; http://www.c-span.org/). The Congress provides access to its broad- and narrowcasting facilities to public interest groups and political associations to broadcast meetings and speeches of public interest. Given the significant investment in infrastructure required for the Parliament of Victoria to establish a webcasting system, it would appear useful to the Parliament to utilise excess capacity in a similar manner. Of particular interest to the Committee was the facilitation of Local Government meetings online (through sharing centralised servers), and allowing public interest groups access to Committee rooms.

At the more advanced level, there is clear opportunity for streaming servers employed by the Parliament to be shared by other organisations, particularly Victorian Local Governments that have limited resources35. This may be through providing access to a hardware system established specifically for the Parliament of Victoria (at the server or network level), or through a collaborative purchasing arrangement with a commercial provider (the Committee notes that the Scottish Parliament has outsourced its video distribution provision).

Overall, it would appear that the sector would support such an approach. The MAV’s Mr J. Hennessy stated that:

… in terms of practical implementation we probably need a far stronger partnership with the state government in terms of being involved in the planning and design of these programs and trials and not to be brought in at some point after they have been trialled. The state decides what it wants to do and then it tends to involve local government as an afterthought. It would be far more productive to have a whole-of-government approach so we can piggyback off each other. It certainly is not a case of looking for funding; it is a case of being involved in the planning and design stages for some period — 2, 3, 4 or 5 years in

35 In addition, the Executive may find the approach of value, and international examples of using streaming technology for online media briefings and policy announcements have been noted by the Committee (Casey, 1996).

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the future — and each party being aware of what the other party is intending to do and being able to have a partnership. (Minutes of Evidence, 17/02/05, p. 42)

As the use of streaming expands, the Committee has noted that this may be catalytic to the general expansion of broadband uptake and content creation. As Geiselhart and Huta (2003) observe, the appropriate mix of content and infrastructure, supported by government action, can drive an expansion in overall technology uptake in the community:

Raising awareness of these possibilities is one step towards increasing demand, hopefully creating a virtuous circle of content, access, and further digital content development. While these are clearly national issues, a small experiment to stimulate interest in digital content and broadband at the grass roots level has the potential to produce some useful results. (2003)

The point was made to the Committee of the 54th Parliament during its visit to Europe in 2002, by the Municipality of Bollnäs in Sweden, which highlight the relationship between providing information and interactivity, and the responsiveness of citizens to participate via ICTs (Bollnäs Kommun, 2001).

Thus, the Committee considers that the development of Parliamentary webcasting, as one of the most significant applications of this technology in the Public Sector to date in terms of the volume of content, range of stakeholders and necessary issues of legacy system integration and appropriate indexing, should be undertaken in direct co-operation with the OCIO, acting as the oversight for whole-of-governments standards issues. Should the expansion of the use of this technology continue, appropriate participation by the OCIO will allow for: • Effective development of shared service models or joint acquisition and management • Appropriate data collection and project evaluation for knowledge transfer across the VPS.

Recommendation 77

Parliamentary Processes

In addition to the facilitation of information provision by the Parliament, the Committee gave consideration to areas of legislative business in which the use of ICTs could directly improve the operations of the Parliament or enhance the interaction of Parliament and its Committees with members of the public.

200 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

This discussion focuses on two areas: • The use of ICTs to facilitate existing activities of the Parliament of Victoria (electronic voting in chamber, receipt of public petitions online, use of streaming or telecommunications technology to undertake the work of committees) • The use of ICTs to increase the ease of, or knowledge of, consultation and participation processes of the Parliament.

Each area of activity will be addressed in turn. IN-CHAMBER VOTING

The Committee of the 54th Parliament received a submission from Mr T. Plowman MP (Submission No. b4), the Member for Benambra, suggesting the incorporation of electronic voting within the Parliament itself.

Mr Plowman observed that electronic voting had been included in the parliaments of Scotland and Ireland successfully (Houses of the Oireachtas, 2002), with the advantage of increasing the efficiency of parliamentary proceedings, through reducing the necessity for MPs to move around the Chamber to resolve divisions. In addition, it should be noted that a number of legislatures in the United States have employed electronic voting systems, including Michigan, Nevada, as well as Congress.

While there is a wide range of different systems that have been employed to undertake this activity, the essential mechanics of the systems are very similar. Individual MPs have access to a voting system installed in their desk (or at a number of locations in the Chamber if they do not have assigned sitting) which allows them to record affirmative, negative or “not voting” responses to the motion being put by the presiding officer.

A central computer, tabulates these votes with most legislatures including a screen that displays the votes cast as a substitute for the conventional method of determining the vote of a Member, through their position in the Chamber. In addition, many of the systems also include the capacity for votes cast to be placed directly onto the legislature’s website and to be syndicated by other organisations or groups (e.g. http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/).

Current best practice in the introduction of the systems incorporates them within the electronic business-management software employed to manage parliamentary documents and the order of business. Thus, the implementation of chamber-based voting systems normally include: • The development of the voting software • The development of the security component • Hardware development and installation • Integration with existing systems (business management, Internet publishing) • Development of new display hardware (screens) • Adjustment to procedures.

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During the hearings, the Committee did note a number of concerns regarding the use of chamber- based voting systems for Victoria. These concerns were raised by the Speaker, who observed that: • The practice of “party votes” in the Legislative Assembly had been a recent procedural innovation that had been effective in making legislative business more efficient in that chamber • Any system would be complex, as it would require security verification (the entry of a PIN number, physical token or biometric system) • There were concerns about the impact of introducing these systems because of the heritage status of the building and the chambers • The cost of implementation did not justify the implementation overall (J. Maddigan, Minutes of Evidence, 16/02/05, p. 34)

In addition, from experience with the introduction of these systems internationally, it is noted that (Evans, 2004) that the introduction of these systems only becomes effective with large parliaments, ideally with over three hundred members. This is largely due to the cost implications of developing the system, which often necessitates that a large benefit needs to be gained. An example of this is Middlebrook’s observation (2003:8) that electronic voting in the Russian Parliament saves more than fourteen minutes per division.

On the sociological side to introducing this technology, the Committee notes that it does have an impact on the traditions of the Parliament. Former Senator Margaret Reid stated that:

From a time point of view you would say put it in and save time. From a human point of view I see value in doing it the way we do because it's an occasion when you go into the chamber, you're able to perhaps sit with somebody you don't normally sit with from your own party or on occasions the other party when we're voting together and communicate. It's very easy in these nice offices to stay at your desk and work and if you only have to rush out and press a button it's a bit impersonal. The building is built to take electronic voting. It's a matter of the cost of just putting it in and the screens etc. I'm not persuaded that from a human point of view it's the best thing to do. (as quoted in ABC, 1998)

While these problems do exist, the Committee observed that: • The introduction of in-chamber voting systems have been undertaken in similar and older parliaments around the world, and that the introduction need not be ruled out due to heritage issues • Wireless devices may reduce the impact of the technology on the physical integrity of the Parliament, but even “wired” simple voting devices need not require significant changes to the Chamber and could be incorporated through existing conduit and power provided for microphones • The “party vote” mechanism does not eliminate the need for physical divisions (the Legislative Council has not adopted this procedural approach)

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• There has been strong arguments in favour of trialling the system, purely on the basis that time saved in the Chamber would accrue to the benefit of debate (Lundy, 2003; Weinberg, undated:34).

On balance, the Committee turned to Middlebrook’s (2003) conclusions, drawn from her assessment of these technologies around the world, that:

For most legislatures which use electronic voting the technology has improved the overall conduct of business of the House. It is a common view that the electronic system represents a saving in time. The two most positive features of electronic voting that have been reported, are directly related to both proceedings and publication, namely the speeding of the counting and tallying processes and the immediate display of the results both in the Chamber and on the Internet. (2003:10)

Overall, it was the view of the Committee that any savings in time taken to administer divisions would afford the Parliament more time to debate the issues of the day, and provide oversight to the work of Government. Thus, it is the view of the Committee that this approach should be piloted, to determine whether the advantages reported elsewhere can be substantiated in Victoria.

Recommendation 78

In line with the general finding that the interaction between Government and the citizens of Victoria should be facilitated via the strategic use and application of ICTs, the Committee has given consideration to means by which the recommendations of Part III can be emulated or integrated into the work of Parliament. Parliamentary Subscription Service

The first area in which interaction between the Parliament and public can be facilitated using ICTs lies in the capacity of the Parliament to use alert services to appraise the public of the work program of the Parliament, and consultation and participation processes being undertaken by the Parliament.

Given the complexity of legislative processes, which can be confusing even for experienced Members, some legislatures have found it very useful to assist the public in following the progression of legislation via electronic notification and tracking systems. One example is the State of Nevada, for example, which provides a subscription service whereby members of the community can track the progress of Bills through the legislative process (See: http://leg.state.nv.us/72nd/Subscriber/).

The Committee has already noted (see A Victorian Consultation Portal and Notification Service in Part III, p. 172) that the Parliament of Victoria should participate in the recommended State-wide portal for this form of notification system, and the Committee reiterates that the points made in that

203 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee discussion are relevant for the Parliament. In addition, the development of syndicated content publication systems in the Parliament (as outlined above) will allow some members of the public the capacity to develop their own updating news feeds.

It is the view of the Committee that a co-ordinated approach is appropriate, and that the Parliament can become one of the driving agencies in the whole-of-government service offering. The Committee notes that, should the State of Victoria not adopt Recommendation 69, the Parliament should act to develop its own system.

Recommendation 79

A Parliamentary information subscription service should be provided as part of the proposed centralised consultation gateway and subscription service for the whole of the Victorian Government.

Online Petitions: Adoption and Innovation

The act of petitioning Parliament is one of the oldest democratic practices in our system of government, dating from the thirteenth century (Parliament of Victoria, 2004). In the modern era, petitions have been a means by which citizens can express concern or dissatisfaction with the work of an organisation such as a government, but can also include non-government organisations, such as corporations. In the parliamentary context, petitions are a means by which citizens can request action by the government or the Parliament, and indicate the strength of feeling in the community through the number of signatories collected.

Traditionally, petitions have been regulated by the Standing Orders of the Victorian Parliament with regard to the format by which they should be presented, use of wording and the method by which petitions are presented to the Parliament. In practical terms, the capacity for concerned citizens to establish a petition and collect signatures tends to be limited only by the physical process of drawing up a petition and distributing it for the collection of signatures. Sometimes a petition is simply distributed within the membership of a group or organisation in which the area of concern is specific, on other occasions petitions are placed in public spaces where general members of the community can access them.

While recognising that petitions are currently facilitated through the Parliamentary website by the provision of detailed information and template documents for their creation, the Committee finds that ICTs can be beneficial in increasing the distribution of petitions, particularly where the individual or organisation who has initiated the petition has limited resources.

A number of domestic and international jurisdictions have introduced online petitions systems, including: • Queensland (http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/EPetitions_QLD/HTML/) • Tasmania (http://210.8.42.131/epetitions_tas_assembly/HTML/EPetitions.htm)36 • Scotland (http://epetitions.scottish.parliament.uk/)

36 Largely modelled on the Queensland system following a report of the Joint Select Committee of the Parliament of Tasmania in 2004.

204 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy with the objective of increasing access to the petitioning process.

In addition, a number of non-government websites have been established which allow petitions to be set up independently of government or parliament for a similar purpose (e.g. http://www.petitiononline.com/), and some Local Governments have adopted a similar system for their constituents (Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, http://epetitions.kingston.gov.uk/list_petitions.asp).

The Committee recognises and accepts the advantage provided by allowing petitions to be collected online. However, it is also recognised that the ease of access to online petitions can allow their misuse in a number of ways; for example: • The generation of large numbers of frivolous or vexatious petitions • The creation of petitions which fail to meet existing standards for tabling within the Parliament; for example, violation of rules regarding appropriate language contained within the petition • Fraudulent use of the petition system, such as the inclusion of non-existent persons, or signing for a third party.

In order to take advantage of the benefits offered by online petitions, the Queensland Parliament has introduced a procedure and online form to ensure that online petitions are administered in a way that is compatible with the conventional principles governing Parliamentary petitions, as well as to provide a means by which the principal petitioner or subsequent signatories can promote the online petition (Queensland Parliament, 2002).

Evidence from Queensland indicates that the online petition has been popular with residents and electors of the State (receiving 9,975 signatures on thirty-six petitions in the period August 2002 to April 2004; Hogan, Cook and Henderson, 2004:7), and the Committee regards this model as valuable in providing both the advantages of accessibility and safeguards against misuse.

In addition, the appropriate collection of petitioner information via online forms allows the administration of petitions (such as cross-verification of signatories against the electoral roll and introducing means to limit fraudulent signatories being added to the petition; Johnston, 2004) to be automated to the greatest possible extent, reducing the cost of administering this democratic practice.

Evidence from Scotland is also promising, with the Scottish Parliament reporting (Johnston, 2004):

19 e-petitions have been lodged on a number of issues ranging from supporting an investigation into Scottish football, Broadband for all of Scotland by 2005 and support for a global campaign for education. The most successful in terms of signatories has been a e- petition calling for an investigation into the relocation of Scottish Natural Heritage which collected around 2250 signatures and 25 comments. E-petitions have attracted signatures from as far a field as Barbados, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, Taiwan and Australia.

Online petitions can also allow for the capture of optional information, such as petitioners’ email addresses, and “opt in” approvals to be notified of the status of the petition, such as its final date of tabling and final number of signatories, and the response made by government to the petition.

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The Committee considers that this “active” approach to managing the petition process has a number of advantages, in that it allows citizens who have signed petitions to be informed about the results of their political participation and the specific response made by the Government. Clearly, the collection of personal information in this way requires adherence to the Information Privacy Act 2000, with specific consideration of: • The use and disclosure of personal information, particularly as it relates to the political preferences of individuals • The retention of this data, with specific emphasis on deleting data following the distribution of a response to the petition from the Government.

In addition to this level of interactivity, the Parliament of Scotland has incorporated within its electronic petitioning system an online discussion component, which is moderated by staff of the Public Petitions Committee. As indicated in the discussion of the use of ICTs for consultation and collaboration in Part III, the facilitation of citizen-to-citizen public debate regarding political issues is viewed by the Committee as a positive addition to democratic practice and the level of political engagement and awareness of Victorians.

The advantages of adding a discussion feature to the petitioning process would be: • The general and diffused benefits of increasing public discourse around political and policy issues, with general benefits to individuals’ level of understanding and engagement with the political process • Provision of additional information and debate surrounding the merits of each particular petition, providing potential signatories with more information than that provided by the principal petitioner in the drafting of their petition • Increased information regarding each petition that is available to third parties, such as individual MPs, the media (emphasising the agenda-setting role petitions can play), and government policymakers and implementers.

The introduction of online petitions would require a change to the Standing Orders (ch. 7 for the Legislative Assembly, ch. 17 for the Legislative Council), to provide for the recognition of electronic signatures. Under current legislation enacted by the Victorian Parliament, the Electronic Transactions Act 2000, the Parliament has already recognised that electronic indications have necessitated recognition of legal transactions in which conventional signatures cannot be provided. Based upon the principles articulated in section 9 of this Act, the Parliament could recognise an electronic petition in which the signatories had indicated their approval for the motion to be presented to the Parliament. This section states that the requirement for a signature can be met on an electronic document where:

A method is used to identify the person and to indicate the person's approval of the information communicated

Finally, the Committee notes that the creation of a system that allows the technology to be shared with other organisations, and particularly with the Local Government sector in Victoria, would appear to be a logical approach in assisting the joint development of the software and encouraging the participative approach of petitioning across the levels of government in Victoria.

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In evidence presented by the Speaker, the Committee notes that the Parliament of Queensland has offered to share its software with Victoria (J. Maddigan, Minutes of Evidence, 16/02/05, p. 34), and the Committee considers a process whereby this technology may be collaboratively developed in an OSS environment would provide many benefits to the Parliament of Victoria, and its wider governance environment.

Recommendation 80 The Parliament of Victoria should introduce an online petitions facility on a trial basis, subject to ongoing evaluation as to the benefits offered to Victorians. The Victorian online petition system should include a moderated discussion facility, similar to that provided by the Scottish Parliament. • This system should be developed in open source, if possible, with access to the code available (at minimum) to the Local Government sector in Victoria.

In making this recommendation, the Committee is cognisant that the extension of “feedback” capabilities to electronic petitioning is an advantage to those who contribute to paper petitions. At present, the signatories of paper petitions are not directly contacted by the Parliament to inform them of the status of their petition. While the distribution of large amounts of paper mail to signatories may not be feasible, the Committee considers that the capacity to respond to email addresses or via SMS, if this contact information were captured on paper petitions, would be a useful approach to further engaging signatories in the Parliamentary process.

