Please cite as: Chugh, R & Grandhi, S 2013, ‘E-government in Australia: A Usability Study of Australian City Council Websites’. In Gil-Garcia, JR(ed), EGovernment Success around the World: Cases, Empirical Studies, and Practical Recommendations. IGI Global: Hershey, pp. 216-235. 216 Chapter 11 E-Government in Australia: A Usability Study of Australian City Council Websites F O O R Ritesh Chugh Central Queensland University Melbourne, Australia P L Srimannarayana Grandhi Central Queensland University Melbourne, Australia A B ABSTRACT The adoption of e-government signiies a positive way to move ahead in the 21st century with enhanced quality, cost efective government services and a superior relationship between diferent stakeholders. E-government provides new opportunities to both government and its citizens. The wider acceptance of new communication technologies are helping governments and their agencies worldwide to serve citizens, businesses and other governments with greater eiciency. O L G This chapter looks at e-government development statistics globally before narrowing down to Internet usage and e-government adoption in Australia. Opportunities and challenges of e-government adoption are presented. The chapter then focuses on the current state of e-government in Australian city councils and seeks to evaluate council websites to understand their usability characteristics. Seven Australian capital city council websites have been chosen and evaluated based on factors such as navigation, searchability, layout and visual clarity, information content, communication methods, and transactional services. I G I The research indicates that e-government in Australia is in its early stages and there is scope for further improvement and growth. The high incidence of web presence indicates that government entities, such as city councils are pursuing cyber strategies. Although the majority of government entities utilise websites to disseminate information to the public, optimal use of ICT in the public sector is ad hoc and in infancy albeit growing rapidly. This chapter provides a concise and holistic understanding of issues that can be encountered when exploiting the Internet and ICT for providing e-government services. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-4173-0.ch011 Copyright © 2013, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. E-Government in Australia 1.0 INTRODUCTION The wide proliferation of Internet for conducting business has impacted almost everyone in today’s global world. The usage of Internet in other fields has amplified the expectation of citizens (or netizens) that government organisations will provide services similar to those in private organisations with the same efficacy and proficiency. Electronic government (e-government) provides new opportunities to government for providing services to its citizens through electronic means. New technologies, Internet being the key, in this area are helping governments and their agencies to serve citizens, business organisations and other governments both locally and globally. Providing services online is useful for governments’ various stakeholders owing to the ubiquitous nature of the Internet. These services can be accessed around the clock and remove time and spatial limitations (Kašubienė & Vanagas, 2007). Undoubtedly in today’s Internetworked world, e-government plays an important role in the delivery of services yet some of the city councils in Australia are slow in utilising technology to serve their citizens. In order to make the transition many city councils in Australia have adopted a ‘clicks and bricks’ (use of an online channel in addition to a traditional channel for carrying out business activities) strategy to serve citizens in their constituency. This obviously sounds a good way to move forward as it complements other existing strategies of serving their customers e.g. citizens, organisations and other agencies. Since the survival and sustenance of an organisation depends on its capability to redefine and adopt continuous goals, purposes and way of doing things (Malhotra, 2001), it is important that government organisations are not laggards in this area. The Internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are an important way of improving the quality and responsiveness of the services that governments provide to their citizens, increasing the geographic reach and accessibility of their services and providing a faster and more transparent way of access to different government services. The existing literature (Burt & Sparks, 2003; Sharma & Sheth, 2004; Bocij, Chaffey, Greasley, & Hickie, 2006) focusses upon the potential of the Internet for enhancing efficiency, cost reduction, improvement in the quality of services, flexibility and convenience. So far, in the current literature, there is limited research (O’Toole, 2007; Walsh, 2007) on the state of e-government in Australia, with restricted focus on the overall adoption of e-government by city councils. A lot of literature on e-government in Australia is fragmented and incoherent so this chapter will provide a clear insight into the adoption of e-government by city councils. