Speeches: 2005
Better rural services
Towards a new e-government framework for delivering local government services in rural Australia
Address to the United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific Regional Section (UCLG ASPAC) Conference
Cr Paul Bell
President, Australian Local Government Association
27 April 2005, Daegu, Korea
Mr Chairman
I'm delighted to be here not only in my capacity as Vice President of UCLG-ASPAC, but also as President of the Australian Local Government Association.
I might say at the outset that is very appropriate that we are meeting here in Korea - a nation that is a world leader when it comes to many aspects of information technology. While Australia has done well when it comes to IT innovation, we have fallen down when it comes to broadband.
Australia has high ownership rates for mobiles and personal computers of around 70%, and around 60% for Internet access.But only 20% of Australian households access broadband compared to 42% in Canada, 64% in Hong Kong and an astounding 76% in South Korea.
I mention this because successful e-governance needs to be built on the principles of accessibility. Having access to the Internet is one thing - having access to fast, reliable and affordable broadband services is another. This is a particular problem in regional Australia partly because of what we call the 'tyranny of distance'. Supplying local government services and infrastructure to relatively small populations spread across a vast continent is a massive challenge in itself.
Information technology provides us with the opportunity to connect people in regional areas to services and information in a way which can make incredible differences to their economic, social and cultural well-being. People want access to information and services in a fast, reliable way. And - as our Prime Minister has said - they don't care which sphere of government is providing the service - as long as they can access it when and where it's needed. The move to seamless - or 'joined-up government' - is a major priority.It is happening - but its happening slowly.Let me give you some idea of the dimensions of our challenge.
There are 675 councils in Australia. They range in size from the Brisbane City Council with almost a million residents in a city covering 2,000 square kilometres, to the Shire of Murchison in Western Australia that caters for the needs of 150 people spread over an area the size of Holland. The nation's largest council by area is East Pilbara, in Western Australia, which coves an area 380,000 sq km - an area the size of Germany, but which carries a population of just 7,000 residents.
Many people live vast distances away from their state capital - let alone the national capital. Within my home state of Queensland, the township of Birdsville lies 1,600 km west of the state capital Brisbane.But the communities of the Torres Strait are even further away. To visit their state capital, residents travel no less than 2,700km due south.Significantly, around 80% of Australia's 673 local government authorities are categorised as regional or rural. The average population for local government authorities in Australia is just 26,000.
So, e-governance makes a great deal of sense when you need to deliver services to sparsely populated areas where access is a real issue.
Australia has consistently rated very well in global e-government readiness surveys including the 2003 United Nations report, the 2002 Booz Allen Hamilton report, and the annual Accenture 'Government Executive' reports. But, in developing e-governance and IT-based solutions, it is the poorly resourced rural and regional councils that are missing the IT wave of opportunity.
Local government doesn't have a digital divide - we have an ICT capacity divide. E-government readiness in rural - and particularly remote areas of Australia remains a significant challenge.
Our national government - the Australian Government - recognised the problem and - in the year 2000 - provided local government with $45 million to help local government move its services online through the Networking the Nation program. Most of the funding was allocated at the state and territory level to develop 'whole-of-state' solutions.
For example, the Local Government Association of Queensland through its Connecting Communities program has assisted rural councils by establishing a shared, affordable and sustainable ICT infrastructure.This infrastructure enables LGAQ to provide access to services and information to most of its councils who have broadband access. On the other side of Australia, the Western Australia Local Government Association has a 'Linking Council and Communities' initiative. This has enabled councils across the state develop their online services capability using a shared services model to provide enabling tools and infrastructure.
The other state and territory local government associations have all made significant steps in helping their rural councils to address the ICT capacity gap.At the national level, $3 million was made available. This was used to undertake what we call 'lighthouse projects' - projects that would shine the light to show the way forward.
The Australian Local Government Association worked with state associations and state governments to develop key national frameworks for developing the legal, governance and technical infrastructure to help pave the way to 'seamless government'.
One key framework has been the National Services Improvement Framework, developed by all three spheres of government working together.Where projects involve services from more than one sphere of government, agreements need to be put in place between the partner governments. The improvement framework ensures these inter-government projects can be developed quickly and effectively by using a framework which simplifies the process of negotiating these agreements.
ALGA has also been actively contributing to the development of a National Government Interoperability Framework. This will recommend key standards to ensure that data and information can be shared between spheres of government. Importantly, it will also undertake specific projects to identify and breakdown the barriers that prevent this happening. Over the past three or four years, local government has taken major steps towards in enhancing the capacity of councils to deliver online services. But the job is far from finished.
ALGA conducted a major survey of councils in 2004. It found that smaller regional, rural and remote councils in Australia still have a very significant ICT capacity gap compared to the larger regional and metropolitan councils. It also showed that smaller regional, rural, and remote councils did not have the access to financial resources, skills, and expertise required to enable effective use of ICT.
Integrating systems and providing online access to services requires both resources and a team of competent ICT staff. The funding provided under the Networking the Nation program was not sufficient to tackle all the problems facing smaller rural councils. In particular major challenges still remain. We need to:
- Improve the capacity of ICT staff
- Improve productivity and participation in seamless government
- Ensure adequate access to ICT infrastructure.
So, where to from here?
ALGA is working with the Australian Government to develop a strategy paper which will be used to seek additional Australian government funding to assist smaller rural councils. We want to build on the successful work that has been undertaken at the 'whole of state' level and develop a national framework to ensure that any new funding is used effectively.
Rural councils need skills, resources and access to communications infrastructure if they are to successfully make their services available online. The benefit to residents would be substantial - reducing the barriers created by their relative isolation from major urban centres.
ALGA has identified key principles which need to be considered when trying to assist these councils become active participants in e-government.
One: There needs to be a focus on improving service delivery through comprehensive training and providing access to 'back-office' systems and applications.
Two: These councils need more comprehensive solutions as it is harder for rural councils to retain skilled staff and fund new ICT initiatives
Three: Providing a broadband access solution to rural councils will - in itself - not produce sufficient demand to cover costs of the service without on-going subsidies. Broadband solutions must be provided at the regional level in remote areas and include all key stakeholders.
Four: Services and applications provided to rural councils should be developed within a national framework, managed at the state level, and delivered at the regional level.
Five: Supporting infrastructure for rural programs will be required at the national and state levels.
Six: Councils should be provided with a 'menu' of services and applications allowing them to offer solutions that best suit the needs of their communities.
Seven: Existing services and programs developed by 'best practice' councils and groups of councils should be analysed to identify what services and applications could be delivered nationally to rural councils.
Eight: A national framework needs to be developed to identify core services and applications.
Nine: A further national framework needs to be developed to identify national, state and regional level infrastructure required to support services and applications required by rural councils.
ALGA will be using these nine principles when developing our strategy paper for additional support for rural councils. We expect to present it to the Australian Government later this year.
ALGA believes that the development of a framework for assisting rural councils will reduce the amount of duplication and ensure that any additional funding that is received will be used to contribute to long-term, sustainable solutions. Helping rural councils is fundamentally about improving their capacity to change - not about rolling out ICT solutions.
We want to move away from piecemeal and overlapping programs and projects to a more coordinated approach that builds on success, and allows each council to establish its own priorities for moving services online. I hope that this approach is ultimately successful and I can report significant progress to you in the not too distant future.
Thank you.
Councillor Paul Bell AM
President, Australian Local Government Association
27 April 2005
Daegu, Korea