This would require the modification of the existing petition templates to capture additional contact information as well as the current physical address of the signatory. In addition, the Parliament may consider valuable the introduction of optical character-recognition scanning to assist in the management of paper petitions. The capture of email/SMS telephone numbers and postal addresses would allow for the automatic generation of response information from Parliament as to the status of the petition.

Recommendation 81 The Parliamentary template for paper petitions should be amended to allow for optional collection of email addresses or other electronic means of communication, in order to allow the petitioner to receive information about the status and tabling of their petition from the Parliament. • The Parliament should pilot a postal feedback system.

Given recommendations about the adoption of industrial scanning equipment by the VEC for the conduct of elections in Part III, the Committee notes that collaboration between the Parliament and VEC on this matter would possibly be a useful collaborative approach in this particular area of democratic administration. THE WORK OF COMMITTEES

Outside of the petitioning process, the Committee system of the Parliament of Victoria – like its counterparts around the world – has developed into one of the most active institutional areas of public engagement and interaction of the legislature. During the Inquiry, the Committee was at

207 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee pains to experiment with a number of new technologies, as well as seek input from experts and practitioners around the world about best practice technologies for investigating committees.

The Committee has identified three specific areas where the work of Victorias Committees could be extended using ICTs: • As a conduit for consultative and participative processes • As the source of new forms of evidence and information • To facilitate communication between Members of Parliament. Parliament and Online Consultation

As indicated in the discussion of online consultation in Part III of this report, the Committee considers the introduction of online consultation to be a valuable part of all consultation processes, in Government and particularly in Parliament. The Parliament, as a key interface between the public and the legislative and administrative processes, can be afforded clear benefits in harnessing the views and information of the public to guide its investigations and to assist in informed decision making.

It is the expectation of the Committee that the Parliament of Victoria will be a leader in the introduction of, experimentation with, and evaluation of online consultation processes and techniques.

As Professor S. Coleman reported, the House of Commons in the United Kingdom has been highly involved in online consultations, through its investigating committees (2004:2). This work has served to raise the profile of this approach, but more importantly had positive impacts on policy development processes. Professor Coleman stated that:

… in the case of [the online consultation process on domestic violence], a summary of the consultation was presented to the Minister for Women, Tessa Jowell, and the chair of the All-Party Group on Domestic Violence, Margaret Moran MP, has raised issues from the consultation in parliamentary questions to the Prime Minister and other Ministers. Some of the evidence given in the online consultation appears to have raised Government concerns about child contact arrangements where there are violent fathers. It is hard to resist the conclusion that some of the powerful experiences related by women, particularly about the effects of domestic violence upon their children, will do more to stimulate policy action in this area than traditional campaigning could have done. (Coleman, 2004:14)

The Committee finds that any means by which the Parliament can improve and expand its interactions with citizens, and – as in the case with the Canadian consultation on disability pensions and the United Kingdom consultation on domestic violence – expand participation to groups traditionally under-represented, must be investigated as a matter of priority. The Canadian Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (2003) concluded from its online consultation that:

The broad range of Canadians who responded to our e-consultation – all types of life experiences, age, gender, occupations and geographic location – clearly indicates that this process reached a good cross-section of individuals and advocacy groups with and interest in the [Disabilities Pension] program. (2003:10)

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However, the Committee notes that the introduction of online consultation toolsets by the Parliamentary administrative services will not “jump start” a new era of civic engagement between the Parliament and public. In evidence gathered in discussion with Ms B. Whittaker, Procedural Clerk of the Canadian Federal Parliament, the use of online consultation techniques required considerable commitment of resources. This was not simply to develop and maintain the supporting web infrastructure for the consultation process, but also to support Committee Members through the aggregation, classification and summation of submissions received.

On this subject, Mr Richard Allan MP of the House of Commons, noted that the introduction of online consultation has had an impact on the work of MPs, who need to adjust their working approach accordingly. Mr Allan stated (quoted in Coleman, 2004:12):

Time management is at the heart of everything. If we do not crack the question of our working arrangements, if we do not sit down and look at how do we prioritise our time – does it need to change, should it be different in 2002, from how it was in 1952 – then I am not sure we will take full advantage of opportunities like this. Our workload in all the other areas is not decreasing but increasing and that is the biggest problem of it all. You cannot fit more in to a working day unless you change the whole culture or put the extra resources. The difficulty for MPs who are asked to participate in an online consultation is to balance 13 between new consultation methods, like this, and the traditional ones.

Thus, the Committee observes that the process of implementation of online consultation specifically – and greater use of ICTs in general – will take time to develop, through refining the approaches used, and also through the process of education for MPs. Therefore, it is clear to the Committee that the Parliament will need to consider the best means to assist MPs in using ICTs to increase their productivity, and demonstrate how the use of ICTs expands the reach of MPs into the community without sacrificing other forms of personal interaction with the public.

The Committee feels that this is an area in which the reasonable investment of public resources provides a clear benefit to democratic outcomes. As Mr N. Pastalatzis stated:

There should be greater public involvement in the deliberations of committees. If that requires further investment in technology, that [is] a legitimate use of public resources. (Submission No. a17, p. 2)

Recommendation 82

The Parliamentary commitment to the introduction of information and communication technology enabled consultation and participation processes must be matched with a tangible investment in staff, training, tools and promotional resources.

The Committee notes, that at present, the Canadian Crossing Boundaries Democratic Renewal Working Group and the Commonwealth Centre for e-Governance are both looking at projects to explore ways to improve the productivity of elected representatives via ICT use, and recommends to the Parliament that close scrutiny of the outcomes of these research projects is warranted.

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Audio–video Records as Evidence

During the course of the Inquiry, the Committee used a range of technologies as part of its meetings with key informants, and to facilitate meetings. During this process, in addition to Minutes of Evidence and submissions received, the Committee captured a large amount of audio and video material.

In discussions of the Committee with Mr M. Tricarico, the Deputy Clerk of the Legislative Council, it was clear that the collection of material in these formats, particularly that collected outside of the State of Victoria or through electronic means, does not currently fit within current definitions of “evidence” as employed by the Parliament, and does not attract the protection of Privilege.

While the Committee was comfortable in collecting this information as research materials, this matter did raise two questions for the Committee of relevance to the future work of Committees using modern technology: • The extension of Privilege to activities within Victoria only • The capacity to collect Privileged evidence via audio- or video-conferencing facility.

The protection of witnesses before a Committee is provided by section 19A of the Constitution Act 1975, which is clear in stating that:

No action shall be maintainable against any witness who has given evidence, whether on oath or otherwise, under the authority of this Act, for or in respect of any defamatory words spoken by him while giving such evidence.

The Committee notes an inconsistency in the way in which evidence is treated via different media forms. While material provided by email or postal service (submissions) is afforded the protection of Privilege regardless of the location of the author, audio-visual material is not similarly protected. This appears to be problematic, though the Committee does note circumstances in which the Committee receiving the material may be: • Concerned for the legal status of the provider (such as their risk of legal or extra legal prosecution in their jurisdiction of residence) • Suspicious of the identity of the source of the information (and thus prefer a physical document, or attendance at a hearing).

In these cases, however, the Committee considers that the appropriate approach is to devolve these determinations to the investigating committee, which should be able to make these assessments in consultation with its staff and the Clerk.

The capacity for Parliamentary committees to use high-quality audio and video conferencing and for Members whose electorates are remote from Melbourne to use desktop webcasting as part of the evidence-collection process has been demonstrated in the work of the electronic democracy Inquiry, with the Committee successfully – and with a considerable cost saving to the people of Victoria – receiving briefings remotely from a number of key witnesses. This took place on a number of occasions during the electronic democracy Inquiry, including:

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• While in the United States, bad weather caused the cancellation of a flight from New York to Ottawa, Canada, which prevented the Committee from attending a number of meetings in that city. However, each of the intended meetings was conducted via teleconferencing • Rather than fly the Electoral Commissioner and his deputy to Melbourne to brief the Committee on the Australian Capital Territory’s electronic voting system, a commercial videoconferencing facility was used to allow the Committee to meet with the interlocutors – a convenience for the Committee and the Electoral Commissioner of the Australian Capital Territory • Information was collected from an international witnesses via telephone to reduce the costs of the delegation to North America.

The Committee notes that the issue of using audio- and video-conferencing facilities for the collection of Privileged evidence by Victorian Parliamentary committees has already been considered. During the 54th Parliament, SARC noted that:

15.10 The Committee discussed whether audio or audio visual links should be used to conduct formal meetings, particularly for the purpose of taking oral evidence. Both advantages and disadvantages in allowing Parliamentary committees to make use of such technology were identified.

Advantages include— • evidence could be obtained from witnesses outside Melbourne where Parliamentary Committees usually meet, thus reducing travel expenses for either committee members or witnesses; • the time taken by committees to gather evidence in the course of an inquiry could be reduced; • a broader range of members of the community could be involved in a committee's inquiry. Disadvantages include— • lack of face-to face interaction which may lead to a perception that members are not interested issues outside the metropolitan area; • those members of the community who do not have access to new technologies may feel marginalised; • the possibility that evidence given in private is not secure; • in relation to witness who are not physically present, uncertainty regarding the operation of section 19A of the Constitution Act 1975 which allows committees to administer oaths. (SARC, 2002c)

In essence, the practice of taking evidence via ICT is prevented by uncertainty around two areas: • Questions about the capacity to administer the oath under 19A of the Constitution Act 1975

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• The capacity to conduct a properly convened meeting of a Parliamentary Committee under the existing terms of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003 (see Committee Meetings with Remote Participation of Members, below, p. 213)

On the first matter, the Committee notes that the Constitution Act 1975 states in section 19A:

(3) Any committee may administer an oath to the witnesses examined before such committee.

…

(5) Any oath or affirmation taken or made by any witness before any other committee may be administered by—

(a) the chairperson of the committee; or

(b) the clerk attending the committee; or

(c) a member of a Joint Investigatory Committee or sub-committee of a Joint Investigatory Committee within the meaning of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003 empowered to take evidence under that Act.

Thus, the Committee notes that the “uncertainty” identified by the SARC of 54th Parliament focuses on the notion of “before”. The Committee proposes the insertion of words to the effect of:

“Where the witness is appearing before a committee through the means of a telecommunications or like service, that the oath or affirmation be administered only at the discretion of the Committee, as determined by a unanimous vote.”

This would appear to directly resolve this issue, while providing safeguards against the misuse of remote evidence collection where risk exists to the Committee or witness. In addition, the Committee notes that investigating Committees of the Parliament currently have the capacity to receive evidence electronically, and that this is similarly based on a determination of the Committee by way of a vote.

Recommendation 83 Committees of the Parliament should be authorised to take evidence by electronic means and recognise recordings of these meetings as evidence when taken by a constituted Committee (with quorum). This includes: • The submission of evidence via email and instant messaging • The collection of evidence via telephone or like service • Use of videoconferencing facilities. This authorisation should not extend where: • The respective Committee has resolved not to accept evidence provided electronically as a general determination of the Committee

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Recommendation 83 -– continued • The Committee feels it will not be able to verify the identity of a witness using electronic communications technology • There is the possibility that “in-camera” confidential evidence will be presented.

However, the Committee notes that, in making this recommendation, the Committee regards the provision of evidence in person as generally preferable. An example of the need for caution would be where a witness, upon initiating their evidence via an insecure video linkage (such as IM client) indicates that they wish a portion to be taken in-camera. In this case, the proceedings would be interrupted as the witness travelled to the Committee to provide this information in the secure environment of the Parliament.

Overall, the Committee considers that the minor amendment to section 19A of the Constitution Act 1975 would resolve ambiguity, while providing a safeguard against misuse. The overall advantage to the people and Parliament of Victoria – the efficient and expedient administrative of routine matters of inquiry – provide a clear justification for adopting a practice increasingly common in professional circles.

The Committee notes that issues of Privilege for those giving evidence outside of the State of Victoria remains problematic, as per the discussion in Parliamentary Privilege Concerns and Narrowcasting (above). This reiterates the need for reciprocal recognition of Privilege throughout Australia (which should be introduced by early 2006). As an interim measure, and as a guide to general practice, administrative steps would need to be taken to protect witnesses appearing via electronic means, such as: • Ensuring witnesses were provided with, or were using, remote facilities that guaranteed their privacy and security • Informing witnesses of the legal implications of participation in their jurisdiction.

Thus, while there may be a range of situations in which the use of electronic communications by Committees is inappropriate, the Committee regards the use of these technologies for routine or non-controversial evidence collection as providing benefits to witnesses and the MPs, in terms of lower costs of participation. Committee Meetings with Remote Participation of Members

In recommending the use of webcasting, teleconferencing and/or videoconferencing for the collection of evidence, the Committee also observes that there are few technical barriers to allowing Committees of the Parliament to conduct business using these technologies. Allowing a meeting to be conducted via ICT would be of benefit where: • Matters are urgent and a quorum is difficult to establish due to the absence of one or more MPs • Parliament is not sitting and MPs are at a distance from Melbourne • A MP is physically incapacitated, has carer’s duties or has been detained • The matter is so minor as not to justify the physical travel of MPs.

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This matter was supported by the Members of the Rural and Regional Services and Development Committee (RRSDC) of the Parliament of Victoria, who note the considerable cost to Members associated with travel for routine Committee business. The RRSDC’s submission notes:

The Rural and Regional Services and Development Committee is comprised of seven Members, all of whom represent rural and regional electorates. Members are required to travel for up to five hours to attend Committee meetings, which may only be of a short duration (ie. between one and two hours) relative to travel time. Whilst Members’ attendance at Committee meetings and hearings has, to date, been consistently high, it has necessitated Members sacrificing many hours in travel time that could otherwise be applied to electorate or other activities. The Committee is therefore keen to explore alternatives which would enable them to meet their Committee obligations without undue impact on other duties and commitments. Teleconferencing and videoconferencing have been suggested as possibilities. (Submission No. a33, p. 1)

The Committee observes that precedent for this approach exists, and in some circumstances it has been acceptable for committees to take votes by facsimile – for minor matters. Thus, the general question of remote participation in Committee processes has already been resolved in the affirmative. The Committee notes that the Parliament of Western Australia and the Australian Senate both permit the conduct of meetings via electronic means, with the Senate permitting a range of technologies to constitute an electronic meeting, and the Parliament of Western Australia focusing on video-conferencing facilities.

In the view of the Procedure and Privileges Committee of the Parliament of Western Australia, this approach for deliberative meetings is appropriate:

A committee member, when using video-conferencing from a remote location as a method to attend a deliberative meeting or hearing, will be counted as part of that committee’s quorum. If members can participate fully, there is no reason not to count them for quorum purposes or to enable them to move motions and to vote. A chairman of a committee will need to be careful to ensure that a member attending by video-conference has an equal opportunity with other members to participate. (Procedure and Privileges Committee, 2003:4)

In addition, as per the discussion in Audio-Video Records as Evidence, above, the SARC of the 54th Parliament has already made explicit comment on this matter in its 2002 Report. The report states that:

15.11 The Committee also considered the appropriateness of conducting meetings held for the purposes of committee deliberation where all or some of the members were linked by electronic means. Section 4G(2) of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1968 provides a Joint Investigatory Committee may only sit and transact business in such places in Victoria or elsewhere as are convenient for the proper and speedy dispatch of business. The quorum requirements for the various committees are set out in section 4B of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1968.

15.12 Under the common law, a meeting required the physical presence of members. Thus in Higgins v. O'Grady [1971] IAS Current Review 65 it was held that resolutions purportedly passed by telephone hook-up were invalid. A body, however, could include a provision in

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its governing rules authorising the holding of a meeting by telephone. However, it was held in the New South Wales Supreme Court case of Wagner v. International Health Promotions Pty Ltd (1994) 15 ACSR 419 that the phrase “meet together” in a company's articles included a meeting of minds made possible by modern technology.

