Inquiry Into Electronic Democracy

SCRUTINY OF ACTS AND REGULATIONS COMMITTEE 55th Parliament 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 ii 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 v Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee 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 vii Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee 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’

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