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to examine the extent of the utilisation of the Internet and ICT in providing e-government services by 7 city councils in Australia. This chapter outlines the state of e-government in Australia before specifically focussing on city council websites. It is important to assess the usability of website deployment as a platform for e-government (Wood et al., 2003). Hence an analysis of the usability of 7 Australian capital city council websites has been carried out and factors relating to navigation, searchability, layout and visual clarity, information content, communication methods, transactional services and others pertaining to online web browsers support and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds have been assessed. The usability analysis is based on evaluation carried out by experts who scrutinize and use a website to discover usability problems that they believe will affect end users (Nielsen, 1994). Various authors have suggested that usability is still one of the main problems that influences and hinders users’ interaction and adoption of e-government services worldwide (Al-Sobhi, Weerakkody, & Al-Shafi, 2010; Asiimwe & Lim, 2010; Donker-Kuijer, Jong & Lentz, 2010) and there exists a lack of specific research F O O R P L A B I I G O L G 217 E-Government in Australia of usability in an e-government context (Huang & Brooks, 2011). The remainder of the chapter is divided into seven sections. The following section defines e-government and provides a brief insight into the Australian government structure. The third section explores the opportunities and challenges in electronic government. Section four delves into global adoption of e-government. The fifth section outlines Internet accessibility and the state of e-government in Australia. Section six outlines the research methodology that was adopted for data collection. Findings and discussion then follow to provide an analysis of the usability of city council websites. Finally, the conclusion section summarises the key points, outlines the limitations of this chapter and suggests directions for future research. The key purpose of this research is to assess usability characteristics of Australian city councils websites and the intention is not to provide rankings of the chosen websites. This research makes no implication that one council’s website is better than another. The chapter is a useful source of information for managers, administrators and other government professionals who need to understand the opportunities and challenges of e-government in order to harness the advantages of this rapidly growing phenomenon. transforming the way people communicate with their government entities. Definitions of e-government include: The use of information systems to provide citizens, organisations and other Governmental agencies with information about and access to public services (Valacich & Schneider, 2010, p.593). F O e-government involves the use of information and communication technologies to transact the business government” (Kašubienė & Vanagas, 2007, p. 68). O R application of information and communications technology (ICT) to enable the better delivery of services and better government administration (Australian Government Information Management Office, 2006, p.4). A B P L I G O L G 2.0 ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT AND THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE I The advent of the World Wide Web has left almost no business untouched and governments are no exception to this phenomenon. It is plausible that governments have been slow to embrace the fast galloping World Wide Web phenomenon but nevertheless now are poised to provide government services online. The use of the Internet and ICT has transformed the way people live, communicate and work. E-government is certainly 218 As evident from the definitions above, there are minor subtleties but the fundamental meaning is still the same – e-government is the provision of information and services using technology. To eliminate any further ambiguity, this chapter proposes a definition that has summarised different aspects of e-government: “the use of the Internet and ICT to electronically empower governments to provide information and services to a diverse range of stakeholders.” The adoption of communication technologies in public administration is changing the way government entities provide services to its citizens. E-government services can take different forms ranging from a website that acts as an information portal to an interactive gateway that provides integrated services to different stakeholders (Rorissa, Demissie, & Pardo, 2011). Undoubtedly, the Internet is playing a vital role in providing connectivity between government and its citizens, private organisations and other governments. Egovernment has existed for several years mainly in the form of Government to Citizens (G2C) E-Government in Australia to serve its citizens (Clift, 2002). However new relationships such as Government to Business (G2B) and Government to Government (G2G) have come to exist that offer economies of scale for both suppliers and governments by reducing operational timelines and supply chain costs. As mentioned above, there are 3 different forms of e-government, Government to Citizens (G2C), Government to Businesses (G2B) and Government to Government (G2G) (Stair, Reynolds, & Chesney, 2008). G2C allows interactions between national, regional and local governments and their constituents. G2B allows interactions between government and businesses, in which government streamlines its supply chain by purchasing materials or procuring services directly from its suppliers. G2G allows interactions between countries or different levels of government within a country. This is to allow