15.13 The Committee notes that all committees of the Senate may meet “electronically”, without members being physically present in one place. It seems to the Committee that there is nothing in the Parliamentary Committees Act 1968 that would necessarily prohibit Parliamentary committees in Victoria from meeting electronically. However, to put this beyond doubt, the Committee is of the opinion that it should be directly expressed in an Act dealing with Parliamentary committees that committees may meet electronically. (SARC, 2002c)

Thus, given support for this approach, the Committee gave consideration to barriers that might prevent the use of ICTs to facilitate the business of Victorian Parliamentary committees. In hearings, the President of the Legislative Council, Ms M. Gould, MLC stated that:

This would also require legislative amendments because under the Constitution Act [1975] a committee is required to meet in a room and form a quorum whereas committees in other jurisdictions are established with standing orders, not legislation. (Minutes of Evidence, 16/02/05, p. 33)

This specific prohibition appears to be located in the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, which states that (ss23-25):

23. Quorum (1) The quorum of a Joint Investigatory Committee is a majority of the members appointed to it. (2) A quorum of a Joint Investigatory Committee must not consist exclusively of members of the Council or the Assembly.

24. Voting by members (1) A question arising at a meeting of a Joint Investigatory Committee must be determined by a majority of votes of members present and voting on that question.

25. Sittings (1) Subject to sub-sections (2) and (3), a Joint Investigatory Committee may sit and transact business— (a) at times (including times when either House of the Parliament is not actually sitting); and (b) in places in Victoria or elsewhere— that are convenient for the proper and speedy dispatch of business. (2) If a House of the Parliament is actually sitting, a Joint Investigatory Committee must not sit— (a) except by leave of the House; and

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(b) in any place, other than a place that is within the Parliamentary precincts.

(3) Business may only be transacted at a meeting of a Joint Investigatory Committee if a quorum is present.

Here the focus in the legislation is the concept of “presence”. Thus, to bring finality to the recommendation of the SARC of the 54th Parliament (15.13), and the view of the Committee that electronic meetings be facilitated in for committees of the Victorian Parliament, the Committee notes that an amendment to the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003 is required to the effect of:

“That a committee, through unanimous vote, is able to constitute itself with one or more remote Members participating via a telecommunications or like service.”

It is the view of the Committee that, in practice, Committees should act on this power with due caution, and favour the physical attendance of Members where possible. The Committee observes, however, the use of the unanimous vote as a safeguard against misuse, and that: • Clear guidance be provided to committees about acceptable practice in this area • Emphasis be given to the exceptional nature of the use of these meeting procedures prior to the development of experience with them • Care be taken to emphasise the use of a range of technologies, but also to focus on technological use that does not exclude another Member (such as the use of a single telephone line, which prevents a second caller) • Clear guidance on the need for committees to adopt a resolution on the use of electronic meetings prior to the first meeting.

Recommendation 84 The Parliamentary Committees Act 2003 should be amended to permit the constitution of Committee meetings with Members participating by audio or video link where: • The quality of this link is such that Members of the Committee attending physically can verify the identity of the absent Member. • The participation of one Member remotely does not prevent the participation of another via a similar means (multiple participation by Members remotely). • The Committee has resolved unanimously to permit the use of these technologies for Committee business.

Information Technology and Members of Parliament

In the final area of consideration in this part of the report, the Committee notes that discussion of questions of public engagement by the Parliament of Victoria must also give consideration to the use of ICTs by individual Parliamentarians. Members of Parliament, acting as individuals, serve as an important conduit of public concerns into the Parliament, Committee processes and the Parliamentary Party they represent.

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The Committee, therefore, considers that the use of technology to support the communications of Members is important to the performance of the Victorian democratic system, and the use of ICTs that make the work of MPs more efficient, or broadens the reach of MPs, represents a worthwhile investment. MEMBERS’ PERSONAL WEBSITES

The first area of consideration is the publication online of information by Members. Websites have been used by MPs around the world for many years, first as a means of demonstrating their technological literacy and awareness, and then as a means to communicate with a growing online constituency. The range of applications for web publishing is broad, from simple “brochure” websites that provide contact details, through blogs, to very comprehensive sites that might include interactive elements, consultation tools, multimedia and fundraising functions.

Based on the most recent comparative research into the existence of MPs’ websites (Table 23, below), the Committee notes that Victoria, in which approximately forty-four percent of MPs provide websites performs comparatively well, but is under-represented when compared with MPs of Westminster or legislators in the United States, where the use of websites of some form is a near-universal phenomenon. Table 23: MPs’ Websites – Comparative Figures November 2003 December 2004 Jurisdiction Total Percentage of MPs Total Percentage of MPs websites with a website websites with a website Westminster (HoC) 389 64 % 499 76 % Scottish Parliament 48 38 % 75 58 % Welsh Assembly 22 44 % 30 50 % Australian Parliament (Reps) 72 48 % 90 60 % Victoria Assembly 39 44 % 45 51 % Queensland Assembly 10 11 % 12 13 % Source: Ward, Lusoli and Gibson, 2004

However, while the existence of MPs websites in Victoria is modest, this is no indication of their quality. In particular, the Committee notes that MPs’ websites that have appeal display the following characteristics (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2003; Congress Online Project, 2003; Coleman, 2001; Steinberg, 2001): • Information is up-to-date • The site has a clean and crisp appearance, with links to information highlighted • The site provides a consistent menu system with ease of navigation • The site provides “standard” navigation tools (search engine, site map, index) • Content provided is relevant to the user, with different types of users considered in the design • News and current issues are provided on the main page • Relevant local information is provided, possibly through syndication • There is a customisable subscription and/or syndication service.

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And, given the focus of previous discussions in the report, their compliance to a minium level of WCAG would be expected for representatives of the community.

However, it is unclear that these “best-practice” elements are being met. From evidence presented by Mr G. Young of the National Forum, a provider of website design and management services for MPs, there are real problems with the expectation that Members will meet these criteria. Mr Young observed:

Our experience is that most Members of Parliament have adequate hardware resources, but lack adequate tools for building and maintaining websites and their content, and for using the web and email for interaction with constituents. (Submission No. a23, p. 25)

Given the modest level of resources available to Members, it is clear that the majority of Victorian MPs have not elected to invest in websites. The Committee regards this level of uptake to date as problematic, and has given consideration to means to address the deficit. While the National Forum (p. 26) proposed the extension of resources for Members to acquire a centralised content management solution, either through a provider like the National Forum or on the Parliamentary website, the Committee is of the opinion that this approach is not appropriate at this time for two reasons.

First, the use of a single commercial or non-profit provider would limit the degree of options available to Members in the design and maintenance of their online information. Given that the political application of websites and online interactive technologies is formative, the Committee regards a more “messy” process of experimentation as appropriate.

Second, while the Parliament already provides each Member with a biographical page, which could be expanded, the clear desire for MPs to have control (as per the discussion above) combined with the political use of these websites for party related partisan activities, makes the Parliamentary website an inappropriate location.

In the United States, the clear distinction between official websites and “campaign” sites is mandated by campaign financing laws and is (generally) strictly adhered to, with the two websites strictly separated – by law – in terms of content, but also without linkages between them. The Committee does not regard this approach as strictly necessary, and the Victorian Parliamentary Handbook online does provide a link to MPs’ personal websites. This approach appears to be appropriate and adequate in maintaining the distinction between content published by the Parliament, and content published by the Member.

The Committee observes, however, that this desire for independent publishing by Members does act as a barrier to further adoption of personal websites that support the work of MPs. While the Committee would feel that most Members should have some form of online presence, the slow uptake to date does necessitate a stronger system of incentive and assistance for those Members who have limited staff and personal experience with using new technologies. Thus, the Committee feels that a modest, targeted funding allocation for Members to establish an online presence would be appropriate at this time.

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In addition, the Committee notes that, through this specific-purpose funding mechanism, the Parliament can provide each Member establishing a website with advice as to: • Elements considered “best practice” (as per above) • Suggested management strategies • Appropriate advice about promotion and use of the site for citizen engagement • Details of the legalities of maintaining the site.

With regard to the last point, the Committee has noted evidence from the United Kingdom where MPs have registered domain names that specify them as Members of Parliament (for example http://www.jimfitzpatrickmp.co.uk)37, in violation of electoral laws requiring MPs not to use the title following the dissolution of Parliament (McCarthy, 2005). While the electoral laws are different in Victoria, the provision of relevant regulatory information to Members, including details of the appropriate use of the Internet under Part 9 of the Electoral Act 2002, would be of value to MPs.

Recommendation 85 The Parliament should provide Members with a specific funding allocation for the establishment of a personal website. This funding should be provided with guidance from the Parliamentary webmaster regarding: • Issues of accessibility • Means to select an appropriate provider (including means to manage online content efficiently and with minimal technical expertise) • Best practices regarding the syndication of content through the Member’s site (including Parliamentary information and information from third parties). USE OF NON-STANDARD OPERATING ENVIRONMENT APPLICATIONS

Given the identified need for Members to increase their capacity to engage with members of the public using a range of technologies, the Committee also identified a requirement for a more flexible approach in the Parliament to the management of desktop applications. At present, the IT Unit of the Parliament of Victoria provides an excellent service to Members, ensuring they receive a secure, reliable service.

Part of this approach has been to ensure a high level of security for Parliamentary systems, by “locking down” the use of application software on computers used by MPs and their electoral staff. This approach ensures that: • Software used by MPs and their staff has been vetted by the Parliament, and conforms to the needs of the Parliament and the capacity of Information Technology staff to support its use • The software is secure, that risks (security vulnerabilities) have been mitigated, and where new vulnerabilities are identified, these can be managed in a systematic manner

37 Currently three members of the Victorian Parliament use a similar domain address nomenclature.

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• Licensing of software can be undertaken on an institutional basis, ensuring appropriate management of the process, and cost savings over individual acquisition.

This approach has established what is called the Standard Operating Environment (SOE) of the Parliament of Victoria, and is common practice in most large organisations that have concern for security and effective IT management procedures. In addition, a process exists for the approval and acquisition of software outside of the SOE; however, the Committee notes that it is not generally well known to Members, and tends to focus on risk mitigation.

The Committee observes that proposals to encourage greater engagement using ICTs by individual Members will place pressure on this approach and that the current management practice for non-SOE application approval and support may prevent or limit initiatives of individual Members to engage elements of the Community. The range of activities that this will facilitate is large, and depends on the needs of the MP and their constituency. Examples would include: • Interaction between MPs and younger Victorians via IM (as has been undertaken in Queensland) • The creation of audio or video presentations from the MP’s desktop environment (as undertaken by Richard Ottaway MP in the United Kingdom; http://www.richardottaway.com/webcast_hi.htm).

The Committee notes that issues associated with some of these technologies, particularly around security (IM presents a range of difficulties in this area) and platform stability (video streaming or processing can present difficulties, particularly where software is associated with consumer-level cameras), but that these concerns can be managed and should be mitigated through a clear management process that has as its focus the objective of securing a technology system that allows MPs to achieve the objectives of extending the reach of information they place online, and interacting with citizens.

Recommendation 86

The Information Technology Unit of the Parliament of Victoria should develop and publicise a clear application and approval process for non-Standard Operating Environment applications. EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN POLITICIANS AND THE PUBLIC

Email remains, and is likely to continue to remain for some time, a key element of the communications toolset of politicians and elected representatives. While collecting evidence on the use of new technologies by elected representatives overseas, the Committee spent some time discussing email issues with a number of organisations in North America.

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During this delegation, the Committee determined that email is likely to remain a highly popular tool for elected representatives and those seeking public office, as it permits fast, customised correspondence with large groups of people, allowing the distribution of multimedia content and quick access to online content, and can be managed through Contact Management Systems (from discussions with Virginia Bramante and Chuck Holmgren, Crossroad Strategies in the United States). Email is specifically employed for political purposes to: • Act as a substitute for conventional letters • Act as a promotional tool, particularly for supporters and donors, and as a replacement for fax lists for media releases • As a means for fund raising, particularly where integrated with an online donations gateway • As a means to co-ordinate and recruit volunteers, particularly where political campaigning must cover a large physical territory, or where the candidate has limited financial resources.

The Committee observed that, while there were a number of much more sophisticated applications of email overseas (particularly around integration with mailing lists and its use for micro- fundraising), there appears to be no significant difference between international use of email and that commonly found in Victoria. Differences tended to be that of scale, rather than general application.

In considering the way in which email supports or undermines the democratic process, the Committee made careful consideration of submissions that addressed this application. The Inquiry received a submission from Mr K. Beck (Submission No. a31) which focused on the quality of MPs’ use of email. Mr Beck observed that: • MPs may be unwilling to reply to email from the public that is not from their immediate constituents • Members’ expertise with new technologies may be low • Members’ are often unaware that email can be tracked, with non-responses on issues logged and interpreted as lack of interest in the issue • Multiple emails are forwarded to Ministers on the same issue, or the redirection of emails is undertaken without due regards to the breadth of the issue • Some email replies are of low quality or lack content • The use of automatic email filtering is inappropriate for MPs. (Submission no. a31, pp. 2-3)

While aspects of these concerns were deemed relevant to the Inquiry, particularly with regard to the use of technology by Members to manage their communications flow, the Committee did not feel that it is the role of the Parliament to ensure or guarantee that Members respond to email, or the substantive nature of the correspondence that they send. While some of these issues may be improved through increasing the information literacy of MPs, the Committee notes that there are in place resources for Victorian MPs and their staff to gain access to IT skills training as part of

221 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee organisational support and allowances provided to MPs through the Parliament. Thus, the Committee is specifically focused on technical issues surrounding the use of email by MPs, and policy and regulatory issues surrounding the political application of the technology. SPAM

SPAM represents a growing problem for all Internet users. The prevalence of unsolicited and unwanted (irrelevant) email (“SPAM”) will continue to be a problem for users of the Internet, and will continue to incur costs to those wishing to maintain a highly visible online presence (e.g. those who publish their email address widely). This is of considerable importance to MPs, whose email addresses are often widely publicised and who generally wish to encourage contact from constituents via email.

While estimations of the extent of the problem, and its impact on users, vary, the report of the NOIE into the problem of SPAM considered that twenty to thirty-five percent of all email was SPAM in 2003, with this rising to fifty percent in 2005 (NOIE, 2003a:9). Since SPAM consumes bandwidth to transmit, and time to vet and remove, it represents a cost to email users that has been expanding over time.

In 2003 the Commonwealth introduced legislation to regulate the distribution of unwanted email, the Spam Act 2003. Under the Commonwealth’s constitutional powers over telecommunications services, this new legislation makes it an offence to send or cause to be sent “unsolicited commercial electronic messages” that have an “Australian link”. In this context, an Australian link indicates that the email was sent from, or commissioned from Australia, or has an address accessed in Australia. The Spam Act 2003 also covers other electronic communications (SMS, MMS and IM of a commercial nature). Political SPAM

The limitations of this legislation to cover non-commercial SPAM were apparent during the 2004 national election campaign, during which significant criticism was drawn when a company undertook to send mass electronic mail on behalf of the Prime Minister of Australia to people in this electorate (AAP, 2005). In this case the ACA – as regulator – determined that no laws were violated and questions have been asked about whether the Spam Act 2003 is sufficient.

In evidence presented to the Committee, the Privacy Commissioner, Mr P. Chadwick, made reference to remarks by his Irish counterpart on this issue. The Privacy Commissioner noted that: • There is often a belief that politicians should not be allowed (by an agency like the Privacy Commissioner’s office) to contact members of the public without prior solicitation • This problem is related to a lack of awareness by members of the public that political parties have access to the electoral roll, or because they wish to be shielded from messages the content of which they do not agree with (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 7).

In the opinion of the Privacy Commissioner, these views are not in accordance with the necessity of elected representatives and political candidates to communicate with their constituencies as part of the competitive political process. In addition, the Privacy Commissioner noted a number of

222 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy behaviours that the public found irritating or objectionable, describing these as “arrogance of power”:

a. Automated dialling and recorded message. b. Automated faxes. c. Non adherence to ‘opt out’ registers. d. SMS texting. e. Harvesting of email addresses. f. Using charitable databases to deliver political messages. g. Rogue member not adhering to party policy. (Minutes of Evidence, 18/02/05, p. 8)

While these behaviours are occasionally observed, and the past Federal election saw the wide- scale introduction of the first, it was not the opinion of the Privacy Commissioner that specific regulatory action was needed in the short term. Speaking about the use of information to target political marketing at members of the public, the Commissioner stated that “… enlightened self-interest will act as a natural brake on the abuse of information by political parties”.

Political SPAM is also targeted to MPs from groups and organisations wishing to make their points of view heard by the Government and Opposition. While this occasionally represents a significant annoyance to MPs (flooding offices with duplicate email), the Committee regards the “enlightened self-interest” constraint as balancing this tendency outside of the party system.

