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Online Availability of Government Entities' Documents Tabled in the Australian Parliament
The objectives of the audit were to:
- determine the extent to which government entities complied with the requirement to publish and maintain documents online that were presented to the Parliament;
- evaluate selected government entities' policies and practices regarding online publishing; and
- assess AGIMO's policy and guidance in support of online publishing.
To address this objective the audit was conducted in three parts. Firstly, we reviewed a sample of papers tabled between 2000 and 2008 in order to assess their availability online. Next, we examined the online publishing practices of five government entities. These were the: Australian Federal Police (AFP); Department of the House of Representatives (DHR); Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government (Infrastructure); Department of the Treasury (Treasury); and National Archives of Australia (NAA). Finally, we reviewed AGIMO's role in supporting government entities in their online publishing practices.
Summary
Introduction
Every year, documents are presented to the Senate, the House of Representatives, or to both Houses of the Parliament for their consideration.1 The tabling of documents is an important means of keeping the Parliament informed of the Government's activities. It demonstrates the accountability of the Government to the Parliament and the community, and provides an important source of information to Senators and Members as well as placing information on the public record.2
Approximately 7000 documents are tabled in Parliament annually. In this report, documents published by government entities3 and presented for tabling by the relevant Minister4 are referred to as ‘tabled papers'. On average since 2000, approximately 760 tabled papers5 are presented to the Parliament each year. Some tabled documents, including tabled papers, are deemed to be of a substantial nature by Parliament and are included in the Parliamentary Paper Series, these documents are referred to as ‘Parliamentary Papers'.
Government policy6 requires government entities to provide printed copies of tabled papers to a range of recipients including the Senate Table Office (60 copies); the House of Representatives Table Office (60 copies); the Press Gallery (60 copies), and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) Table Office (five copies).7 In addition, amongst other things, government entities are required to provide 100 copies of Parliamentary Paper Series documents for distribution to eligible organisations.8
There are also requirements for entities to publish electronic versions of tabled documents. In April 2000 the Government released the Government Online - The Commonwealth Government's Strategy which contained the Online Information Service Obligations (OISOs). The OISOs were intended to increase the amount of information on Australian Government entities and their services that were available online. Among the OISOs was the requirement that government entities publish online all documents presented to the Parliament.
The 2006 e-Government Strategy, Responsive Government: A New Service Agenda sought to increase government entities' use of the internet to deliver programs and services. In line with this policy, the then Department of Finance and Administration, through the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), launched in May 2007 the Australian Government Web Publishing Guide (WPG).10 The WPG supersedes the OISOs and advises entities on web publishing, and, amongst other topics, it reinforces the requirement to publish online all documents presented to the Parliament.
In May 2006, the Joint Committee on Publications (Joint Committee) released the report Distribution of the Parliamentary Papers Series, which discussed, among other things, the benefits that an electronic version of the Parliamentary Papers Series could deliver.11
The Joint Committee's 2006 report noted that no organisation was responsible for monitoring and ensuring that appropriate government documentation was published online. To address this concern, the Joint Committee proposed that the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) regularly monitor the online availability of government documents, especially those presented to the Parliament. In March 2007 the Auditor-General wrote to the Joint Committee's Secretary advising that he would undertake an audit of the availability of government documents online. He also advised that any subsequent audits would be dependent on the results of the initial audit. This audit, which commenced in June 2008, is the outcome of the Auditor-General's decision.
Audit objective and approach
The objectives of the audit were to:
- determine the extent to which government entities complied with the requirement to publish and maintain documents online that were presented to the Parliament;
- evaluate selected government entities' policies and practices regarding online publishing; and
- assess AGIMO's policy and guidance in support of online publishing.
To address this objective the audit was conducted in three parts. Firstly, we reviewed a sample of papers tabled between 2000 and 2008 in order to assess their availability online.12 Next, we examined the online publishing practices of five government entities. These were the: Australian Federal Police (AFP); Department of the House of Representatives (DHR); Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government (Infrastructure); Department of the Treasury (Treasury); and National Archives of Australia (NAA). Finally, we reviewed AGIMO's role in supporting government entities in their online publishing practices.
Audit conclusion
Current Government policy seeks to increase government entities' use of the internet to deliver programs and services, and in particular, requires government entities to publish online all documents they present to the Parliament. The policy provides greater levels of availability of information about government. In this context key elements of online availability include that the document exists, is easily discovered, is accessible, and is consistent with the printed version.
Overall, since 2000 the level of existence and ease of discovery of online tabled papers, as well as the consistency with printed versions, has improved. Specifically, some 90 per cent of 2008 tabled papers we examined could be found online. This represents a significant improvement since 2000, when only 54 per cent of the tabled papers we examined were found online. Improvements in online availability can be attributed to a number of factors, including an increased focus on the delivery of online services by government entities, and the use of well-defined processes for publishing documents online, including the use of specialised software to manage content.