other government entities to access information regarding laws and regulations relevant to national requirements (Valacich & Schneider, 2010). Two most common Internet strategies are ‘Clicks & Bricks’ and ‘Clicks only’. ‘Clicks and Bricks’ or ‘Clicks and Mortar’ strategy refers to having an online channel in addition to a traditional channel for communication and carrying out business activities (Brown, Dehayes, Hoffer, Martin, & Perkins, 2009). ‘Clicks only’ strategy refers to communicating and carrying out business activities through electronic means only (Laudon & Laudon, 2010). Some of the benefits with this approach include cost savings relating to inventory and storage. These savings can be transferred to customers in the form of online discounts (The Economist, 2010). ‘Clicks only’ strategy would be most suitable for commercial organisations as these organisations are not obliged to offer goods and services through traditional channels. Although this might seem an efficient and cost saving method, government entities such as city councils in Australia cannot adopt “Clicks Only” strategy as they have an obligation to offer ser- vices to all its citizens regardless of their ability to use the Internet (Randall, 2010). Therefore city councils maintain both a physical presence through offices and an online presence through websites to serve their citizens. Australia is a democratic (representative democracy) country with constitutional monarchy. It has three levels/tiers of government - federal, state and local (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009). It has six states and two territories. The government in each level has different responsibilities. The federal government(highest one) is responsible for introducing laws in the areas of customs, defence, immigration, taxation, telecommunications, money, copyrights and patents, trade, social security, the territories and industrial relations that cover more than one state (Australian Electoral Commission, 2010). The state and territory governments(middle tier) are responsible for providing education, transport, family services, housing, water, industrial relations and urban planning for its people (Commonwealth of Australia, 2010). The local governments/city councils(lowest tier) are established by the state governments and are responsible for approving development applications, garbage collection, waste management, local parks and reserves, roads and pathways, and most areas to do with local amenities (Demand Media, 2010). Local governments are generally referred to as councils. The local government operates via a local council structure in municipal and shire areas. In most cases, the terms city, municipal or shire have a geographic interpretation. Municipality generally refers to councils governing urban areas whereas shire refers to councils governing rural areas (Australian Government, 2012a). The powers of local government are defined by the state or territory government which establishes them (Australian Government, 2012b). This chapter focusses on the local government/ city council level because local governments/city councils are closer to citizens and constitute the main representation of government at a local level. F O O R P L A B I I G O L G 219 E-Government in Australia The link of citizens and local authorities tends to be one based on geographical closeness, and the city councils play a vital role in addressing several issues such as public services, urban planning and development, education, public transport, environmental concerns and local politics. As can be expected with the adoption and use of any technology, there are inherent lacunae and forte so before progressing any further it is vital to explore the opportunities and challenges of e-government. 3.0 OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF E-GOVERNMENT As e-government offers the prospective of reforming the delivery of government activities and processes, increasing transparency, forging stronger relationships between citizens and the government, it is important to explore the opportunities and challenges of e-government adoption. Government websites can act as a platform to disseminate information (Alonso, 2009) and enable them to be more transparent to citizens and businesses. Governments implement egovernment services for many reasons including improved service efficiency and a reduction in transaction costs (Alshawi & Alalwany, 2009; Kašubienė & Vanagas, 2007). However, this is not the case with every nation, as they have different needs. Some nations such as India use e-government to fight corruption and to reduce bureaucrats along the service chains as it allows faster service delivery and minimal face-to-face interaction (Jenkins, 2002). It also allows citizens to report corrupt practices to the relevant authority without revealing their identity (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, 2005). Singh, Pathak, Naz, & Belwal (2010) in their research paper on electronic government in India, Ethiopia and Fiji, also point out that e-government helps in reducing corruption by allowing transparency between government and its citizens. Although it is debatable in terms of actual figures relating to corruption in these countries, electronic government will certainly allow some level of transparency. Through e-government, government entities and agencies can allow interactions with its citizens and allow online transactions, such as online payments for council rates, parking