This view was endorsed in discussions with the “supply side” of professional political campaigning during the delegation’s visit to Washington. In the Committee’s discussions with the staff of Crossroads Strategies, a multimedia and Internet campaigning firm which works with Democrat candidates in the United States, Ms V. Bramante observed that the strongly negative public response to SPAM email was an effective disincentive for its use, with email focused on opt-in lists (candidate supporters) and referral strategies38. Similarly, while those attempting to influence law makers in the US have a long history of employing bulk email, Ms Pam Fielding of the lobbying firm e-Advocates indicated to the Committee that this approach was no longer considered to be effective, and that informed practitioners attempted to target and customise messages to Congress using grassroots mobilisation techniques.

Thus, the Committee finds that – while the issue of political SPAM should be monitored, and corrective actions may be required in the future – there are strong social and practical barriers to this practice developing to a problematic extent in Victoria. SPAM Filtering for MPs

Given concerns about the use of automatic filtering systems by MPs, the Committee observed that: • There are a wide array of systems in place to assist Internet users to automatically evade SPAM email. Some of these systems operate at the desktop level, others at the server

38 Encouraging supporters to pass messages on to like-minded friends, rather than un-targeted or mass emails to large groups of individuals. This approach is sometimes referred to as “viral marketing”.

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level, and they exhibit a range of behaviours to address the issue of SPAM. Some systems work by filtering email based on the appearance of key words, specific email addresses or domains of known spammers (a “blacklist” system); others by requiring email to come from a pre-approved list of contacts (a “whitelist” system); or that the initial author respond to an approval email (a “challenge–response” system), and some block emails based on a “library” of known spam • None of these systems can effectively eliminate SPAM. The Committee notes that any automatic system applies a limited set of rules to email it receives, and while the Committee notes that many of these systems produce very high levels of confidence, none can ensure that all SPAM is filtered from the user’s account (“false negatives”), or that no non-SPAM is accidentally captured by the filter (“false positives”) (Hidalgo, López and Sanze, 2000:99).

The Committee also notes that a recent decision of the House Committee of the Parliament of Victoria supported the introduction of SPAM filtering for MPs as a means to combat the growing problem of SPAM received and its impact on the effectiveness of Members’ communications.

Given the importance of constituent email, the Committee considers that the introduction of SPAM filtering systems for MPs should be undertaken with considerable care and include: • Information for Members regarding the effective use, and limitations, of these technologies • Means by which to minimise, to the maximum possible extent, “false positive” outcomes • The capacity for Members to decline to use the technology.

Recommendation 87 The Information Technology Unit of the Parliament of Victoria should: • Implement and maintain any SPAM filtering system with the utmost care to limit, to the greatest possible extent, “false positive” outcomes. • Advise and inform Members about the advantages and limitations of applying these systems. • Provide a clear means for Members to “opt out” of the use of these systems.

The Committee considers that, given the previous diligence of the Parliamentary information technology support personnel, the IT Unit will maintain a high level awareness of technical developments in the area of SPAM filtering, and provide the IT Committee with updated information on a regular basis where improvements in this technology can be implemented.

In addition, it is the view of the Committee that the provision of additional email addresses to Members, upon request, may be useful in the management of email issues. The Committee felt that a personal email address for Members who receive large volumes of email may be useful in ensuring that certain Parliamentary business can be dealt with in an efficient manner.

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Recommendation 88

The Information Technology Unit of the Parliament of Victoria should provide Members, upon request, with an additional email address.

Use of Mailto: Forms to Improve Email Correspondence

In addition to the growing problem of SPAM, one of the difficulties encountered by email is the range of information provided by the author as a matter of course. While some authors compose their communications to MPs in eloquent terms, and provide a range of contact information in their email (such as through a signature file attachment), this is not always the case. Thus, while a MP may wish to respond to an email electronically, the capture of additional contact information is useful for those MPs who prefer to communicate via letter or telephone.

The delegation to the United States discussed means to improve the email interactions between elected representatives and the public. In meetings with members of the Congress Online Project, the Committee discussed ways in which email is currently managed by Congressional staff. This issue is set against a background that saw the number of emails received by Congress increasing from twenty million in 1998 to forty-eight million in 2000 (Goldschmidt, 2000). This trend, combined with a desire for Members to move to email following the anthrax scare in 2001, created an “email overload” with real concerns that the level of email was unmanageable and this would result in unresponsiveness by members of Congress.

While the Victorian MPs have not experienced this high level of growth, managing volumes of email is important. In addition, the Congress Online Project recommends that elected representative should take a systematic approach to handling electronic communication, with the use of office systems to store and archive messages, and integrate them in CMS where possible. This ensures that: • Emails are appropriately stored and classified • Management processes (response times, etc.) can be introduced and undertaken without undue manual activities by staff • Email is integrated into other management systems, as appropriate.

Thus, the Committee feels that the introduction of a system of online forms that replace the current Parliamentary practice of simply providing email linkages would be advantageous in that: • The capacity to provide for (suggest or require) the collection of additional information from the public to assist in responding to the enquiry, and automating the management of email correspondence • Accurate time and date stamping in the Member’s working time zone • Provide access to email for those infrequent Internet users who do not maintain, or have access to, an active email account

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• The removal of email addressed from the Parliamentary webpage may provide modest reduction in the number of SPAM emails sent to MPs, where these SPAM are a result of email harvesting robots39.

The Committee feels that the provision of this service need not be mandated by the Parliament, but taken up at the discretion of the Members. As the maintenance of contact management systems is a task undertaken by each MP – in conjunction with their party – via their electorate office. It is likely that different Members will have different levels of interest in this form of service, and the type of fields (optional and required) that each Member may wish to include in the form could be varied, depending on their operational needs.

Recommendation 89 References to Members’ of Parliament email addresses should be replaced with online forms, if requested by the individual Member. These forms should provide for: • Means to conceal the Member’s email address from web crawlers • The capacity to provide a receipt, via email, to the author of the message • The capacity (at the discretion of each Member of Parliament) to capture additional information from the author, such as telephone contact details, preferred means of communication, address, etc. BANDWIDTH

The final observation of the Committee is the need to facilitate an appropriate online environment for Members through their electorate offices. While the current level of bandwidth provision to Electorate Officers is 128kb/s, the Committee observes that a large proportion of this already consumed in maintaining the Parliamentary Network, and the remainder shared between the Member and one or more office staff.

Given the recommendations of the Committee to provide for: • Access to legislative debates through streaming media content • Potential use of the network to send and receive audio and video content as part of meetings • And the general growth of multimedia content online that may be of relevance to the work of Members the Committee is of the view that the current provision is insufficient to effectively facilitate the work of Members.

The Committee therefore recommends that this provision level be upgraded, through the selection of relevant technologies depending on the needs of the Member, to provide a service level that permits the sending and receiving of a streaming video. The Committee considers that the appropriate service determination should be determined through the Information Technology Committee of the Parliament.

39 Computer programs that “crawl” the Internet and collect email addresses for SPAM lists.

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Recommendation 90

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228 Glossary

3G: The common term used to describe third-generation mobile telephone services. 3G affords users a greater range of communications options, including access to Internet content (WWW, email) and video data.

ADSL: Asymmetric digital subscriber line, an Internet access service allowing greater data transfer speeds from existing telecommunications infrastructure (up to 500 times). This technology is “asymmetric” as download speeds are faster than upload speeds.

Backdoor: A piece of software that allows access to a computer without using the conventional security procedures (e.g. without knowledge of the user’s password and user name). These programs are often Trojans.

Ballot Initiative: A form of direct democracy practiced in some parts of the United States, where citizens can propose legislative measures to be voted on via referenda at the next election of elected representatives.

Bit: Binary digit, the smallest unit of digital information, which can be represented as either of two values: 1 or 0.

“Black Hat” Hacker: An individual who attempts to gain unauthorised access to a computer system for illegal purposes. See also “White hat hacker”.

Blacklist: A list of people or objects banned or restricted in some way. Often used in reference to Internet content filtering, a blacklist is normally developed over time, with new addresses (such as URLs or email) added on the basis of violations of a rule or acceptable performance. See also whitelist.

Blog: A “web log” or online diary. Blogs have been identified as an increasingly popular source of online publication, especially regarding political information, opinion publication and alternative news coverage.

Blogger: The author of a blog.

Blogging Engine: A Content Management System specifically designed for the purposes of writing and maintaining a blog.

Broadband: As defined by the Australian Communications Authority (2004:200) “Describes a class of telecommunications access services, such as ADSL, [hybrid fibre coaxial cable] and Wi-Fi, offering a data rate greater than narrowband services. These services are usually ‘always-on’ and

229 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee do not tie up a telephone line exclusively for data. … Any Internet connection with an access data rate greater than 200 [kilobits per second].”

Broadcasting: As defined by the Federal Broadcasting Services Act 1992, the delivery of television or radio programs, whether the delivery uses the radiofrequency spectrum, cable, optical fibre, satellite or any other means or a combination of those means, but excluding: a service that provides no more than data, or no more than text (with or without associated still images); or a service that makes programs available on demand on a point-to-point basis; or a service that the Commonwealth Minister for Communication gazettes. See also narrowcasting.

Byte: 8 bits.

Cascading Style Sheet: Internet-based resources that specify how a webpage is presented on screen or when printed. Cascading style sheets allow control over fonts, images, page layout and spacing. This approach can allow for webpage designs to be attached to the same resource, allowing greater accessibility for users with unusual screen sizes or equipment.

Caucus: A closed meeting of Members of Parliament from a political party to determine policy and/or elect positions in the party.

Citizen: A citizen is a formal member of a political community, membership of which confers rights (such as the right of political participation) and responsibilities (adherence to the rule of law).

Citizen Advisory Committee: A group of elected or appointed citizens selected to provide ongoing advice and recommendations to a government (or other) body or agency.

Citizen Jury: A form of deliberative democracy whereby small groups of people are brought together to hear evidence about a policy or legislative issue, debate and determine a binding judgement based on the evidence received. This model normally uses a randomised recruitment process (similar to a jury for a court case). Decisions reached, unlike consensus-building, need not be unanimous.

Computer Game Console: A dedicated electronic device for playing computer games. These platforms can be based around home use (such as the PlayStation or Xbox), or portable devices. While home-based machines are increasingly networked, at the time of writing Internet access on handheld game consoles remains formative (the recently released Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable includes Wi-Fi capabilities that may be extended to more general Internet access in the future).

Consensus Building: A conversational style of decision making whereby issues and opinions are discussed across a range of perspectives with the objective of reaching a shared opinion or compromise agreement amongst a group of participants.

Content Management System: A software package that enables content to be managed on one or more websites. A content management system allows one or more authors to prepare and publish information online, without needing to prepare HTML code. Modern systems allow information and resources (images, scripts, etc.) to be stored in a database for re-use, automatic indexing and searching, and for workflow management (authorisation, publication, retirement, archiving).

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Cracker: See black hat hacker.

Defamation: A communication that lowers the personal or professional reputation of a third party, ridicules them, or leads others to shun and avoid them.

Deliberative Democracy: A form of representative democracy which involves groups of citizens who discuss and decide policy issues. The nature of deliberative democracy is similar to representative democracy, but differs in the mechanism by which decision makers are selected. Like direct democracy, this form of decision making can be used in conjunction with the representative form, such as the use of citizen juries to resolve specific policy issues.

Deliberative Polling: A form of deliberative democracy similar to a citizen’s jury, the deliberative poll varies in that it normally consists of a larger number of deliberative groups (split into sub groups) which are polled prior, during and after the provision of evidence and time for debate and discussion.

Delegated Decision: The granting of statutory authority to another individual or group without the original granting body exercising authority or control over the final decision reached.

Denial of Service Attack: An attack against a computer or network that attempts to limit or prevent access to the Internet by flooding it with requests (for a webpage or online resource) or email (causing the email system to overload). A more sophisticated variant of this attack is a distributed denial of service attack, which uses multiple computers for this purpose, increasing the amount of traffic and reducing defences of the victim’s machine or network.

Dial-up: Access to the Internet achieved using a computer modem and standard telephone line.

Digital Divide: The lack of access to information and communications technologies by segments of the community. The digital divide is a generic term used to describe this lack of access due to linguistic, economic, educational, social and geographic reasons.

Direct Democracy: A form of democratic government whereby citizens have the right to participate in decision making through referenda on legislative initiatives. Direct democracy can exist in parallel to representative democracy, for example, where ballot initiatives allow citizens to vote on legislative initiatives, or replace representative democracy. In practice, direct democracy is limited by the complexity of modern policy making and the capacity for citizens to deliberate issues in a timely and expedient manner.

Direct Recording Electronic Voting Machine: An electronic voting machine.

DNS Poisoning: The substitution of a false Internet provider address at the domain name service level (e.g. where web addresses are converted into numeric Internet provider addresses).

Domain Name Service: The Internet system whereby textual addresses (such as www.parliament.vic.gov.au) are converted into Internet provider numbers (203.16.24.1). A DNS service can be offered by Internet service providers or hosts and domain name registrars.

Electorate: A group of people entitled to vote. The term is commonly used to describe a geographical area constituted for a specific electoral race (see also “virtual electorate). Traditionally, each electorate of Victoria has been represented by a single Member of Parliament

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(a “single-member electorate”); however, from 2006 the Legislative Council will be comprised of electorates (“Provinces”) represented by more than one Member (“multimember electorates”).

Electronic Democracy: The direct and indirect use of electronic technologies (information and communications technologies) to participate in the democratic process. Direct forms of electronic democracy include electronic and online voting, participation in consultation, and interactions between elected representatives and constituents. Indirect forms of electronic democracy include such things as the production and consumption of politically relevant information and community capacity building to utilise information and communications technologies.

Electronic Reading Room: An online repository of documents released under Freedom of Information provisions.

Electronic Voting: The use of an electronic device to record and/or tabulate votes cast in an election. Electronic voting can take a number of forms: Remote voting, where the vote is cast over the Internet or via another networked device (such as a mobile telephone, digital interactive television, landline telephone, or through a closed network), at a stand-alone computer voting terminal (see Direct Recording Electronic Voting Machine), or at a terminal attached to a local area network).

Epistemology: An area of philosophical study that focuses on our understanding of knowledge. Epistemology asks questions about what is true and false, and what constitutes valid “information”. A key question of epistemology is whether information is absolute or relative, reflecting a tension between the “scientific method” and “social constructivism”.

Email: The common term for “electronic mail”, a method for writing, sending and receiving electronic text (and audio and/or video) over a computer network. A variation of email popular with mobile telephone users is the Short Messaging Service (SMS). Email differs to other messaging systems in that it is asynchronous in nature (see Instant Messaging).

Email Client: An application program used to receive, store and send email.

Email Spoofing: A type of Internet fraud whereby the “header” of an email message is falsified to appear to come from a different sender’s address. This type of criminal activity is commonly used to deliver SPAM email, or for the purposes of fraud.

Expatriate: A citizen who is a resident in another country.

Focus Group: A group of individual citizens drawn together by a researcher or moderator to discuss their personal experiences or views on a particular topic. Unlike deliberative democracy consultations methodologies such as deliberative polls, the results of a focus group are seldom binding, and there is seldom a concern to introduce new evidence into the discussion from external witnesses, although sometimes the focus group participants will be required to comment on a specific document or proposal.

Hacktivism: The act of “black hat” hacking that is not specifically motivated by malice, curiosity or criminal intent, but for political purposes. This may include altering the content of a website (defacement), or preventing or inhibiting communication (such as through a denial of service

232 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy attack). This term describes motive only, as the techniques employed are similar or identical to those of crackers.

Hansard: The formal and official record of parliamentary debate. In Victoria, Hansard is produced as hardcopy and electronic copy and stored in a searchable database.

Hashing: The production of a “hash value” to ensure that information or software is protected against tampering. An encrypted hash value is created using specific formula that can be used at a later time (e.g. by an end user) to ensure that the transmitted data is the same as when the hash value was created. The advantages of hashing are in the ability to exchange information securely and to detect tampering.

HDTV: “High definition television” a replacement for standard definition television which provides greater picture and sound quality to free-to-air broadcasting programs. HDTV in Australia is defined by the regulator (the ABA) as “576 lines x 720 pixels @ 50Hz progressive (576p)”. The Federal Government has introduced a requirement for free-to-air licences to broadcast an increasing amount of HDTV programming over the coming years. Current requirements for commercial and national broadcasters is the provision of 1,040 hours of HDTV content per annum.

HTML: Defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (2004a) as “the lingua franca for publishing hypertext on the World Wide Web. It is a non-proprietary format based upon SGML, and can be created and processed by a wide range of tools, from simple plain text editors – you type it in from scratch – to sophisticated WYSIWYG authoring tools. HTML uses tags such as

and

to structure text into headings, paragraphs, lists, hypertext links etc.”

