“Some of the best and most community and citizen orientated websites are in the local government sector,” says ACT Senator Kate Lundy.


By Angela Dorizas

ACT Senator Kate Lundy, a long-time advocate for open government and a former shadow minister for IT, has called for greater collaboration between the spheres of government to develop a citizen-centric approach to online engagement.

In an interview with Government News, Lundy praised the work of local government in adopting web-based tools, describing the sector as one of the “strongest innovators”.

“Some of the best and most community and citizen orientated websites are in the local government sector,” she said.

“The information and services they provide are about that physical community and it has a great deal of meaning.

“I think they hold the key to that point in understanding what a citizen is looking for online.

“If we’re genuine about being citizen-centric then we need to go to the sphere of government that’s currently closest to the community and be informed by them.”

Lundy said she was often the final port of call for frustrated constituents unable to access government services online.

“It can be very difficult for people to find out what types of services that they actually require from the Commonwealth, unless they know what they’re looking for,” she said.

“There’s very little intuitive opportunity for citizens to be able to say who they are, what their circumstances are and then have the services come to them in an online environment.

“How to use a government search engine remains a mystery to most.”

Lundy said the Australian Government was excited about Government 2.0, but agencies and departments were hesitant to implement social networking tools.

“I actually think that because it is so new government agencies and departments don’t quite know how to frame a policy around what that interaction ought to look like,” Lundy said.

“They may be worried that it looks and feels like a political relationship or it has a political overtone – it’s not the case. It’s a means by which they can better enhance their service delivery.”

Read the full interview in the September issue of Government News magazine.