About

The Web Guide brings together Australian Government guidance for website management. It makes it easier for Australian Government agencies to:

be aware of their legal and policy obligations
find policies, guidance and examples of better practice.

For each topic, the Web Guide directs you to resources provided by the appropriate Australian Government agency or other organisation.

The Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) in the Department of Finance and Deregulation manages the site.

Agency legal and policy obligations

The Web Guide aims to clarify the relevant legal and policy requirements, but agencies should bear in mind that they have other, broader obligations (such as financial management and procurement, etc) that will apply to the online environment.

This Web Guide is intended to supplement any agency-specific guidelines relating to websites, rather than replace them.

Content

The Web Guide content should:

focus on the development and maintenance of online properties
be relevant to Australian Government agencies in general rather than individual agencies
have some authority within the Australian Government
be the most current information available.

In conjunction with other agencies, we also review content and add more resources.

Sources of authority

There are two main sources of authority for the mandatory requirements, Legislation and Government Policy.

Legislation

Mandatory requirements may be related to legislation. In some cases, administrative law has been interpreted to apply to government websites. In some cases, this interpretation has been based on guidance provided by the responsible agency.

Government policy

Mandatory requirements may have been implemented as Cabinet decisions or other executive fiats. Mandatory requirements may also originate as orders of a house of Parliament.

Standards endorsed by the Government are included in the Web Guide as mandatory requirements.

Subjects:

Last Reviewed: 2010-08-31

Web Guide