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APPENDIX 2
Recommendations and responses relating to chapter four, Distribution of
the Parliamentary Papers Series—Report, dated May 2006
Recommendation 12: The Committee recommends that the
Australian National Audit Office regularly monitor the online availability of
government documents, especially those presented to Parliament.
Presiding Officers' response: Supported. No action
required by the Chamber departments.
Government response: The Australian National Audit
Office presented its report no. 37 Online Availability of Government Entities'
Documents Tabled in the Australian Parliament in 2009.
Recommendation 13: The Committee recommends that the
Australian Government Information Management Office continue to work with
agencies to ensure that all government documents are made available online.
Presiding Officers' response: Supported. No action
required by the Chamber departments.
Government response: AGIMO will continue to work with
agencies to help ensure that Australian Government public accountability publications
are made available online in accord with Government policy.
Recommendation 14: The Committee recommends that the
Australian Government Information Management Office take steps to ensure that
documents presented to Parliament are permanently available online, including
encouraging the use of persistent identifiers to online information.
Presiding Officers' response: Supported. No action
required by the Chamber departments.
Government response: Responsibility for ensuring that
documents presented to Parliament are permanently available online rests with
the Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of the
Senate.
AGIMO considers that the creation of a digital repository
would best meet this recommendation (refer to response to Recommendation 19).
Recommendation 15: The Committee recommends that any
digital versions of the Parliamentary Papers Series augment the hard copy
series.
Presiding Officers' response: Supported. The hard
copy series will continue.
No government response required.
Recommendation 16: The Committee recommends that
agencies provide a website link, for all documents to be presented to
Parliament, to the Tabling Officer of the Department of Prime Minister and
Cabinet. This link is to be included in the daily list of documents scheduled
for presentation to Parliament, which is circulated to Members and Senators.
Presiding Officers' response: Supported. No action
required by the Chamber departments.
Government response: For some website
implementations, it is not possible in all cases to allocate a web address to
documents until they are ready to be posted on the Internet. The government
therefore does not support this recommendation as it would be inappropriate to
provide a website link to documents that are under embargo.
Recommendation 17: The Committee recommends that the
chamber departments investigate providing an online list of Parliamentary
Papers with hyperlinks to those documents on agency websites.
Presiding Officers' response: Agreed, subject to
implementation of recommendation 16. The Chamber departments already provide an
online list of Parliamentary Papers.
No government response required.
Recommendation 18: The Committee recommends that the
legal deposit provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 be extended to
include electronic copies of documents.
Presiding Officers' response: Supported.
Government response: The Government is currently
conducting a review of this issue. It will announce its decision in relation to
this matter when it has considered the outcomes of that review.
Recommendation 19: The Committee recommends that the
Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of the Senate, in
consultation with the Australian Government Information Management Office and
other stakeholders, investigate and implement the development of an online
digital repository for the Parliamentary Papers Series.
Presiding Officers' response: The documents
constituting the Parliamentary Papers Series should be available online in
order to provide community access. Author agencies and the Australian
Government Information Management Office have a role in maintaining the online
availability of documents. Unnecessary duplication of effort and expense should
be avoided.
A virtual repository is desirable, but the scale of such a
repository and the resources needed to maintain it would be very considerable.
A significant investigation is necessary before any commitment can be made
beyond the recognition of the desirability of such a compilation. Appropriate
action in response to recommendations 13, 14, 16 and 17 will be an important
step towards ensuring long-term electronic access to documents.
The Chamber departments will consult with key stakeholders
and expert organisations including the National Library of Australia. The
project to replace the ParlInfo application may provide a vehicle for
considering the nature of the necessary document repository. The Department of
the Senate tabled papers digital imaging project will progressively provide
online access to all documents in the PPS except House of Representatives
committee and departmental documents.
Government response: Responsibility for ensuring that
documents presented to Parliament are permanently available online rests with
the Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of the
Senate.
AGIMO will liaise with other stakeholders (the National
Library of Australia, the National Archives of Australia, the Attorney-General's
Department, the Department of the House of Representatives and the Department
of the Senate) in investigating the development of an online digital repository
that will include the PPS.
Recommendation 20: The Committee recommends that, to
complement the Department of the Senate's digital imaging project, the
Department of the House of Representatives investigate the digital imaging of
House committee reports presented from 1901 to 1996 and making these available
online.
Presiding Officers' response: Supported in principle.
No government response required.
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