MEDIA RELEASE
7 December 2009
Government 2.0 Taskforce released for public comment
The Government 2.0 taskforce today released a draft report for public comment that calls for
the government to embrace Web 2.0 tools to deepen democracy and engage citizens.
The central recommendation calls for an Open Government Directive from the Government to
treat government information as a national public resource to be as freely and openly available
as possible.
It also recommends that government agencies and public servants use Web 2.0 tools like
blogs and online forums to engage with citizens, each other and likeminded professionals
around the world.
The Government 2.0 Taskforce Chair, Dr Nicholas Gruen said: “If Government 2.0 is realised,
citizens won’t just be consulted by government they’ll actively collaborate with government.”
“Government 2.0 can draw all those with the enthusiasm, expertise and crucial local
knowledge to collaborate in the process of government.
“By using these technologies and effectively inviting the community into its workings
developing policy and delivering services, Government 2.0 lets us improve the myriad ways
government activities help our society, our economy and our democracy thrive,” said Dr Guen.
Unless there are strong reasons not to do so, the report calls for public sector information to
be released proactively under ‘creative commons’ type licences which invite others to quote,
share and transform them without seeking government permission.
Media enquiries:
Catriona Pollard, cp@cpcommunications.com.au, ph 02 9922 1063
Minister Tanner’s office, Tim Naughtin, 0438 265 065
Senator Ludwig’s office, Sarah Cosson, 0423 823 843
About the Government 2.0 Taskforce
The Government 2.0 Taskforce is made up of policy and technical experts and entrepreneurs from government,
business, academia, and cultural institutions. Its work falls into two streams. The first relates to increasing the
openness of government through making public sector information more widely available to promote transparency,
innovation and value adding to government information. The second stream is concerned with encouraging online
engagement with the aim of drawing in the information, knowledge, perspectives, resources and even, where
possible, the active collaboration of anyone wishing to contribute to public life.
NEWS 