fines and so forth. Such additional capabilities not only help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the functions of government, including the delivery of public services, but also enhance their flexibility (Ciborra, 2005). Alter (2002) points out that electronic communication systems such as email, voice mail, instant messaging and chat rooms help people work together by exchanging or sharing information in many different forms. These systems have also largely been adopted by governments although their uptake is segmented. Turban, McLean, and Wetherbe (2004) have asserted that e-government provides opportunities to both its citizens and local businesses to provide feedback to government agencies and to participate in democratic institutions and processes, which may facilitate fundamental changes in the relationships between citizens and governments and the way they operate. E-government also provides flexibility to its citizens by offering additional services such as online license renewal, e-tax, e-visa, online payments and so forth (Laudon & Laudon, 2010). These services will not only offer flexibility but also provide economies of scale, increase collections and lead to a reduction in mailing and handling costs for paper statements too (Talaga, 2009). Bhuiyan (2011) has indicated that the provision of electronic services by governments will enable them to generate more revenue while citizens will benefit from prompt and improved service delivery. Apart from the various advantages that egovernment provides, it does not come without pitfalls. There are various challenges in the devel- F O A B P L I G I 220 O L G O R E-Government in Australia opment and adoption of e-government services. It is always a challenge to select what information needs to be presented on websites. It is important to provide a wide variety of information to suit the needs of website visitors (Bovee & Thill, 2007). In addition, informational websites need to be organised to enhance visibility and accessibility. Government websites can support openness and a transparent environment, if these are designed to meet the expectations of the stakeholders (Ahmed, 2008). Visitors of the government websites are general public (citizens), private organisations and other government agencies. It might be possible to understand the users’ expectations by allowing them to leave feedback. Feedback can be gathered through the use of discussion forums, online surveys, social networks, emails, and chat rooms. Feedback gathered through these methods can further be analysed easily to improve services. By the end of 2009, it is expected that the number of mobile phone users around the world will rise to 4.4 billion (Riley, 2009). However current figures indicate that the number of mobile phone users have already risen to 5.6 billion in 2011 (How many are there, 2012), which is equivalent to 79.86 percent of the total world population. Although South Korea and Japan are leading the list of top 10 countries in active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, Australia is ranked fourth with 82.7 percent (dotMobi, 2012). In Australia, out of 11.6 million Internet users 47 percent are mobile wireless broadband connections (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). As more and more citizens are using mobile devices to access web content, governments can utilise this opportunity to reach their citizens by delivering key e-government services to mobile devices. In order to achieve this multichannel delivery, it is suggested to develop mobile versions of their sites which as a trade-off might increase the cost of delivering services. Also, since multiple and diverse users participate in accessing and exchanging information, it is important for the government entities to create websites that can be accessed with most commonly used web browsers. Website accessibility from a variety of different devices (laptops, tablets, smart phones) should also be assessed since users use different devices now especially ones that promote portability. The cost of developing, operating and maintaining online services can be prohibitive too. There are several factors that need to be considered, such as website development, choice and purchase of hardware and software, hiring skilled staff and maintenance of the system. In most instances, operating cost is more than the development costs thus can be a reason for withdrawal (Stair & Reynolds, 2010). Research by Schwester (2009) has shown that municipalities with higher operating budgets, more full time information technology staff and technical resources are more likely to have a comprehensive e-government platform. Introducing technology is only half the job done. City councils may need to reengineer their current processes to provide services online as these services needed to be integrated into the current business processes. For example, city councils might need to offer the same information that is being offered through traditional channels. Sometimes streamlining of operational processes may become necessary, if the underlying data needs to be extracted from multiple sources or databases (Singh et al., 2010). According to O’Brien and Marakas (2011), in addition to the benefits technology provides, there are detrimental effects on society and people. Government entities need to secure their websites from hacking, cyber theft, viruses, worms, adware, spyware and other malicious programs to minimise the detrimental effects