The Australian Government Information Management Office Archive

E-democracy Community of Practice Meetings

This page contains information on previous meetings and copies of presentations made. If you have difficulty downloading the presentations, please email engagement@finance.gov.au

2005

Friday 9 December 2005, 10.00 am - 1.00 pm AEST
By teleconference from Canberra to various locations

At this meeting, the group endorsed its final draft of the cross-jurisdictional principles on online engagement, in preparation for action in 2006 to seek endorsement through the Online and Communications Council.  Members noted their endorsement was principally as representatives of their agencies, or in some cases representatives of specific area in the agencies, not of whole jurisdictions.

The group discussed online discussion sharespaces as a tool for  its own interaction.

A discussion of the group's future activities and role showed that members derived the most benefit from the information sharing activities - by email circulation; presentations by speakers at meetings; associated events etc.  There was interest in commissioning thought pieces on e-democracy, particularly from an Australian context.  The need to remain connected with the wider community engagement agenda (offline as well as online) and with the wider community (including non-government) was emphasised.

Tuesday 16 August 2005, 9.00 am - 11.00 am AEST
Brisbane at the International Conference on Engaging Communities and by teleconference to various locations

This meeting was held during the course of the International Conference on Engaging Communities www.engagingcommunities2005.org event, an initiative of the Queensland Government and the United National on 14-17 August 2005.  During the meeting, the group workshopped the draft cross-jurisdictional principles on online engagement.  The meeting also featured presentations from three international representatives on the United Kingdom's and New Zealand's approaches to e-democracy and online engagement.  Speakers included:

1. Mr Ian Johnson, Democratic Engagement Branch, Department for Constitutional Affairs, United Kingdom.
   
2. Ms Holly Robertson, Royal Borough of Kingston on Thames, United Kingdom.
   
3. Ms Laura Sommer, E-government Unit, State Services Commission, New Zealand.

The meeting was extended to include non-government stakeholders from community and academia.  These participants, who included Professor Stephen Coleman of the Oxford Internet Institute, United Kingdom, were asked to comment on the principles.  Non-government participants endorsed the development of the principles and efforts to build agency capacity to engage.

Thursday 28 July 2005, 10.30 am - 1.30 pm AEST
By teleconference from Canberra to various locations

At this meeting, the group chiefly discussed its development of the cross-jurisdictional principles on online engagement, and its methodology for engaging non-government stakeholders including at the forthcoming International Conference on Engaging Communities www.engagingcommunities2005.org in Brisbane on 14-17 August 2005. 

Tuesday 5 April 2005, 9.00am - 4.30pm
Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Training, Adelaide

This meeting featured a presentation from Mr James Tizard from the South Australian state Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Training on Talking Point, the South Australian state government 2000 initiative. The meeting also investigated the potential development of cross-jurisdictional principles on e-democracy by the group. The group agreed on the following major actions:

• Develop cross-jurisdictional principles on e-democracy;
• Accept operating principles for the group;
• Include approved government representatives from other countries;
• Expand networks through formal invitations to other government agencies and initiatives to include selected non-government stakeholders; and 
• Investigate virtual discussion facilities for the group. 

Talking Point presentation (PDF, 552 kB)

2004

Wednesday 17 November 2004, 2.45 - 4.45 pm
Queensland Parliament House, Brisbane

This meeting was held during the course of the Enabling Government, Engaging Communities event held by AGIMO in partnership with Queensland Government and Cisco Systems. Mr Steven Clift, US commentator on e-democracy and keynote speaker at the event, joined the group at the meeting and addressed two scenarios put to him, as follows:

Scenario 1

There are many ways that e-democracy can be conceptualised and operationalised.  In addition, many other terms are used interchangeably with e-democracy (including e?government, e-governance, e-engagement, e-participation) both within and outside of government.  It is therefore important that we explore and understand the breadth of such meanings in order to develop a shared understanding of what the concept entails.

Scenario 2

How can we measure ‘success’ in e-democracy and what sorts of quantitative and qualitative information should we be collecting and drawing on?

More details on Mr Clift's response to these scenarios and discussion that ensued is available by emailing engagement@finance.gov.au

Wednesday 11 August 2004
Australian Government Information Management Office, Canberra

The inaugural meeting of the group established the community of practice and outlined its intent. The group agreed its goals and purpose and discussed its possible operating principles. Members noted their interest in e-democracy as follows:

• community connectivity and working with community organisations;
• policy development in the area of engagement;
•  work relating to use of information and communication technologies by government, including monitoring effects of e-activity;
• coverage of constitutional matters;
• work on online engagement strategies, including interest in a whole of government engagement strategy; and
• work relating to consultation with stakeholders.

A presentation on the Queensland Government's Ministers Online initiative was provided by Mr Damian Lewis from the Department of Communities.

Ministers Online (PDF, 423 kB)