Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Australian Report On Progress Towards the Paperless Trading GoalsIn APEC・s Blueprint for Action on Electronic Commerce
taken that incompatible solutions to security and authentication issues in different domestic and international jurisdictions and industry sectors do not result in additional obstacles to paperless trading.
1.Major Achievements
Please outline major achievements to date in your economy in meeting the APEC Blueprint for Action on Electronic Commerce paperless trading goals, in relation to:
Legal environment
Electronic Transactions Act
The Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (http://www.law.gov.au/ecommerce/ ) supports e-commerce uptake by allowing electronic communications to satisfy existing legal requirements for writing, signature, document production and the retention of documents, subject to certain minimum requirements.
The Act is based on the United Nations・ Model Law on Electronic Commerce and it will be the basis for uniform national legislation for e-commerce being developed in consultation with the States and Territories. Accordingly, it will promote consistency internationally and in Australia. Australia has encouraged other jurisdictions to adopt the Model Law through its involvement in international fora such as APEC and the OECD.
The Act is based on two fundamental principles. The first is ．media neutrality・, which means that paper-based commerce and e-commerce should be treated equally by the law. Secondly, the principle of ．technology neutrality・ ensures that the law does not discriminate between different forms of technology.
All Australian Commonwealth Government Departments will need to comply with the provisions of the Act after July 2001. Prior to then it is up to each Department how best to apply the provisions of the legislation.
Administrative environment
NOIE
NOIE is the National Office for the Information Economy (http://www.noie.gov.au) . It was established to be Australia's leading federal government body for information economy issues.
NOIE develops, coordinates and oversees broad policy:
• for the regulatory, legal and physical infrastructure needed for online services (including electronic commerce), and
• to oversee the application of the new technology to government: administration, information, and service provision.
Australia has found NOIE vital in ensuring a 'whole of government' approach to information economy issues, and mobilising Australian policymakers to ensure Australia is a leader in this field.
OGO
The Office for Government Online (OGO) (http://www.ogo.gov.au ) is the government agency responsible for overseeing the migration of government services online. The Office for Government Online (OGO) works with agencies in meeting the Government・s commitment to have all appropriate services for online by 2001. While each agency is responsible for the electronic service delivery, OGO provides common infrastructure and management arrangements to enable and support electronic services across government.
The Office for Government Online has a coordinating and facilitating role in assisting agencies to deliver services electronically by:
• Reporting on the range of online initiatives delivered by Government;
• Identifying inhibitors to take up of electronic services; and
• Providing Whole-of-Government enablers for the delivery of electronic services.
The Australian Government considers OGO an important initiative in highlighting governments' dual role in enabling e-commerce and leading by example through provision of government services online. The latter role, in and of itself, encourages and enables [next page]