and optimize their beneficial effects, as it is important to protect its citizens’ data. Also privacy laws in Australia and other countries regulate the collection and use of personal data by business corporations and Government agencies so it is important to secure organisational data. Digital divide refers to the inequalities in people’s access to information technologies. This F O O R P L A B I I G O L G 221 E-Government in Australia divide is because of several factors which include age, gender, disability, lower income and being located outside metro regions (Atkinson, Black, & Curtis, 2008). It is important to have Internet accessibility not only in suburban areas but also in rural areas for e-government to be successful. E-government services cannot often be extended to rural areas because of the unavailability of Internet access (Aman & Kasimin, 2011). Usually rural areas are not equipped with the latest technology, posing accessibility and connectivity issues, and providing Internet accessibility to rural areas poses significant technology challenges (Velaga, Beecroft, Nelson, Corsar, & Edwards, 2012). However, government initiatives to implement adequate infrastructure in rural areas can help improve citizens’ participation rate in e-government. Apart from rural areas, the uptake of e-government services among people over 65 years of age is low (AGIMO, 2011). Governments need to explore ways of providing this age group with better skills and training so the adoption of e-government services increases. Ignoring the digital divide can lead to social exclusion (Margetts & Dunleavy, 2002) as some people with whom governments deal are often likely to be alienated because of the inability to access e-government services. Although city council websites are not necessarily aimed at increasing councils’ revenue, there are possibilities of resistance from its users. Bureaucracy and unwillingness to change the public domain have created a lot of criticism regarding the government services leading to low trust between the government and its citizens (Dawes, 2008; Singh, 2010). There are inherent sociocultural barriers also that hinder the adoption of online services. Some socio-cultural barriers are a lack of transactional trust, no social interaction, and poor understanding of language and content (Lawrence & Tar, 2010). The major challenge for governments is to ensure that community needs and expectations are met while also ensuring cost effectiveness. There is a shifting trend where governments are not only focussing on the technical aspects of website provision but moving towards having an integrated e-government solution (Mishra & Mishra, 2011). Luna-Reyes, Gil-Garcia, and Romero (2012) have developed a model that can guide governments in making decisions about their current and future e-government initiatives. It is suggested that such a model is used and the challenges identified in this section are addressed to facilitate improved services. F O O R 4.0 GLOBAL ADOPTION OF E-GOVERNMENT P L A report initiated by the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) in 2011 found that there has been a steady growth in the use of e-government services in Australia. Over the past three years, two thirds of Australians have used e-government channels to contact government, confirming the prominence of providing convenient and efficient e-government services (AGIMO, 2011). It could be argued that Australia is a regional leader in the adoption of e-government services. Before looking at the adoption of egovernment in Australia, this section dwells on the state of e-government development globally so that an informed comparison can be made. A B I G I 222 O L G Africa Tunisia, Mauritius, Egypt and South Africa are the top four ranked countries with e-government development index value close to the world average of 0.4406 (United Nations, 2010). Few nations in the African region have adequate resources or proper infrastructure to offer government services online. As a result some African nations (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) are slow in implementing new technologies and offering e-government services to their citizens (i4d, 2005). Some of the key reasons for not implementing e-government services in African E-Government in Australia nations are low human development, low literacy rates, less affordability and political instability in these regions (Kitaw, 2006). Other reasons include inefficient public administration, corruption, limited capability and very few trained or qualified personnel (Schuppan, 2008). Asia ment websites to provide content and electronic services. E-government sites in the European Union facilitate two-way interaction and are fully transactional (Ding, Wang, & Ye, 2008) allowing users to not only access the content on their websites and complete electronic forms but also make online payments. F O The Americas The Republic of Korea, Singapore, Bahrain and Japan are the top four ranked countries in the Asian region with an e-government development index value that is much higher than the world average of 0.4406 (United Nations, 2010). In Southern Asia, India ranks fourth with the Maldives topping the list whilst in Eastern Asia, China ranks fourth in e-government development. The United Nations (2010) survey also revealed that in Southern Asia most portals and websites have remained stagnant since 2008 in terms of developing new features. A survey of 121 public sector officials from eight Asia pacific