Hosting Service: A commercial, free or advertising-supported service that allows a third party to store information on an Internet host (e.g. web server). These services may be sophisticated (providing a range of services to the client, such as website design and management) or the simple provision of hard disk space only.

Hypertext: Pages of content that contain linkages to other documents or data sources. One example of hypertext is the HTML code commonly used in World Wide Web pages.

Informal Vote: A vote not counted in an election because it has been cast in such a manner as to violate the rules of counting. This may include the inappropriate use of a mark, failure to complete a preferential system appropriately (missing a number, incompletion) or being completed in an illegible manner. In addition, for postal voting environments, a vote may be considered invalid (informal) because it has arrived late or lacks the appropriate authentication (such as an envelope signature).

Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs): That emerging class of technologies which allows the processing, storage and communication of digital information. ICTs include networked and portable computer systems, as well as advanced mobile telephone systems and services.

Information Commons: Information resources shared by a community of producers and consumers in an open access environment.

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Instant Messaging: A computer program that allows near-instantaneous (synchronous) communication between computer users. This communication can take a variety of forms, from text (similar to an email) to videoconferencing. A variant of this type of application for mobile telephones is the SMS.

Intellectual Property: A type of property that is protected by copyright or patent laws. Intellectual property is the product of intellectual processes, such as scholarship or creative work.

Interactive Telephone Services: A type of software application that can use a combination of touchtone keypad and/or voice input to provide access to information or services via a conventional telephone handset.

Internet: A world-wide network of computer systems and networks that share information and data using a standard communication protocol (Internet Protocol).

Internet 2: A project to develop new technologies for high-performance computer networking. While specifically developed to facilitate research and educational purposes, the involvement of research, commercial and government organisations also aims to distribute these technology into the wider community.

Internet Relay Chat: See Instant Messaging.

Internet Voting: See electronic voting.

IP: “Internet Protocol”. The basic addressing protocol of the Internet which allows resources to be located across the distributed network.

IP Spoofing: The manipulation of Internet packed routing data to impersonate a different machine.

IPv6: “Internet Protocol version 6”. A replacement for the aging IPv4, which was released in the early 1980s. IPv6 will increase the number of available Internet addresses (from 32 to 128 bits), resolving a problem associated with the growth of the number of computers attached to the Internet.

Keylogger: A computer program that captures the keystrokes of a computer user and stores them. Modern keyloggers can store additional information, such as images of the user’s screen. Most malicious keyloggers send this data to a third party remotely (such as via email).

Kilobit: 1,024 bits.

Legislative Assembly: The “lower house” of the Parliament of Victoria, which is modelled on the House of Commons in Westminster in the United Kingdom. The Assembly is the seat of Government, where the Party or Parties with a majority form Government and thereby have control over Executive Government through control of the Victorian Public Service via the appointment of Ministers. The Assembly is the only Chamber in which financial bills can be introduced, but other bills can be introduced in either Chamber.

Legislative Council: The “upper house” of the Parliament of Victoria, which is modelled loosely on the House of Lords in Westminster. The Council is generally regarded as a “house of review” reconsidering the legislation passed by the lower house.

234 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Legislature: See Parliament.

Linux: The basis of a computer operating system developed by Linus Torvalds (the Linux “kernel”). Linux is an open-source project that has resulted in a number of Linux-based operating systems (“distributions”) available for free or at cost. Examples include Red Hat and XandrOS. See Open Source.

Local Area Network: A group of computers or other electronic devices connected via a physical network or Wi-Fi. A LAN may be connected to another wider network (such as the Internet), or act as a stand-alone network.

Lurker: A member subscribed to an email list who does not participate in the discussion.

Malicious Active Content: A type of malware based on the popular scripting languages that provide functionality to Internet software (such as Java, Active X, Visual Basic). Malicious uses for active content can include the delivery of viruses or worms, use of desktop applications to undertake tasks (send email), record information or redirect users to other locations.

Malicious Mobile Code: see malicious active content.

Malware: “Malicious software”; a generic term covering a range of software programs and types of programs designed to attack, degrade or prevent the intended use of an ICT or network. Types of malware can include viruses, worms, Trojans, malicious active content and denial of service attacks. In the case of invasion of privacy for the purposes of fraud or the theft of identity, software that passively observes the use of a computer is also malware (“spyware”).

Man-in-the-middle Attack: An “active” Internet attack, whereby the criminal attempts to intercept, read or alter information moving between two computers.

Meritocracy: A system of government whereby a particular standard of ability is used as the basis by which political leadership is determined or accrues to an existing elite.

Metadata: Data about data. Metadata is information about an informational resource, be that a document (such as a webpage), image, dataset or other resource. Metadata is valuable in the storage and retrieval of information. Resources supported by good quality, structured metadata are more easily discoverable.

Methodology: The procedures and techniques used to collect, store, analyse and present information; a research process. m-Government: A subset of electronic government, “mobile government” is the use of mobile devices (Wi-Fi enabled portable ICTs, mobile telephones, etc.) by the public sector. m-Government recognises and responds to the changing nature of public sector work, such as the desire for public officials to spend more time in local communities, rather than office buildings, yet retain access to information services and public sector systems. m-Government is also reflected in the changing pattern of public interaction with Government, where increasing amounts of interactions will be through portable ICTs.

MMS: Multimedia Messaging Service. An improved version of the Short Messaging Service (see SMS) which allows the distribution of images, audio and video content via mobile telephones.

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Mobile Telephone: A portable telephone that is connected to the telecommunications network by radio signals communicated with ground-based receiving stations or via satellite technology. Mobile telephones provide a range of services, from SMS Instant Messaging and voice communications, to data services, such as video and Internet access. Recent developments in mobile telephone technology focus on new communications standards to increase the ability of these devices to receive and transmit data (see 3G).

Multichannelling: The provision of additional standard definition television signals over free-to-air broadcasting services. Multichannelling is possible through the use of digital signals rather than analogue, which increases the amount of data that can be provided. Under Federal Government regulations, only the two national television networks (ABC and SBS) are permitted to multichannel.

Multimedia: Information presented in a variety of formats that can include textual, audio and video.

Multimedia Messaging Service: See MMS.

Narrowcasting: As defined by the Federal Government’s Broadcasting Services Act 1992, broadcasting services whose reception is limited by one of the following: targeted to special interest groups, limited location, limited period of time, of limited appeal, or for some other reason. See also Broadcasting.

Netcasting: See Webcasting.

News Aggregator: Software which allows syndicated news content (such as RSS feeds) to be brought together and displayed. Aggregators can be built into web browsers, website management systems or as stand-alone applications.

Online Dispute Resolution: The use of ICTs, particularly the World Wide Web, to facilitate alternative dispute resolution processes to conventional judicial processes. These may include negotiation, mediation or arbitration.

Online Voting: A form of electronic voting that utilises computer networks to allow for the casting of a vote remotely from the place of tabulation. Online voting can be undertaken in either closed or open networks, depending on the nature of the electorate.

Open-Source Software: Computer software that is distributed under a licensing arrangement and which allows the computer code to be shared, viewed and modified by other users and organisations. Open source often refers to collaborative projects in the public domain, or programs which the author(s) permit limited modification and redistribution of the code based on specific licensing agreements. The outputs of open-source projects may or may not be products that are free. See also Linux.

Operating System: The fundamental software package for a computer that controls the management of its hardware and core system operations (such as file management). Examples of operating systems (OS) include the various versions of Microsoft Windows and DOS, Apple Mac OS and Linux distributions.

236 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Optional Preferential Voting: A modification of the preferential voting system (which normally requires the sequential numbering of each candidate to cast a valid vote) that allows the elector to elect not to provide a number for one or more candidates. In this system of voting, a vote may “expire” and not be counted in the final tally if all of the voter’s number candidates are eliminated.

Participatory Decision Making: The cultural shift in government towards greater public involvement in processes of decision making.

PDF: “Portable Document Format”; a computer file format originally developed by Adobe Systems which allows for the capture of formatting information that preserves the intended layout and design of the original author.

Personal Digital Assistants: Small, often handheld electronic devices that have many of the capabilities of larger and more expensive desktop computers.

Pervasive Computing: The trend towards an information environment in which users have access to ICTs throughout the environment. This trend is particularly associated with the growth of wireless technologies that allow users to access online information and services remotely and synchronise data between different computers.

Petition: A written document of protest that requests that some action be taken by the target of the petition. A petition normally contains a statement of concern or grievance, and is signed by citizens or groups.

Phishing: A type of fraud whereby a criminal attempts to trick their victim into accepting a false identity presented by the criminal. The common application of this approach is to send fake emails (email spoofing) to a victim purporting to come from a legitimate source and requesting information (such as a bank account number and password) or directing the victim to a fake Internet website where this information can be captured (webpage spoofing). This fraud can be very carefully targeted (where the criminal has knowledge about their victim) or indiscriminately distributed on a mass scale through SPAM.

Pixel: A contraction of “picture element”; the smallest element of an image.

Plutocracy: A system of government whereby wealth and the benefits that wealth accrues lead to a concentration of power in the hands of those with disproportionate access to financial resources.

Preferential Voting: Called the “Australian Ballot” internationally, the preferential system of voting requires that the voter number (sequentially) the candidates on the ballot paper, and that a system of counting and recounting based on elimination occurs until one candidate secures an absolute majority of votes and is duly elected. This system has modified versions (see optional preferential voting) and is often compared with simple majority voting systems.

Presiding Officers: The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the President of the Legislative Council in Victoria. These Members of Parliament are elected to preside over the work of the two Chambers, regulating appropriate conduct of the business of the house and performing important management of administrative functions required for the operations of the Parliament as a building, employer and public institution.

237 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Principal Petitioner: The individual responsible for initiating a petition to the Parliament.

Private Key: One half of a key pair under public key cryptography. The private key is a secret key held to decrypt messages sent to a receiver that has been encoded using their freely available public key. See public key infrastructure.

Privilege: Or “Parliamentary Privilege”; the rights and powers of the Houses and Members of Parliament and their committees, including protections afforded from legal liability. “Privilege” in the Victorian context stems from English Bill of Rights of 1689, established to protect and facilitate the effective workings of Parliamentary Democracy.

Province: The name given, in Victoria, for electorates of the Legislative Council. See electorate.

Public Key: One half of a key pair under public key cryptography. The public key is distributed freely to allow messages to be encrypted for a specific receiver. The encrypted message can only be decrypted using the secret private key. See public key infrastructure.

Public Key Infrastructure: The use of asymmetric cryptography to provide for secure, private communications over closed and open networks. Using a key pair (a public key and a private key) an author (using the receiver’s public key) and receiver (using their private key) can exchange secure information. By introducing digital certificates issued by a trusted registration authority to link public keys to their owners, the ownership of the public key can be matched against the correct entity (person or organisation).

Really Simple Syndication (RSS): Previously “Remote Site Syndication” (now obsolete). Based on XML, Really Simple Syndication is a format for allowing content from one online resource to be reproduced (syndicated) by other websites or systems.

Referenda: A vote of the entire electorate on a law or proposal.

Representative Democracy: A form of democratic government whereby citizens’ interests are represented by elected officials in open elections. Representatives act in the interests of their electors, either by martialling together electors’ views, or through personal initiative and independence between elections.

RSS Feed: see Really Simple Syndication.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL): A “handshake protocol” developed to allow for security and privacy during Internet use. This approach relies on Public Key Encryption (PKI) to establish a secure connection between a server and client.

SDTV: “Standard definition television”; the current standard broadcasting quality for free-to-air television programming in Australia. SDTV in Australia is defined by the regulator (the ABA) as “576 lines x 720 pixels @ 50Hz interlaced (576i)”.

Simple Majority Voting: Often referred to as “first-past-the-post” voting; a simple system of voting whereby the voter indicates one preference on the ballot only, and the winner of the election is the candidate with the highest total number of votes.

SMS: The common term used to describe Instant Messaging available on mobile telephones.

238 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Social Capital: Defined by the OECD as “…networks, together with shared norms, values and understandings which facilitate cooperation within or among groups”.

Social Network: The personal or professional set of relationships between individuals. Social networks represent both a collection of ties between people and the strength of those ties. Often used as a measure of social “connectedness”, recognising social networks assists in determining how information moves throughout groups, and how trust can be established and fostered.

SPAM: Unsolicited bulk email, normally sent for a commercial or fraudulent purpose. SPAM is an effective means of advertising as the costs of distribution of SPAM email is very low. Thus, even with a very low success rate, SPAMs can afford to send millions of emails to generate a few positive responses. In recent years a number of governments around the world have attempted to regulate SPAM via legislation (including Australia), however the prevalence of SPAM has not yet abated.

Spoofing: A generic term covering a range of computer network attacks whereby the attacker attempts to forge or intercede in a chain of communication. This can take a number of forms: email spoofing, IP spoofing and webpage spoofing.

Spyware: A general term for a class of software that monitors the actions of a computer user. This software falls into a number of categories: Software that may be installed legitimately to provide security or workplace monitoring, software with relatively benign purposes that may be associated with marketing data collection and software that is maliciously installed, either as a general violation of a user’s privacy or to collect information to allow further attacks on their computer or online transactions (e.g. “keylogging” to gain passwords).

Statistical Local Area: The smallest special unit used for data aggregation by the Australian Bureau of Statistics during non-census collection years. A standard unit of statistical analysis and presentation.

Streaming: The transferring of data in a manner that allows it to be processed (displayed) as the data is transferred, rather than requiring all the data to be transferred before it can be used. Streaming is often useful in accelerating access to large audio or video files, or where the stream is ongoing. See also webcasting.

Suffrage: The right to vote.

Technocratic: The rule or administration of government by a group or class of technical experts. A system in which decision making is given over to those with a specifically recognised set of skills, educational background or employment position.

Technological Inclusion: The use of technology to overcome social exclusion. Technological inclusion refers to policy and program approaches to overcome the digital divide, with an emphasis on developing information literacy.

Trojan: “Trojan horse”; a reference to the story of the Trojan War, a piece of malware (such as a virus program) contained within a legitimate program. The purpose of the Trojan can be wide, but the distribution approach is to attempt to have the user willingly install the host program to gain access to the victim’s computer.

239 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

URL: Uniform Resource Locator; an Internet address, such as www.victorianedemocracy.info

Valid Vote: A vote cast in such a way as to be counted in the tally. This contrasts with an informal vote.

Videoconferencing: A technology allowing people in different locations to communicate via video and audio steams. Videoconferencing can be undertaken through high-speed telephone networks or via the Internet. In addition, new generation telephone services (3G) provide a mobile form of videoconferencing available via mobile telephone.

Virtual Electorate: The concept of an electorate for people who are not residents of a jurisdiction, but still claim citizenship and are extended the right (full, or in part) to participate in the electoral process; an electorate for expatriates.

Virtual Private Network: The use of a public network, such as the Internet, to provide for secured traffic between trusted computers via a process of encryption.

Virus: A type of malware, a virus is a self-replicating computer program which copies itself into other computer files in order to remain undetected and spread from computer to computer (as opposed to a worm). The range of actions that a virus may have once it has infected a computer can be large, and some risk is associated purely due to poor program or incompatibility with the OS of the infected computer.

Web Browser: A computer program that allows access to Internet content collectively referred to as the World Wide Web. Modern browsers can be stand-alone applications, or incorporated into a range of networked devices, from desktop personal computers to mobile telephones. Browsers interpret the information stored in hypertext pages to present it to the viewer and can include text, images and multimedia content.

Webcasting: The distribution of audio and/or video content over a computer network. Webcasting can be episodic (sporadic) or continuous (such as a radio broadcast), temporal (ephemeral) or permanent (stored). Webcasting takes advantage of “streaming” to allow the user to watch or listen to the content as it is transmitted, rather than having to wait for a complete file to be downloaded.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: A set of standards developed and maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium regarding design and technical elements necessary for developing online resources that are accessible to people with disabilities.

Webpage Spoofing: A type of Internet fraud whereby a user is deceived into thinking a false or substitute website is that of a trusted third party. This may involve creating a realistic simulacra of the original site or using a system which conceals or confuses the website address either through the use of a numeric address, concealment via a script, use of filler characters to conceal a destination address, or the use of homologues domain names (domain names that contain two language scripts in them and appear to be in one language, but direct the user to a different website).

Webring: A list of related websites or similar online content joined together by hypertext linkages. Webrings can be facilitated by centralised databases which ensure the integrity of the ring is not lost if a single member ceases hosting their content.

