The development and uptake of Web 2.0 tools by Australians allows public servants an opportunity to increase transparency and accountability in consultation and decision making. The Australian Government can now use this opportunity to engage in conversations with a wider number of citizens and businesses than ever before.

Equally applicable, this also gives public servants the ability to contribute to the debate as citizens themselves.

Social media is defined by a number of tools. The uses of these tools are:

• Blogs: can be used to tell the public or stakeholder groups about agency activities and gives readers the opportunity to provide comments
• Wikis: examples include Wikipedia and govdex, the Australian Government collaborative workspace. They are  best for collaborative document authoring
• Discussion forums: a forum may be appropriate when smaller, more in-depth consultation is required
• Microblogs: the most well-known example is Twitter; best for short public announcements and drawing attention to new information on agency websites
• Social Networking sites: Facebook is probably the most well-known. These sites may be useful in raising public awareness of government services or initiatives and engaging with relevant pre-existing online communities.

Why should I?

The Government 2.0 Taskforce made a recommendation that the Australian Government encourage public servants to engage online, which the Government’s response to the Taskforce agreed to in full.

The Declaration of Open Government states that the Australia Government “is committed to open government based on a culture of engagement” and that “Citizen collaboration in policy and service delivery design will enhance the processes of government and improve the outcomes sought. Collaboration with citizens is to be enabled and encouraged. Agencies are to reduce barriers to online engagement, undertake social networking, crowd sourcing and online collaboration projects and support online engagement by employees, in accordance with the Australian Public Service Commission Guidelines”. These outcomes can be achieved through the use of social media.

What should I do?

Become familiar with the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) advice Revisions to the Commission’s guidance on making public comment and participating online. These protocols focus on the application of the APS Values and the APS Code of Conduct in online communication.

Talk to your own corporate area. Often agencies will develop their own more detailed guidance on the use of social media, and you should know what your agency expects of you and any limits that have been arrived at.

It is essential all APS staff, contractors and consultants are aware of the guidelines and consider them in relation to contributing or creating content on the internet in both their professional roles and as private citizens.

How do I?

There are two main areas within social media. The first is how to introduce social media into an agency, while the second is using social media to engage with stakeholders.

To introduce social media into an agency, there is a need to review existing polices to see whether there are gaps in guidelines. You also need to undertake a risk assessment to ensure the risks are recognised and mitigated where appropriate. There is a need to confirm that users of the tools are familiar with their use and consideration is given to the issue of profession profiles vs private citizen profiles for staff and appropriate advice given. Once staff are aware of the guidelines and familiar with the tools and their usage, an agency needs to demonstrate trust in their staff.

To use social media to engage with stakeholders, agencies need to consider the purpose of the engagement and the appropriateness of each social media tool to that purpose. There are also ongoing resource implications – staff will need to be trained in use of the tool, including monitoring and moderation tasks as required. Within this environment, fast turnarounds are the norm. Consider security and privacy issues along with any controls required in this space. Lastly, agencies need to consider what to do with the incoming comments and suggestions.  In order to achieve continuing engagement, stakeholders need to see that their concerns and suggestions are respected and incorporated into ongoing processes. Above all, this needs to happen in a transparent manner.

Subjects:

• social media
• protocols
• web 2 tools