region countries indicated that Asian countries will continue to deploy egovernment services in the coming years (Phang, 2010). Increase in broadband Internet accessibility and affordability is making more citizens to utilise e-government services. As a result these nations are focussing more on designing and deploying services to improve two-way communication and the use of social media to interact with their citizens (Yeo, 2011). The status of e-government development in Northern America is far ahead of other American regions. United States of America and Canada are the top two ranked countries in the Americas with an e-government development index value almost double the world average of 0.4406 (United Nations, 2010). Very well designed government portals can help reach their citizens, allow citizens to participate in decision making processes and to get feedback on several issues prior to deciding on policies. This is particularly true in North America, as both United States and Canada have created a favourable environment that helps egovernment thrive. In Central America, Mexico enjoys the top ranking whereas in the Americas, it ranks ninth (United Nations, 2010). The United Nations (2010) survey also revealed that the e-government development index value and scoring for Central America declined below the world average in comparison to their previous survey in 2008. O R P L A B I G O L G Europe I All European sub-regions excel in the e-government development index and achieve high scores far above the world average (United Nations, 2010). This proves the point that high-income developed countries are ahead of others and also have well developed technological infrastructure that can support e-government services to their citizens (United Nations, 2010). Governments in these nations have identified extensive possibilities of reaching their citizens through govern- 5.0 INTERNET ACCESSIBILITY AND STATE OF ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT IN AUSTRALIA Internet accessibility and availability of technology to citizens is a critical factor and determines the success of e-government adoption. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2009), in 2008-09, 72 percent of Australian households had home Internet access and from 1998 to 2008-09, household access to the Internet at home has more 223 E-Government in Australia than quadrupled from 16 percent to 72 percent. The quadrupling of household access to the Internet at home prompts the need for local governments to provide their services online. Socio-economic characteristics of households influence the rate of computer, Internet and broadband connectivity across Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008) also reported that 64 percent of Australian homes had access to the Internet in 2006-2007 compared to 35 percent in 2001 which demonstrates a substantial growth in the usage of Internet as a way of accessing information and communicating. By the end of 2008 around 43 percent of Internet users had switched from dialup to Broadband, which provided advantages in accessing websites with greater speeds (BushellEmbling, 2008). As of 2011, Australia had 11.6 million Internet subscribers and 96 percent of these Internet connections were broadband as dial-up connections are being phased out (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). Nearly half of the current broadband connections in Australia are currently mobile wireless (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). The growth of mobile wireless represents an important change as it adds more mobility and makes Internet access truly ubiquitous. These broadband Internet technologies allows users to download larger files and web pages with graphics and videos thus providing more opportunities for local governments to create sites that can provide such content. In 1997 the Australian prime minister’s office released the Investing for Growth policy statement that became a catalyst for future online innovations. In 2000, the Australian government’s ‘Government Online-The Commonwealth Government’s Strategy’ was released and aimed to assist agencies to deliver all appropriate services online and encourage government operations to go online. A report by DMR Consulting (2003) for the National Office for the Information Economy recommended that increased utilisation of government online services can be achieved through more accessible information and services, better cross channel integration and the ability to complete more of the transactions online. The AGIMO (2006) report outlined four strategic priorities to guide government agencies: meet users’ needs, establish connected service delivery, achieve value for money and enhance public sector capability through the use of ICT. Australia is currently in the process of rolling out a National Broadband Network (NBN) that utilises optic fibre, fixed wireless and next-generation satellite aimed at providing every Australian with faster, more reliable broadband access. The NBN will enable Australia to become one of the world’s leading digital economies. One of the key goals of the NBN is to provide improved online government service delivery and engagement (Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, 2011). It is anticipated that the NBN will provide government with greater flexibility in delivering better services to people and streamline their existing operations. Undoubtedly the adoption of e-government services in Australia has come a