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WEP: “Wired Equivalent Privacy”; a system of data encryption used in Wi-Fi technology to prevent access to, or observation of, the wireless network. WEP is not considered secure and there are a range of pre-existing software programs designed to break its encryption.

Westminster System: Australia’s system of parliamentary democracy, inherited from the United Kingdom. The Westminster system focuses on control of government created by majority control of the Lower House of the Parliament, with Ministers selected from Members of Parliament to take responsibility for the executive arm of government (bureaucratic government departments and agencies). Ministers collectively form the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, Premier or Chief Minister (in the case of the States and Territories), and are responsible for their actions to the Parliament and serve with the Parliament’s confidence. This system of government is sometimes referred to as “responsible government”.

“White Hat” Hacker: Attempting to gain “unauthorised” access to a computer system to determine and address its vulnerabilities. White hat hackers may be employed directly by the owner of the system, and therefore serve as part of the systems testing and verification process, or they be independent, motivated by personal reasons to improve the system or highlight security flaws. See “Black hat hacker”.

Whitelist: An approved list; often used with regard to Internet content filtering, a whitelist only includes addresses (such as URLs or email) that have been specifically vetted in advance. See also Blacklist.

Wi-Fi: Wireless fidelity, defined by the Australian Communications Authority (2004:210) as “Used generically to refer to WLAN (IEEE 802.11) technology providing short-range, high data rate connections between mobile data devices and access points connected to a wired network.”

Wiki: A website or similar online resource which allows users to add and edit content collectively.

Workshop: A brief, but intensive group meeting (often facilitated by one or more people) aimed at the production of a specific outcome (such as a policy recommendation) through problem solving.

World Wide Web: The World Wide Web (WWW) is the collection of hypertext pages available via the Internet and web browsers. A distributed resource, the WWW is a constantly changing set of pages and context, stored across hundreds of thousands of computer systems that make up the Internet.

World Wide Web Consortium: An international consortium of member organisations that develops and maintains technical standards for Internet content.

Worm: A type of malware; a worm is a self-replicating program similar to a virus. The difference between a virus and a worm is that a worm does not attempt to conceal itself in other programs, but is a stand-alone program. As of mid-2004, instances of worms written for mobile telephones have emerged, focusing on distribution via Bluetooth Wi-Fi connections. Given the popularity of mobile telephones, it is likely that the number of telephone worms may increase.

XHTML: A general purpose markup language that utilises existing and future XML elements to present information on the WWW. XHML focuses on structuring documents rather than presenting

241 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee them, allowing online information to be presented in a variety of different forms, based on user need and device capability.

XML: Extensible Markup Language; defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (2004b) as “a class of data objects called XML documents and partially describes the behavior of computer programs which process them. XML documents are made up of storage units called entities, which contain either parsed or unparsed data. Parsed data is made up of characters, some of which form character data, and some of which form markup. Markup encodes a description of the document's storage layout and logical structure. XML provides a mechanism to impose constraints on the storage layout and logical structure.”

Zombie: “Zombie computer”; a computer attached to a network that has had its security compromised and is remotely controlled for another purpose. This purpose may be to use it as a launching point for another attack, or the distribution of SPAM.

242 Bibliography

Legislation

AUSTRALIA Broadcasting Services Act 1992 Disability Discrimination Act 1992 Spam Act 2003 VICTORIA Arts Victoria Act 1972 Constitution Act 1975 Co-operative Schemes (Administrative Actions) Act 2001 Electoral Act 2002 Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000 Environment Protection Act 1970 Evidence Act 1958 Freedom of Information Act 1982 Health Records Act 2001 Information Privacy Act 2000 Libraries Act 1988 Local Government Act 1989 Parliamentary Committees Act 2003 Parliamentary Committees Act 1968 Public Records Act 1973 Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 Wrongs Act 1958 UNITED KINGDOM Freedom of Information Act 2000 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments 1996

Cases

Dow Jones & Company Inc. v. Gutnick (2002) HAC 56, Dec 10 Higgins v. O'Grady (1971) IAS Current Review 65 Lange v. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1997) 145 ALR 96

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Laurence Godfrey v. Demon Internet Limited (1999) 4 All ER 342 Maguire v. Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (2000) FCA 1112 Parmiter v. Coupland (1840) GM & W 105 at 108 Wagner v. International Health Promotions Pty Ltd (1994) 15 ACSR 419

Reports, Books, Articles, Other

AAP (Australian Associated Press), 2005, “ACA Still Investigating PM’s Phone Spam”, Sydney Morning Herald, http://www.smh.com.au/news/Breaking/ACA-still-investigating-PMs-phone- spam/2005/02/15/1108229979090.html?oneclick=true, 15 February. AAP, 2004, “States Propose Libel Law Shake Up”, The Age, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11300327%255E7582,00. html, 6 November. AAP, 2003, “Media Reform Bill Killed Off”, Sydney Morning Herald, http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/27/1056449399186.html, 23 June. ABA (Australian Broadcasting Authority), 2002, Adequacy of Local News and Information Programs on Commercial Television Services in Regional Queensland, Northern NSW, Southern NSW and Regional Victoria (aggregated markets A, B, C and D), August, Australian Broadcasting Authority, Sydney. Abate, P., Dawson, R. Gore, M. Gray, M. Norrish and A. Slater, 2003, Formal Methods Applied to Electronic Voting Systems, http://users.rsise.anu.edu.au/~rpg/EVoting/ Abetz, E, 2005, “One-Stop Web Guide Released”, Media Release, 10 March. ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 1998, “Technology”, Parliament House: Ten Years On, http://www.abc.net.au/news/features/aph/page03.htm, 5 May. ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics), 2004a, 1379.0.55.001 National Regional Profile - Victoria, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. ABS, 2004b, 8153.0 Internet Activity – Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Perth. ABS, 2004c, 4430.0 Disability, Ageing and Carers: Summary of Findings, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. ABS, 2004d, Measures of Australia's Progress The measures: Democracy, Governance and Citizenship, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. ABS, 2004e, 8146.0 Household Use of Information Technology Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. ABS, 1997, Aspects of Literacy: Profiles and Perceptions, Australia - 1996, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. ACA (Australian Communications Authority), 2004, Telecommunications Performance Report 2003–04, Australian Communications Authority, Melbourne. ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission), 2005, Snapshot of Broadband Deployment as at 31 December 2004, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Melbourne. ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), 2004, “Special Ops Task Force Threatened Government Agents Who Saw Detainee Abuse in Iraq, Documents Obtained by ACLU Reveal”, The Freedom of Information Center, http://foi.missouri.edu/federalfoia/specialopstaskforce.html, 7 December. Adams, D., 2004, “Paradigm Shift or Candle in the Wind?”, Local Government, Leadership and Community Strengthening, The Cranlana Programme Occasional Publications No 4, North Armadale.

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Adobe, 2001, Adobe Acrobat 5.0 and Section 508, Adobe Systems Inc. Akdeniz, Y., 1999, “Godfrey v Demon Internet”, Journal of Civil Liberties, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 260-7, July. Alvarez, R. and C. Hall, 2004, Point, Click, and Vote: The Future of Internet Voting, Brookings Institution Press, Washington. Arts Victoria, 2004, Business Plan 2004-05, Melbourne. Attorney-General of Victoria, 2004, Freedom of Information Annual Report by the Attorney-General of Victoria, Attorney-General of Victoria, Melbourne. Attorney-General of Victoria, 2003, Freedom of Information Annual Report by the Attorney-General of Victoria, Attorney-General of Victoria, Melbourne. Attorney-General of Victoria, 2002, Freedom of Information Annual Report by the Attorney-General of Victoria, Attorney-General of Victoria, Melbourne. Attorney-General of Victoria, 2001, Freedom of Information Annual Report by the Attorney-General of Victoria, Attorney-General of Victoria, Melbourne. Attorney-General of Victoria, 2000, Freedom of Information Annual Report by the Attorney-General of Victoria, Attorney-General of Victoria, Melbourne. Attorney-General of Victoria, 1999, 1999 Freedom of Information Report, Attorney-General of Victoria, Melbourne. Attorney-General of Victoria, 1998, Freedom of Information Annual Report by the Attorney-General of Victoria, Attorney-General of Victoria, Melbourne. AusCERT, 2004, Computer Crime and Security Survey 2004, AusCERT. Australian Banking Industry, E-Commerce Industry Action Plan, http://www.bankers.asn.au/Default.aspx?ArticleID=303, December 2000. Australian Press Council, 2002, “Freedom of Information”, News in Brief, Volume 14, Number 4, November. Australian Public Service Commission, 2003, The Australian Experience of Public Sector Reform, Australian Public Service Commission, Canberra. Baker, R., 2004, “Department Criticised Over Docklands Studio Documents”, The Age, 2 March. Baker, R, 2003a, “FoI System Terrible, Says Ombudsman”, The Age, 18 March. Baker, R, 2003b, “Bracks Rapped on FoI Delays”, The Age, 17 March. Baragwanath, C, 1999, The Citizen’s Right to Know, Speech Given on the Occasion of Receiving the 1999 Voltaire Award, 25 August. BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), 2003a, “Emails You With You’d Never Sent”, BBC News UK Edition, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2787019.stm, 24 February. BBC, 2003b, “Microsoft Launches ‘Leak-Proff’ E-mail”, BBC News UK Edition, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3205080.stm, 19 October. Bennett, S., 1996, Winning and Losing: Australian National Elections, Melbourne University Press, South Carlton. Beyer, A., 2004, “Defamation on the Internet: Joseph Gutnick v Dow Jones”, E LAW | Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law, Vol. 11, No. 3, September. Bimber, B., 2003, Information and American Democracy: Technology in the Evolution of Political Power, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Bishop, P., J. Kane and H. Patapan, 2002, “E-Democracy: Challenges to Democratic Theory”, Australian Parliamentary Review, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 55-68. Bollnäs Kommun, 2001, E-democracy, CD-ROM, Bollnäs Kommun, Sweden.

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Brady, H., J. Buchler, M. Jarvis and J. McNulty, 2001, Counting All the Votes: The Performance of Voting Technology in the United States, Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkley. Bridgman, P. and G. Davis, 2004, The Australian Policy Handbook, Third Edition, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest. California Internet Voting Task Force, 2000, Final Report Online, http://www.ss.ca.gov/executive/ivote/, 18 January. Campbell, E., 2003, Parliamentary Privilege, The Federation Press, Sydney. Casey, C., 1996, The HILL on the NET: Congress Enters the Information Age, AP Professional, Boston. Caslon Analytics, 2005, Caslon Analytics Profile: Email, SMS, IM & Chat, http://www.caslon.com.au/emailprofile1.htm, February. Chen, P., 2004a, e-lection 2004? New Media and the Campaign, http://eprints.unimelb.edu.au/archive/00000772/ Chen, P., 2004b, What Does the Internet Tell Us of About the Prospects for Network Governance?”, Southern Review: Communication, Politics, and Culture, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 66- 88. Clarke, R., 2005, Evidence to the Victorian Parliamentary Enquiry into eDemocracy, http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/Vic-eDemocracy.html, 1 March. Clift, S., 2004, “Reach and Equitable Access”, E-Newsletter – E-Government and Democracy, 14 September. Coleman, S., 2004, “Connecting Parliament to the Public via the Internet: Two Case Studies of Online Consultations”, Information, Communication & Society, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 1-22. Coleman, S., 2001, Democracy Online: What Do We Want from MPs’ Web Sites?, Hansard Society, London. Coleman, S., and J. Gøtze, 2001, Bowling Together: Online Public Engagement in Policy Deliberation, Hansard Society, London. Commission on Electronic Voting, 2004, First Report – December 2004, http://www.cev.ie/htm/report/first_report.htm, December, Republic of Ireland. Congress Online Project, 2003, Congress Online 2003: Turning the Corner on the Information Age, George Washington University and the Congressional Management Foundation, Washington. Cottle, G., 2004, Queensland FOI Initiative. Curran, L., 2002, “Reform, for the People’s Sake”, The Age, 28 December. Curtain, R., 2004, Creating a Community of Practice for Public Policy, Australian Public Policy Research Network, May. Curtin, J., 2001, A Digital Divide in Rural and Regional Australia?, Current Issues Brief 1 2001-2, Parliament of Australia, Canberra. Dahlberg, L., 2001, “Extending the Public Sphere through Cyberspace: The Case of Minnesota E- Democracy”, First Monday, http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_3/dahlberg/index.html, 1 March. Darrow, B., 2004, “Survey: Corporate IM Use on the Rise”, CRN, http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=30000257, 24 August. Davidson Consulting, 2001, Worldwide Fax Machine Report 2001, http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reportinfo.asp?cat_id=112&report_id=437

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Davis, R., 1999, The Web of Politics: The Internet’s Impact on the American Political System, Oxford University Press, Oxford. De Maria, B., 2002, “Rescuing FoI: Rescuing Democracy”, The Drawing Board: An Australian Review of Public Affairs, Volume 2, Number 3, pp. 167-85. Delvinia Interactive, 2004, Internet Voting and Canadian e-Democracy in Practice: The Delvinia Report on Internet Voting in the 2003 Town of Markham Municipal Election, February. Democratic Audit of Australia, 2004, Democratic Audit of Australia, http://democratic.audit.anu.edu.au/ Department for Victorian Communities, 2004a, Indicators of Community Strength in Victoria, Strategic Policy and Research, Department for Victorian Communities, Melbourne. Department for Victorian Communities, 2004b, Getting to Know Your Local Community: A Guide to Using Local Data, Department for Victorian Communities, February, Melbourne. Department of Education and Training, 2002, Acceptable Use Policy for Internet, Email and Other Electronic Communications, Department of Education and Training, September. Department of Premier and Cabinet, 2002, Consulting Citizens: A Resource Guide, Civics and Citizenship Unit, April, Perth. Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2004, Australian Government Branding, http://www.gcu.gov.au/code/infodept/branding/index.html Draper, M, 2004, “Details Withheld in Poll Website Shock”, The Melbourne Times, 17 November, p. 10. Economic Development Committee, 1993, “Evidentiary Powers of Parliamentary Committees”, Inquiry into the Victorian Building and Construction Industry, 52nd Parliament of Victoria, October. Election.com, 2002, The Results from the 2002 United Kingdom E-Voting Pilots, 6 June. Elections ACT, 2002, The 2001 ACT Legislative Assembly Election Electronic Voting and Counting System Review, Elections ACT, Canberra. Electoral Commission, 2002, Corporate Plan 2002/03 to 2006/07, Electoral Commission, London. Evans, H. (ed.), 2004, Odgers' Australian Senate Practice, Eleventh Edition, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra. Ewart, J., 2003, “News Connections: Regional Newspapers and the Web”, Tansformations: Online Journal of Religion, Culture and Society, issue 7, http://transformations.cqu.edu.au/journal/issue_07/article_01.shtml Fife Council, 2002, The Community Consultation Handbook, Scotland. Finextra Research, 2005, Australian Banks to Introduce Two-Factor Authentication, http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=13362, 10 March. Fulk, E., 2005, “Hill Staffers Sorry to Say Goodbye to Cell Phones”, The Hill, http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/121504/phones.html, 3 March. Gallacher, L. and S. Skinner, 1999, “New High Definition TV May Be Too Expensive”, PM, http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s45151.htm, 19 August. Geiselhart, K. and P. Huta, 2003, “From Blue Sky to Grass Roots: Issues, Challenges and Approaches to Creating Local Digital Cultural Content”, Paper Presented at AusWeb03, The Ninth Australian World Wide Web Conference, 5-9 July, Sanctuary Cove, Queensland. Gentner, C., 2004, Project Identification: Provision of Video and Sound Transmissions of Parliamentary Proceedings Briefing Report, Hansard, Parliament of Victoria, 1 December. Gettler, L., 2004, “Can Power Be Bought”, The Age, http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/07/1075854110070.html?from=storyrhs&oneclick= true, 8 February.