Notwithstanding, at least 10 per cent of the tabled papers examined in any one year were not available online. This indicates that not all government entities have implemented the relevant policies, thereby limiting web users' access to these key Parliamentary documents.
Practices in the audited entities generally supported compliance with the online publishing requirements. In particular, each audited agency had internal guidance material, well-defined processes and an assurance regime for online content. Non-compliance with online publishing requirements is mainly attributed to the publishing entity not having a web presence; or the document was not published online due to a lack of awareness of the requirements; or the reorganisation of entities and portfolios following Machinery of Government (MOG) changes is likely to have impacted on entities' website addresses. In essence, the merger or creation of a government entity and the subsequent new website can result in documents or links to such documents being inadvertently removed. In either case, web users are hindered or prevented from finding documents online.
In regards to the online accessibility of tabled papers, which is the ability to view them online, our testing shows that most online documents were available in portable document format (PDF) only. Documents are not typically available in other formats, such as hypertext mark-up language (HTML) or rich text format (RTF). This can be problematic for people with disabilities. For this reason, government entities should review their online documentation with reference to the Australian Human Rights Commission's (AHRC) World Wide Web Advisory Notes.13
The Web Publishing Guide (WPG) issued by AGIMO was relevant, accessible and easy to use. However, opportunities were identified to improve the level of guidance in the WPG about the online publishing of tabled papers and improve entities' awareness and understanding of the requirements. Further, stronger alignment between AGIMO's online publishing requirements and PM&C's guidance for presenting documents to the Parliament14 could also contribute to improvements in the effectiveness of entities' online publishing practices for tabled papers.
Accordingly, the ANAO has made three recommendations aimed at improving accessibility for people with disabilities, improving compliance through targeted action in high risk entities and strengthening central agency advice.
Given the improvements over time in the online availability of tabled papers, the ANAO does not envisage undertaking regular audits on this topic. However, we will consider, in the context of our forward work plan, the possibility of a subsequent audit in the medium term to examine the progress of entities' in making their tabled papers available online according to relevant requirements.
Key findings by chapter
Key Government entities' compliance with online publishing policy (Chapter 2)
The ANAO undertook a desktop review of a sample of papers tabled from 2000 to 2008 to assess their online existence, ease of discovery online, online accessibility, and consistency between the online and printed versions.
Overall, our testing indicated that the proportion of the tabled papers examined found online has improved from 54 per cent in 2000 to 89 per cent in 2008. This improvement is due to a number of factors, including an increased focus on the delivery of online services by government entities.
However, no more than 90 per cent of the tabled papers examined in any one year were available online. The main reasons that this level has not increased is that either some individual government entities still do not have a web presence or that they are not fully aware of the requirements to publish tabled papers online. Further, MOG changes have caused restructures of entities and their websites. In essence, the merger or creation of a government entity and the subsequent new website can result in documents or links to such documents being inadvertently removed. In either case, web users are hindered or prevented from finding documents online.
The ease of discovery of an online document was quite high, having increased from 89 per cent of documents examined in 2000 to 100 per cent in 2006, although it declined slightly in each of 2007 and 2008. The tabled papers we found online were generally able to be discovered through publicly available search practices. Where discovery was difficult, the cause was usually poor website design that hindered navigation by web users.
Online accessibility was examined in two parts: providing access to web users without the need to use proprietary software and providing access to web users with a disability. In the first part, the recommended formats are HTML which any web browser can view; and plain text or RTF which any text reader or open source word processing software can view. The use of these formats to publish documents online has varied considerably since 2000. In particular, of the documents we examined in 2008, about 25 per cent were in HTML and less than five per cent were in RTF.
In contrast, over 95 per cent of the documents we examined in 2008 were in PDF, being a proprietary software format. Although PDF can have a free reader associated with it, a link to a reader was only supplied for about 65 per cent of documents.
The second part of online accessibility pertains to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 that requires government bodies to provide equitable access to people with disabilities, where it can reasonably be provided. To give effect to the requirements of the Act, the AHRC endorsed a standard15 on web accessibility. This standard recommends the use of HTML or text based formats. As mentioned, our testing has indicated that the use of HTML and text based formats is low. In addition, a number of government entities only publish documents online in PDF, which does not comply with this standard.
The authorised version of a tabled paper is the printed (hardcopy) version that is tabled in Parliament. It is important to ensure consistency between the printed and online versions. Our testing of online Parliamentary Papers for 2007 found over 90 percent of documents were consistent with the printed version. Based on our analysis, the ANAO considers that there are a number of useful practices to ensure consistency between the online and printed versions of a document. They include, but are not limited to: maintaining communication between the print and online publishing functions; ensuring that the document author verifies the online version prior to web publishing; and placing the final PDF version provided to the printer online.
Although the level of results achieved indicated an improvement in online availability of tabled papers, the ANAO considers that further improvement can be realised. Government entities should review the level and nature of their online publishing activity and assess the risks of them not complying with the online publishing requirements related to tabled papers. Specifically, entities with a high risk of not complying with the requirements, such as those having no web presence, those producing multiple documents for tabling in Parliament each year, or which have been subject to a MOG change, should address any shortcomings in a cost effective way.