long way from 1997 and government agencies have achieved significant progress in implementing their online programs. The advantages of online service provision have been recognised by the federal government for some time. Over the past ten years, federal government in Australia has started using the web as a major way of information provision and service delivery. Thus, accessibility and quality come to the forefront of online service deployment for e-government. According to the United Nations (2010), in the Oceania region Australia leads ahead of New Zealand whilst Australia ranks eighth out of the top twenty countries in e-government development. So it is apparent that Australia is a leader in the adoption of e-government services in the Oceania region. Although there is a strong commitment from local, state and federal governments in Australia to offer services to their citizens through web communication technologies, most of the services offered online are complementing rather than replacing traditional government ser- F O A B P L I G I 224 O L G O R E-Government in Australia vice delivery (Berryman, 2004), as the majority of the government websites do not allow two way interactive communication. As mentioned earlier clicks & bricks strategy is the best way to move forward for city councils. Over the past five years Australians have continued to embrace the Internet as a way of interacting with government. 46 percent of Australians have indicated a preference for using the Internet over other communication channels to contact government (AGIMO, 2011). In 2011, 65 percent of people in Australia used e-government services to contact government. Australians’ use and satisfaction with e-government services also indicates that use of e-government services has been stable since 2008, and overall satisfaction with the outcome of the service received is 86 percent (AGIMO, 2011). In spite of the stability indicated by the AGIMO (2011) report, there is potential room for improvement as 7 percent of Australians reported that they would prefer to make contact with government using the Internet, but were unable to do so because of inadequate access to the Internet (AGIMO, 2011). The report by AGIMO (2011) also indicated that people would prefer to use e-government channels against mail and in person channels. All these are very promising signs for e-government sustenance and further development of e-government services in Australia. 6.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Australia is comprised of six states (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia) and two territories (Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory). All six states and the Northern Territory have dedicated capital city councils while in the Australian Capital Territory, the local government plays the dual role of a city council and a territory government. Hence it was not considered appropriate to include the Australian Capital Territory in this evaluation as the scale and features of its site would be different. As there are 563 Australian city councils in the six states and Northern Territory, it was practically impossible to investigate each one of them. So to limit the scope, a total of 7 city council websites were chosen i.e. a council of the capital city from the six states and Northern Territory. Details of the chosen capital city councils are included in Table 1. Table 2 indicates the current number of city councils in each state and Northern Territory. Out of the 73 city councils in Queensland 2 city councils did not maintain an online web presence while four city councils, out of 74, in South Australia did not have an online web presence either. All other city councils in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, Northern Territory and Western Australia maintained 100 percent web presence. F O O R P L A B I G O L G I Table 1. Chosen capital city councils Council Name Web Address State City of Melbourne http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au Victoria City of Sydney http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au New South Wales Brisbane City Council http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au Queensland Adelaide City Council http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com South Australia Hobart City Council http://www.hobartcity.com.au Tasmania City of Perth http://www.cityofperth.wa.gov.au Western Australia City of Darwin http://www.darwin.nt.gov.au Northern Territory 225 E-Government in Australia Table 2. Number of city councils by state/territory State/Territory Number of City Councils Victoria 79 Source State Government of Victoria (2012) New South Wales 152 NSW Government (2012) Queensland 73 Queensland Government (2012) South Australia 74 Local Government Association of South Australia (2012) Tasmania 29 Tasmania Government (2012) Western Australia 140 Government of Western Australia (2012) Northern Territory 16 Northern Territory Government (2012) This study analysed website usability through heuristic evaluation (Kantner & Rosenbaum, 1997). This evaluation method is based on evaluation carried out by experts who scrutinize and use a website to discover usability problems that they believe would affect end users (Nielsen, 1994). The evaluation may include site layout and structure, navigation tools, search function, fonts and colours, and so forth (Wood et al., 2003).The seven capital city council websites were analysed using a quantitative web evaluation