247 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Gibbs, K., 2004, “Ruddock to Shake Up Defamation”, Lawyers Weekly, http://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/articles/24/0c025224.asp, 18 August. Given, J., 1998, The Death of Broadcasting? Australia’s Digital Future, UNSW Press, Sydney. Goldschmidt, K., 2000, E-Mail Overload in Congress: Managing a Communications Crisis, http://www.congressonlineproject.org/email.html, Congress Online Project, Washington. Government of South Australia, 2000, Information Economy 2002: Delivering the Future, August, Government of South Australia, Adelaide. Granneman, S, 2005, “How Shall I Own Your Mobile Phone Today?”, The Register, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/25/mobile_phone_security/, 25 March. Grattan, M., 2005, “Nationwide Defamation Laws Closer”, The Age, http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Nationwide-defamation-laws- closer/2005/03/06/1110044254673.html, 7 March. Green, P., 2000, The Politics of the Future: The Internet and Democracy in Australia, Paper presented to the Australian Political Science Association’s Politics of the Future Seminar, Australian National University, 5 October. Griffith, G., 1996, Parliamentary Privilege: Use, Misuse and Proposals for Reform, Briefing Paper No 4/97, NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service, Parliament of New South Wales, Sydney. Griffiths, M., 2004, “e-Citizens: Blogging as Democratic Practice”, Electronic Journal of e- Government, Vol. 2, Iss. 3, December. Guy, N.K., 1995, Comments on Proprietary HTML, http://www.vcn.bc.ca/help/guides/proprietary.html, 6 November. Hagen, M., 1997, A Typology of Electronic Democracy, http://www.uni- giessen.de/fb03/vinci/labore/netz/hag_en.htm Hardy, G and G Johanson, 2002, Characteristics and Choices of Public Access Internet Users in Victorian Public Libraries, Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash University, May. Hall, N., 2001, Building Digital Bridges: Creating Inclusive Online Parliamentary Consultations, Hansard Society, London. Handford, P., 1983, “Defamation and the Conflict of Laws in Australia”, The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 452-476, April. Hardy, G. and G. Johanson, 2002, Characteristics and Choices of Public Access Internet Users in Victorian Public Libraries, Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash University, May. Hendriks, C., 2001, “The Ambiguous Role of Civil Society in Deliberative Democracy”, Refereed paper presented to the Jubilee conference of the Australasian Political Studies Association, Australian National University, Canberra, October. Hidalgo, J., M. López, and E. Sanz, 2000, “Combing Text and Heuristics for Cost-Sensitive Spam Filtering”, Proceedings of CoNLL-2000 and LLL-222, Lisbon, pp. 99-102. Hill, R., “E-Government and ODR”, Proceedings of the UNECE Forum on ODR 2003, June 30 - July 1, Palais des Nations, Geneva. Hitwise Pty Ltd, 2004, Correspondence 22/12/04 Hogan, M., N. Cook, and M. Henderson, 2004, The Queensland Government’s e-democracy agenda, A paper prepared for the Australian Electronic Governance Conference, Centre for Public Policy, University of Melbourne, Melbourne Victoria, 14th and 15th April. House of Lords, Select Committee on the Constitution, 2004, Parliament and the Legislative Process, Volume 1 Report, 29 October, The Stationary Office, London.

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Houses of the Oireachtas, 2002, “Electronic Voting in Dáil Chamber is Part of Major Oireachtas Reform Programme”, Press Release, 26 Feburary. Hull, C., 2004, “Uniform Defamation Laws are Long Overdue but will Face Stiff Opposition” On Line Opinion: Australia’s e-Journal of Social and Political Debate, http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=2085, 23 March. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2002, World Wide Web Access: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes, Version 3.2, http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/www_3/www_3.html, August 2002. Hutton, B., 2004, Report of the Inquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Dr David Kelly C.M.G., The Stationary Office, London. IDC Australia, 2005, “IDC's Asia/Pacific Top 10 Consumer Market Predictions for 2005”, IDC Pulse, http://www.idc.com.au/newsletters/idcpulse/detail.asp?intID=82, 16 February. IDeA, 2000, Elections - the 21st Century Model - An Evaluation of May 2000 Local Electoral Pilots, LGAresearch Report 14, IDeA Publications, London. Information Commissioner’s Office, 2003, Freedom of Information Act 2000: Preparing for Implementation - Publication Schemes Guidance and Methodology, Information Commissioner’s Office, Cheshire. Innis, M., 2005, “Stop, (Identity) Thief!”, Sydney Morning Herald, http://businessnetwork.smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/03/1802.html, 4 March. International Association for Public Participation, 2004, The IAP2 Public Participation Toolbox, http://iap2.org/practitionertools/toolbox.pdf, Denver. International Association for Public Participation, 2000, IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum, http://iap2.org/practitionertools/index.shtml, Denver. Internet Industry Association and Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Association, 2002, Accessible Web Action Plan, http://www.iia.net.au/AWAP_final_txt3.txt, April 2002. Internet Policy Institute, 2001, Report of the National Workshop on Internet Voting: Issues and Research Agenda, March. Jefferson, D., A. Rubin, B. Simons and D. Wagner, 2004, A Security Analysis of the Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment (SERVE), 21 January. Jenkins, C., 2005, “Another Huge Hutchinson Loss”, The Australian IT, 16 February. Johnston, J., 2004, “E-petitioning the Scottish Parliament”, The Parliamentarian: Journal of the Parliaments of the Commonwealth, Issue 3. Kiran, S., P. Lareau and S. Lloyd, 2002, PKI Basics – A Technical Perspective, PKI Forum, November. Kohno, T., A. Stubblefield, A. Rubin and D. Wallach, 2004, “Analysis of an Electronic Voting System”, IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy 2004, IEEE Computer Society Press, May. Kowalski,, J. 2002, Use of the Internet as a Consultation Tool for Victorian Local Governments: Report for VLGA. KPMG, 2000, Department of Human Services – Office of Housing: Transitional Housing Management Program Evaluation, KPMG Consulting, January. Kramer, R., 1999, “Weaving the Public into Public Administration”, Public Administration Review, Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 89-92. Kranich, N., 2004, The Information Commons: A Public Policy Report, Free Expression Policy Project, New York. Lallana, E., 2004, mGovernment Definitions and Models Page, eGovernment for Development, http://www.egov4dev.org/mgovdefn.htm, March.

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Leigh, C, 2004, Connecting People: communitybuilders.nsw Website, NSW Department of Community Services. Lewis, R.T., 1993, “New Technology and FOIA Processing”, http://fs.huntingdon.edu/jlewis/Prof/FOIAtech-AR93.htm Lin, C., 2003, “An Interactive Communication Technology Adoption Model”, Communication Theory, Volume 13, Number 3, pp. 345-65. Lundy, K., 2003, Cyberdemocracy and the Future of the Australian Senate, http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/pubs/pops/pop34/c18.htm MacAskill, E., R. Norton-Taylor and J. Borger, 2004 “The Spy Who Blew the Whistle”, The Guardian, 26 February. Macgregor, M., and M. Vincent, 2003, “Gloom, doom and Gutnick: Dow Jones & Company Inc. v Gutnick”, C & L Computers and Law, February/March. Macintosh, A. and A. Whyte, 2002, “An Evaluation Framework for e-Consultations?”, International Association for Official Statistics Conference, 27-29 August, London. Margaret Gee’s Australian Media Guide, 2005, Multicultural Press, 2267.xls McAllister, I., 2001, “A Crisis of Democracy – Again”, Policy, Summer. McCarthy, K., 2005, “MPs Heading for Electoral Online Disaster”, The Register, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/11/mps_websites_break_electoral_rules/, 11 February. McGrath, D., 2002, “The Most Advanced City in France”, Wired, http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,49996,00.html, 2 February. Medew, R., 2003, Research Report 1 - Informal Vote Survey House of Representatives - 2001 Election, Australian Electoral Commission, Canberra. Melville, R., 2003, Changing Roles Of Community-sector Peak Bodies In Neo-liberal Policy Environment in Australia, An Arc Funded Study (2000–2002): Final Report, Institute of Social Change and Critical Inquiry, Faculty of Arts, University of Wollongong, September. Meredyth, D., L. Hopkins, S. Weing and J. Thomas, 2002, “Measuring Social Capital in a Networked Housing Estate”, First Monday, Volume 7, Number 10. Middlebrook, J., 2003, Voting Methods in Parliament, Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments, Geneva Meeting, 1-3 October. Milestone Systems, 2005, “Australian City Trials Wireless Video Surveillance for Greater Safety”, Latest News, http://www.milestonesys.com/?cid=425&newsId=251 Millar, R., 2004, “Councillor Probed Over False Names”, The Age, 17 June. Minogue, K., 1987 “Democracy”, Political Science and Political Theory, J. Kuper (ed.), Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. Morris, G., R. Scott and A. Woodwood, 2002, Polls Apart – A Future for Accessible Democracy: An Evaluation of the Accessibility of the May 2002 Electoral Pilot Voting Schemes, Scope, London. Mosner, E., C. Spiezle and J. Emerman, 2003, The Convergence of the Aging Workforce and Accessibl Technology: The Implications for Commerce, Business ad Policy, Microsoft Corporation, July. Muir, K., 2004, Connecting Communities with CTLCs: From the Digital Divide to Social Inclusion, The Smith Family. Multimedia Victoria, 2004a, Connecting Communities: The Second Wave, State of Victoria, Melbourne. Multimedia Victoria, 2004b, My Connected Community, http://www.mmv.vic.gov.au/CA256985002E8DB7/All/8ED1BD95F84057FB4A2569A3007B477 8?OpenDocument&1=30Connecting_Communities~&2=12My+Connected+Community~&3=~

250 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

National Conference of State Legislatures, 2003, Making E-Communications Work: Strategies to Manage Web Sites and E-Mail, National Conference of State Legislatures, Denver, February. National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council, 2005, Community Radio and TV Stations with Programs in Non-English Languages, http://www.nembc.org.au/cgi- bin/station_search.cgi?state=VIC&submit=See+Stations+within+this+State National Information and Library Service 2004, Accessible Electronic Documents, http://www.nils.org.au/ais/print/resources/electronic_docs.html National Office for the Information Economy, 2003a, SPAM: Final Report of the NOIE Review of the SPAM Problem and How it Can be Countered, National Office for the Information Economy, Canberra. National Office for the Information Economy, 2003b, The Current State of Play: Online Participation and Activities, National Office for the Information Economy, Canberra. National Office for the Information Economy, 2004, The Current State of Play: Online Participation and Activities, National Office for the Information Economy, Canberra. National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Economics and Statistics Administration, 2001, A Nation Online: How Americans are Expanding their Use of the Internet, http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/dn/html/toc.htm Needham, K., 2005, “Online Bankers Face Double Layer of Security”, Sydney Morning Herald, http://businessnetwork.smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/11/1833.html, 11 March. Nevada Legislature, Undated, Personalised Bill Tracking, https://www.leg.state.nv.us/73rd/Subscriber/ Norris, P., 2004, “E-campaigning and E-democracy: Experiments in E-voting v. All-Postal Voting Facilities in UK Local Elections”, Paper for the conference on Political Communications in the 21st Century, St Margaret’s College, University of Otago, New Zealand, January. Norris, P., 2003, “Social Capital and ICTs: Widening or Reinforcing Social Networks?”, Paper presented at the International Forum on Social Capital for Economic Revival, Tokyo 24-24 March. O’Malley, P., undated, Design Criteria for Public Consultation Programs in the Federal Government Setting, O’Malley Communications Inc. Office of Telecommunications, 1999, Homes Without a Fixed Line Phone - Who are They?, http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/1999/consumer/unphoned.htm Office of the Chief Information Officer, 2004a, Website Management Framework Fact Sheet, http://www.dpc.vic.gov.au/CA256D800027B102/Lookup/CIO- WebsiteManagementFrameworkfactsheet/$file/WMF%20Fact%20Sheet-6Oct04-mg-v0.1- CIO.pdf, 19 October. Office of the Chief Information Officer, 2004b, Whole of Victorian Government Website Standards - Standards Pack 1, http://www.dpc.vic.gov.au/CA256D800027B102/Lookup/CIO- WebsiteManagementFrameworkStandardsPack1/$file/WMFStandardsPack1-CIO.pdf, 1 December. Office of the e-Envoy, 2002, Guidelines for UK Government Websites: Illustrated Handbook for Web Management Teams, CD-ROM, May. Olsen, J., 2000, “World-first Virtual Electorate for South Australia”, Press Release, 17 August. OpenOffice.org, undated, OpenOffice.org 1.1 - Product Description, http://www.openoffice.org/product/index.html Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2003, Engaging Citzens Online for Better Policy-Making, Policy Brief, March 2003.

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Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2001, Citizens as Partners: Information, Consultation, and Public Participation in Policy Making, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris. Otis, N. and G. Johanson, 2004, “Community Building and Information and Communications Technologies: Current Knowledge”, A Paper presented at the Australian Electronic Governance Conference 2004, Melbourne, 14-15 April. Parkinson, J., 2002, “Plus ça Change: The use of deliberation by new public Managers”, Refereed paper presented to the Jubilee conference of the Australasian Political Studies Association, Australian National University, Canberra, October. Parliament of Victoria, 2004, Fact Sheet 8 – Petitions, http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/assembly/FactSheet8/facts8A.html Parry, K., 2004, “Webcasting of Parliament”, Standard Note, SN/PC/1761, House of Commons, Parliament and Constitution Centre, 5 February. Penfold, C., 2001, “Australian Internet Censorship in International Context”, Cyberspace Law Resources, http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/CyberLRes/2001/14/, No. 14. Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 2004, Cable and Internet Loom Large in Fragmented Political News Universe: Perceptions of Partisan Bias Seen as Growing, Especially by Democrats, January 11, http://people- press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=200 Potapchuk, W., 2002, “Neighbourhood Action Initiative: Engaging Citizens in Real Change”, The Collaborative Leadership Fieldbook, Chrislip (ed.), Jossey-Bass. Print, M., L. Saha and K. Edwards, 2004, Youth Electoral Study - Report 1: Enrolment and Voting, http://www.aec.gov.au/_content/what/publications/research_papers/youth_study_1/index.htm, December. Procedures and Privileges Committee, 2003, Use of Video-Conferencing by Legislative Assembly Committees, Report No. 2, Parliament of Western Australia. Prothro, J.W. and C.M. Grigg, 1970, “Fundemental Principles of Democracy: Bases of Agreement and Disagreement”, The Fibre of Democracy: Readings in American Government and Politics, W Brigman and J Vanderoef, eds, Canfield Press, San Francisco. PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), 2005, Freedom of Information, http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/vers/toolkit/regulatory/foi.htm PROV, 2003, Management of Electronic Records PROS 99/007 (Version 2), 31 July. PROV, 2002, Email as Records: Advice to Victorian Government Agencies, January. Public Works and Services Canada, 2003, “On-Line Consultation Technologies Report”, Government and Technology Partnerships – Technology Brief, Public Works and Services Canada, Technology and Informatics Program, 8 September. Queensland Parliament, 2002, E-Petitions: A Trial of Online Petitioning, Queensland Parliament, Brisbane. Reno, J., 1999, “The Freedom of Information Act”, Memorandum for Heads of Departments and Agencies, Office of the Attorney General, September 3. Richard, E., 2000, “Lessons from the Network Model for Online Engagement of Citizens: A project by Canadian Policy Research Networks with Public Works and Governments Services Canada”, Paper presented to the LENTIC Colloquium: Quelle administration publique dans la société de l’information?, 18-19 May, Brussels. Ricketson, M., 2002, “Keeping the Lid on Information”, The Age, 28 November. Rosegrant, S., 2003, Listening to the City: Rebuilding at New York’s World Trade Center Site, Kennedy School of Government Case Program, C14-03-1687.0, Harvard University.