Overall, increased government entity compliance in the above matters would benefit from further cooperation between the Department of Finance and Deregulation (Finance), the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) and the Departments of the Parliament to confirm respective roles and responsibilities.
Government entities' online publishing practices (Chapter 3)
Based on the results of our desktop review, we selected entities for detailed fieldwork that exhibited a medium to high level of compliance with the Government's online publishing requirements to allow this audit report to convey practices that would lead to better reporting by all government entities.
Each of the audited entities had sound online publishing practices. In particular, each entity had:
- a range of informative policy and guidance material to support staff performing online publishing functions;
- well-defined processes for publishing documents online, including controls to restrict access to online publishing functions to authorised staff; and
- processes and practices to help manage and provide assurance about online content, including obtaining advice as to the timing of the tabling of documents in Parliament.
In addition, each of the audited entities had controls in place to assist in managing the validity of their online content. In particular, all but one of the entities had a formal content management system (CMS). The ANAO's audit report on Government Agencies' Management of their Websites discusses entities use of specialist software to manage content.16
Only one of the audited entities specifically referred to the requirements for publishing tabled papers in its online publishing policy and procedural documentation. The ANAO considers that those government entities that have multiple documents tabled in Parliament would benefit from emphasising this requirement in their online publishing policy and procedural material. Further, in some entities the monitoring and reporting of web-related statistics was ad-hoc.
Overall, we considered that AGIMO's WPG (which informs entities of the Government's web publishing requirements) was relevant, accessible and easy to use. However, the following opportunities were identified to improve the level of guidance in the WPG about the online publishing of tabled papers and improve entities' awareness and understanding of the requirements:
- specify the requirements relating to tabled papers with greater clarity;
- provide advice on the period of time that government entities must maintain documents online; and
- provide advice on whether an entity can archive electronically its Parliamentary documents after a number of years.
Further, the ANAO considers that stronger alignment between AGIMO's online publishing requirements and PM&C's guidance for presenting documents to the Parliament could improve the effectiveness of entities' online publishing practices for tabled papers.
Summary of entities' responses
Each of the audited entities, including AGIMO, agreed with, noted or supported the three recommendations. In addition to the audited entities, we sought comments on the draft report from four other entities mentioned in the audit, the Department of the Senate, the Department of Parliamentary Services, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Australian Human Rights Commission. Where provided, entities' responses to a recommendation are included in the body of this report, and entities' general comments are in Appendix 1.
Footnotes
1 All documents presented to the Houses are recorded in the Journals of the Senate and the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives, and listed in the ‘Index to Papers Presented to Parliament' available at <www.aph.gov.au/Senate/pubs/index.htm> or <www.aph.gov.au/Senate/pubs/index.htm> [accessed 22 April 2009].
2 Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), Guidelines for the Presentation of Government Documents to the Parliament (including Government Responses to Committee Reports, Ministerial Statements, Annual Reports and Other Instruments), p. 2, available from <http://www.pmc.gov.au/guidelines/index.cfm> [accessed 21 January 2009].
3 The term ‘government entity' means either an Agency under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997, which is a Department of State, a Department of the Parliament or a prescribed Agency; or a body under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997, which is either a Commonwealth authority, some of which are statutory authorities, or a Commonwealth company.
4 Parliamentary departmental reports are not presented by a Minister, rather they are presented by the Presiding Officer of the relevant House.
5 The audit sample of papers included those papers published by government entities and listed in the Parliamentary Library's ‘Index of Parliamentary Papers'.
6 PM&C, op. cit., Appendix R.
7 Additional requirements apply to reports of Royal Commissions, Government responses to Parliamentary Committee reports and Ministerial Statements.
8 Including the National Library of Australia and state, territory and tertiary education libraries.
9 OISO #3 Reports submitted to Parliament: ‘There is no formal list of documents that should be submitted to Parliament. However, once tabled they become a part of the public record. Agencies are required to publish these online', available from <http://www.agimo.gov.au/archive/oiso#3> [accessed 16 March 2009].
10 AGIMO, Australian Government Web Publishing Guide, 2007, available from <http://www.agimo.gov.au/archive/oiso#3> [accessed 15 January 2009].
11 Joint Committee on Publications, Distribution of the Parliamentary Paper Series, 2006, available from <http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/publ/pps/report.htm> [accessed 19 January 2009].
12 This review examined tabled papers published by government entities, and so, by definition, the review excluded papers authored by Royal Commissions and by individual Parliamentarians.
13 AHRC, <http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/www_3/www_3.html> [accessed 17 February 2009].
14 PM&C, op. cit., p. 2.
15 The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which is a series of documents that explains how to make web content accessible to people with disabilities.
16 ANAO Audit Report No.13 2008–09, Government Agencies' Management of their Websites, available from <http://www.anao.gov.au/>.