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Rural and Regional Services and Development Committee, 2005, Correspondence 01/04/05. Salamone, S., 2002, “Instant Messaging: Networking Nightmare”, Bio IT World, http://www.bio- itworld.com/archive/microscope/102502.html, 25 October. SCAG Working Group of State and Territory Officers, 2004, Proposal for Uniform Defamation Laws, July. Scales, I., 1997, Consultation & People With a Disability: Issues for Public Sector Managers in NSW, Disability Council of NSW, January. Schneier, B., 2005, The Failure of Two-Factor Authentication, http://www.schneier.com/crypto- gram-0503.html#2, 15 March. Scope, 2004, Scope 1-in-4 Poll: Disability and the Voting Booth, Scope Victoria, October. Scottish Executive, 2003, Stewardship and Responsibility: A Policy Framework for Private Housing in Scotland, The Final Report and Recommendations of the Housing Improvement Task Force, Edinburgh. Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee, 2002a, Inquiry into the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994, 54th Parliament of Victoria, September. Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee, 2002b, Inquiry into Electronic Democracy: Evidence obtained in Europe - June-July 2002, 54th Parliament of Victoria. Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee, 2002c, Improving Victoria’s Parliamentary Committee System, 54th Parliament of Victoria, May. Servon, L., 2002, Bridging the Digital Divide: Technology, Community, and Public Policy, Blackwell, Malden. Shamos, M., 2004, Paper v. Electronic Voting Records – An Assessment, http://euro.ecom.cmu.edu/people/faculty/mshamos/paper.htm, April. Siedman, E., 1977, “Why Not Qualitative Analysis?”, Public Administration Review, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 415-417. Smith, R., 2002, Electronic Voting: Benefits and Risks, Issues and Trends in Crime and Criminal Justice, No. 224, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra. Snell, R., 2002, “FoI and the Delivery of Diminishing Returns, or How Spin-Doctors and Journalists have Mistreated a Volatile Reform”, Australian Review of Public Affairs, Volume 3, Number 2, March. Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and Persons with Disabilities, 2003, Listening to Canadians: A First View of the Future of the Canada Pension Plan Disability Program, House of Commons, Canada. State Library of Victoria, 2005, Correspondence 17/03/05. State Library of Victoria, 2003, Managing Public PCs: An Overview for Victoria’s Public Libraries, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne. State of Queensland, 2005, Consistent User Experience, http://www.qld.gov.au/web/cue/overview/ Steinberg, T., 2001, A Strategic Guide for Online MPs, Hansard Society, London. Sternstein, A., 2005, “It Pays to Consolidate”, FCW.COM, http://www.fcw.com/article88269, 16 March. Stirling, B., 2003, “Linux: The Next Generation”, Wired, http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.12/view.html?pg=4 The Advertiser, 2005, “Uniform Laws on Way”, News.com.au, http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12427074-2682,00.html, 3 March. The Age, 2005, “Neither Open Nor Accountable”, The Age, editorial, 22/02/05, p. 12. The Age, 2004, “Bracks Fails Again to Deliver on FOI”, The Age, editorial, 11/05/04, p. 10.

253 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

The Scotsman, 2004, “Whitehall Undermining Spirit of Freedom of Information Act”, “PA” News, December 18, http://news.scotsman.com/print.cfm?id=3904314&referringtemplate=http%3A%2F%2Fnews% 2Escotsman%2Ecom%2Flat The Southern Cross Group, 2004, Direct Representation for an Overseas Electorate, http://www.southern-cross-group.org/overseasvoting/directrepresentos.html, 9 October. Thompson, M, 2005, “Bracks Government Boosts Disabled Internet Access”, Media Release, 21 March. Thompson, B. and D. van der Toorn, 2003, “World Wide Internet Defamation Law Divided”, FindLaw Australia, http://www.findlaw.com.au/articles/printArticle.asp?id=9966, September. Transnational Law Associates, 2002, “In Action Against Dow Jones & Co. for Libel over Internet, Australian High Court Rules that Tort Took Place at Point Where Subscribers Downloaded it in Victoria State, Plaintiff's Work Place, thus Victorian Defamation Law Governs and its Courts are Appropriate Fora in Which to Litigate”, International Law Update, Vol. 8, iss. 2, p. ITEM03303002, December. Verified Voting Foundation, 2004, E-Voting Problems in Recent Elections. Victorian Casino Gaming Authority, 1999, Email Policy, September. Victorian Electoral Commission, 2004, Annual Report 1 July 2003 – 30 June 2004, Victorian Electoral Commission, Melbourne. Victorian Electoral Commission, 2003b, Annual Report 1 July 2002 – 30 June 2003, Victorian Electoral Commission, Melbourne. Victorian Electoral Commission, 2003a, Report to Parliament on the 2002 Victorian State Election, Victorian Electoral Commission, Melbourne. Victorian Office of Multicultural Affairs, 2003, Whole of Government 2002-03 Report, Victorian Office of Multicultural Affairs, Melbourne. Virginia Regulatory Town Hall, Undated, How to use the Town Hall, http://www.townhall.state.va.us/dpbpages/howtouse.cfm Vromen, A., 2004, “Young Australians are not Apathetic, Deviant, and Technology-Dependent”, On Line Opinion, June 17, http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=2296 Wagner, J., 2004, “E-Voting Experts SERVE Up Controversy”, Internetnews.com, http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3302311, 22 January. Waltner, C., 2005, “Cisco CEO Chambers Details Company's Vision for Network Security”, News@Cisco, Media Release, http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2005/ts_022205.html?CMP=AF17154, 22 February. Ward, S., W. Lusoli and R. Gibson, 2004, Directory of Representatives' Websites: UK and Australia, http://www.esri.salford.ac.uk/ESRCResearchproject/assemblies.php, December. Weaver, G., 2003, “PC Replacement Strategy”, IT Focus, Smurfit-Stone. Weinberg, A., Undated, “Stress and the Politician”, Under Pressure: Are We Getting the Most from our MPs?, Power (ed.), Hansard Society, London Whitehorse Strategic Group, 2003, Review of the Provision of Public Internet Access in Victoria, December. Whyte J. and B. Marlow, 1999, Beliefs and Attitudes of Older Adults Toward Voluntary Use Of The Internet: An Exploratory Investigation, Interfaces for the Global Community, Charles Sturt University , November 28 - November 30. Woolrich, N., 2005, “Net Banking May see End of Traditional Banking”, PM, http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2005/s1312882.htm, 28 February.

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World Summit on the Information Society, 2005, What is the Information Society, http://www.itu.int/wsis/basic/faqs_answer.asp?lang=en&faq_id=102 World Wide Web Consortium, 2004a, Extensible HyperText Markup Language (HTML), http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/ World Wide Web Consortium, 2004b, Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Third Edition), http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-xml-20040204/ Young, I., 2000, Inclusion and Democracy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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256 Appendix A – Submissions, Witnesses, and Discussion List Participants during the 55th Parliamentary Inquiry

Submissions40

No. Name/Organisation 1. Peter Carter, Casey–Cardinia Library Corporation 2. K. Grover 3. Tony Clark, National Information and Library Service 4. Bruce Copland 5. Larry Stillman (personal) 5(a). Larry Stillman, Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash University 6. G Lloyd-Smith 7. Julie Rae, VicLink 8. Ralph McKay, Big Pulses 9. Andrew Stranieri, JustSys 10. Richard Kid, SecureVote 11. Graeme Emonson, Knox City Council 12. Philip Shanahan, City of Darebinl 13. Dr Karin Geiselhart 14. Brendan O’Loughlin and Janet Chimonyo 15. Claude Cullino, City of Manningham 16. Craig Burton, Everyone Counts 17. Nick Pastalatzis 18. J.D. Wilson, Wellington Shire Council 19. Janice van de Velde, Library Board of Victoria 20. John Power, Blind Citizens Australia 21. Dr Simon Evans, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne 22. David Graham, City of Port Phillip 23. Graham Young, National Forum 24. Rose Balian, International Conflict Resolution Centre 25. S.H. Buttery 26. Fiona Smith, Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria 27. Victorian Electoral Commissioner

40 Submissions from the 55th Parliament are noted with an “a” designator in the report, e.g. “Submission No. a33”.

257 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

28. Public Record Office 29. David Adams, Department of Victorian Communities 30. Professor Marcus Wigan 31. Kevin R. Beck 32. Carol Boughton, Software Improvements Pty Ltd 33. Ben Hardman MP, Rural and Regional Services and Development Committee

Briefings

12 April 2004, Melbourne • Professor Stephen Coleman, Oxford Internet Institute 25 November 2005, Melbourne

• Andrew Monaghan, Multimedia Victoria

25 November 2004, Video-conference Melbourne-Canberra • Mr Philip Green, Electoral Commissioner; and Ms Alison Purvis, Project and Office Manager ACT Electoral Commission 3 December 2004, Melbourne • Mr David Kelly, Acting Manager, Elections Branch; Mr Simon Handcock, IT Manager; Mr Chris Gribbin, Policy Officer; Mr Paul Thornton-Smith, Senior Information and Research Manager; and Mr Doug Beecroft, Acting Electoral Commissioner Victorian Electoral Commission 20 December 2004, Melbourne • Mr Stephen Wright, Hutchinson Telecommunications 1 March 2005, Canberra • Mr Richard Kidd, General Manager Elections; Mr Bruce Hinley; and Mr Ian Parker SecureVote Pty Ltd • Dr Roger Clarke, Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd • Mr Tom Worthington, Australian National University

258 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

Public Hearings

16 February 2005 • Professor Don Schauder, Centre for Community Networking Research • Ms Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, Chief Executive Officer and State Librarian; Mr A. Haeusler, Manager, VicNet State Library of Victoria • Randall Straw, Executive Director; and Ms Donna Martin, Manager, Community Development Multimedia Victoria • Judy Maddigan MP, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly; Monica Gould, MLC, President of the Legislative Council; Ray Purdey, Clerk of the Parliaments and Clerk of the Legislative Assembly; Matthew Tricarico, Acting Clerk of the Legislative Council; Dr S. O’Kane, Secretary, Department of Parliamentary Services; Mr C. Gentner, Manager, Hansard; Mr J. Lovell, Operations Manager, Information Technology, Department of Parliamentary Services, Parliament of Victoria 17 February 2005 • Dr David Adams, Executive Director, Strategic Policy and Research; and Ms Joanne Duffy, Director, Government & Community Information Department of Victorian Communities • Dr Steve Hodgkinson, Office of the Chief Information Officer Department of Premier and Cabinet • Mr John Taylor, Deputy Ombudsman, The Ombudsman Victoria • Dr Claire Noone, Acting Executive Director, Corporate Services Department of Justice • Ms Claire Murrell, Policy Development Officer; and Mr Alan Davies, Communications Officer Victorian Local Governance Association • Mr Rob Spence, Chief Executive Officer; and Mr John Hennessy, Sector Development Consultant Municipal Association of Victoria 18 February 2005 • Mr Paul Chadwick, Privacy Commissioner; and Ms Melanie Casley, Policy and Compliance Officer Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner

259 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

• Mr Craig Burton, Director, Everyone Counts • Mr Steve Tully, Electoral Commissioner; Mr Doug Beecroft, Deputy Electoral Commissioner; and Mr Simon Hancock, IT Manager Victorian Electoral Commission • Mr John Power, National Policy Officer; and Ms Nadia Mattiazzo, Victorian Advocacy Officer Blind Citizens Australia • Mr Tony Clark, Business Manager, Vision Australia Foundation • Dr Andrew Arch, Manager, Online Accessibility Consulting, National Information and Library Service

Schedule of Meetings in North America, 2-17 August 2004

San Francisco • Trudell Een, Project Director, Smartvoter.org, League of Women Voters, California • Professor Paul Grabowicz, Director of New Media Program, University of California • Associate Professor David Wagner, Computer Scientist, University of California • Will Doherty, Executive Director, Verified Voting Foundation Sacramento • Mark Kyle, Undersecretary of State, Marc Carrel, Assistant Secretary of State, Linda Cabatic, Chief Council, State of California

• Kim Alexander, Executive Director, Calvoter.org Washington • Virginia Bramante, Chuck Holmgren, Crossroad Strategies • Joe Goldman, Senior Associate, America Speaks • Kathy Goldschmidt and Professor Dennis Johnson, Congress Online Project

260 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

• Ari Schwartz, Center for Democracy and Technology • Dr Michael Cornfield, Pew and the American Internet Life Project • Chris Casey, Principal, ChrisCasey Communications • Pam Fielding, Principal, e-advocates • Sean Murphy, Chief Operating Officer, Capital Advantage • Bill Wyatt, Public Affairs Manager, National Conference of State Legislatures • Professor Peter Levine, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, Michigan State University • Jodee Winterhof, National Political Director, America Coming Together New York • Michael Weiksner and Scott Reents, Founders, e-thePeople • Associate Professor Beth Noveck, Director, New York University Law School • Mark Weiss, Director, Weblab • Rita Henley Jensen, Editor-in-Chief, Women’s eNews • Stephen Karam, Director IM/IT Strategic Planning, Systemscope Inc Ottawa • Thomas B. Riley and Cathia Riley, Commonwealth Centre for Electronic Governance • Dr Liss Jeffrey, Director, byDesign eLab; and • Steve Lee, Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development • Elisabeth Richard, Online Consultation Technologies Centre of Expertise; and • Alison Fraser, Assistant Deputy Minister, Democratic Renewal

261 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

• Elaine Diguer, Director, Multimedia Services & ISD Business Planning, Parliament of Canada • Jay Kaufman, Principal, KTA Centre for Collaborative Government David Hume, Research Analyst, KTA Centre for Collaborative Government • Mark Parent, MLA, Nova Scotia Rose Langhout, Government of Ontario • Jeff Bray, MLA, British Columbia • Barb Whittaker, Procedural Clerk, Parliament of Canada

Discussion List Participants

• John Briggs • Jeremy Buckley • Lachlan Cannon • Peter Chen • Matthew Cook • Adam Creed • Andrew Cunningham • Doug Dew • Ken Dray • Brendan Fitzgerald • David Keegel • Daniel Klein • Chris Gribbin • Tom Griffiths • Stuart Hall • Richard Hayward • Tennessee Leeuwenburg • Michael Leighton • Pauline Magee • Peta McCammon • Colleen McCombe • Rod Medew • Denis Moriarty • Ian Muchamore • David Newman • Caroline Ramsden • Jim Stewart • Jo Tenner • Lisel Thomas

262 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

• Leanne Trembath • Janice Van de Velde • Rolf von Behrens • Jan Whitaker • Rosie Williams • Tom Worthington

263 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

264 Appendix B – Submissions and Briefings to the 54th Parliamentary Inquiry

Submissions41

The Committee should have regard to experiences in Victoria and other jurisdictions as well as the evidence on e-democracy included in the discussion paper undertaken by the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee of the 54th Parliament.

Extract from Terms of Reference

No. Name/Organisation 1. Dr R. Smith, Australian Institute of Criminology 2. Mr W. Carper 3. Mr J. Balmer 4. Mr T. Plowman MP, Member for Benambra, Parliament of Victoria 5. Mr R. Brons 6. Mr C. Schroeder 7. Mr H Evans, Clerk of the Senate, Commonwealth Parliament 8. Dr D. Sykes, Manager, Policy and Education, Office of the Public Advocate 9. Mr/s G. Lloyd-Smith 10. Mr B. Scott LLB 11. Mr B. Whitehead, Chairman, Social Policy Communications, Victorian Farmers Federation 12. Mr N. Pastalatzis 13. Mr L. Stillman, E-Community Networking Association 14. Mr D. Shaw, Edith Cowan Univ. 15. Mr M. James 16. Dr P. Chen, Dr W. Roberts and Dr R. Gibson, The University of Melbourne 17. Jeremy G. Buckley 18. David Russell, Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce 19. Patsie Frawley, Disability Advisory Council 20. Mike Hill, Victorian Local Government Association 21. Frances H. Awcock, State Library of Victoria

41 Submissions from the 54th Parliament are noted with an “b” designator in the report, e.g. “Submission No. b33".

265 Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Schedule of Meetings in Europe, June-July 2002

United Kingdom

• Mr Paul Waller, Chief Executive Mr Mark Rickard, Policy Officer Office of the e-Envoy • Mr Richard Allan MP Ms Anne Campbell MP Mr Brian White MP House of Commons – Select Committee on Public Administration • Dr Stephen Coleman, Advisor Mr Brian Wright MP (United Kingdom Parliament) Ms Carolyn Bennett MP (Canadian Parliament) Hansard Society • Mr Sam Younger, Chairman Mr Roger Creedon, Chief Executive Mr Tom Hawthorn, Assistant Policy Manager Electoral Commission Sweden

• Mr Roger Petersson, Deputy Director Mr Matthias Ludwigsson, Policy Officer Justice Ministry • Mr Bengt Lindstedt, Manager Municipality of Bollnas • Ms Uta Larse, Policy Development Officer National Election Authority • Ms Orsa Karsa, Information Systems Officer Mr Magnus Korkala, Parliamentary Webmaster Riksdag (Parliament) Germany

• Mr Oliver Ruess, Constitutional Officer Ms Pia Karger, Information Technology Officer Federal Interior Ministry • Dr Martin Mayer, MP Mr Joerg Tauss, MP Bundestag (Parliament)

266 Inquiry into Electronic Democracy

France

• Mr Andre Santini, Mayor Mr Eric Legale, Director Municipality of Issy-Les-Moulineaux • Mr Michel Gentot, Director Ms Marie Georges, Divisional Chief Commission Nationale de L’Informatique et des Libertés [CNIL] (PRIVACY AUTHORITY) European Institutions

• Mr Jack Blackwell, Parliamentary Information Service European Parliament • Ms Lea Vatanen, Policy Officer European Commission • Mr Wim Verstraeten, Co-ordinator Telepolis Project OECD • Mr Cesar Cordova-Novion, Deputy Head Regulatory Reform Program

267