survey that contained 24 close ended questions. The process of developing the questionnaire balanced the needs of validity, reliability and practicality. Evaluation and re-evaluation was carried out to establish the reliability of the survey. There was zero difference between the evaluation and re-evaluation scores indicating 100 percent reliability of the instrument. The questions in the survey helped in determining factors relating to navigation, searchability, layout and visual clarity, information content, communication methods, transactional services and others pertaining to online web browsers support and RSS feeds. The collated results of the survey have been presented in Table 2. Website evaluation was conducted in March 2012. In order to ensure consistency of results, specifically for the load times of the websites, all evaluations were carried out at the researchers’ workplace with Internet that uses fibre optic backbone @ 100mbits with dedicated virtual private network tunnelling. The evaluation was F O O R conducted by the researchers who are skilled ICT professionals. Many online website load testing tools were evaluated but most tools only offer page loading estimates by downloading a limited amount of data. Pingdom (2012) downloads the entire page providing an accurate picture of the download time. Thus, Pingdom was selected to test the load time of the retailers’ homepage. P L A B I G I 226 O L G 7.0 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION All the capital city councils maintained an online web presence and are searchable through search engines like Google and Bing. The analysis (refer to Table 3 for the collated results) has revealed that all the Australian capital city councils have maintained an effective online web presence, which indicates the importance of online connectivity in public administration. All these websites provide information relating to the particular services they offer. All these websites are dynamic and designed to disseminate informational content to the public, government departments and businesses. Some of these websites provide basic information relating to the department or office, and list the links where further detailed information can be obtained. It is evident that the prime focus of these sites was the provision of information content. All the sites were clearly laid out and visually appealing. Coincidentally all the city councils’ websites used blue colour as the background. All E-Government in Australia Table 3. Collated results of the survey F O of them avoided unnecessary animation, especially at the site entry point, since it is often frustrating for consumers to look at an entry splash page. The websites are standardised with basic colours and minimal or no graphics requiring users to have very minimal Internet connection speeds hence reducing the digital divide too. Interestingly none of the websites had animations at the entry point, which helped to reduce web page loading time. This design feature might be helpful in addressing inequalities of access by preventing page loading issues. Also, in most instances the councils’ websites used the home page to display images relating to popular places and/or community activities, which are easily loadable on all the web browsers, even with minimum Internet download speeds. The load time of the councils’ website home page was also determined. Three tests were performed at different times of the day (between 9-10am, 1-2pm and 4-5pm) to ascertain the average load for each site. The average load time for the seven sites was 7.20 seconds. The fastest site to load was Adelaide city council at 2.11 seconds whilst the slowest site to load was city of Darwin at 15.57 seconds. Figure 1 details the load time of the councils’ website home pages. Ease of navigation is one factor that determines the revisits of users. All the websites were easily navigable. City of Darwin and Perth used text links as their navigation style while all the other O R sites had organised their information in the form of drop-down menus, which can be expanded by pointing at the tab. The drop-down menu navigational style is very easy and convenient when there is a huge amount of information that needs to be made available to the visitors (Hochheiser & Shneiderman, 2000). Drop-down menus allow visitors to reach subsections with ease and eliminate unnecessary clicks. Hence it is recommended that city of Darwin and Perth also adopt drop-down menus for improved navigation capabilities. Under the searchability category, all the chosen websites had an in-site search tool. Most of the sites used Google for searching the contents on their website and for performing a custom search. However sitemaps were also available on the sites that complement the search function and P L A B I I G O L G Figure 1. Load time for the councils’ website home pages 227 E-Government in Australia help in finding information more easily. All the surveyed websites had a sitemap, which provided a hierarchical listing of pages linked to the home page. Apart from helping users locate the site’s content, site maps can also improve search engine optimisation by ensuring that all the web pages in the site can be found. All the councils used their site as a platform to communicate with their citizens by providing city council information through their ‘About Us’ page. The type of information communicated by city councils includes brief history, vision, mission, council members, framework, service charter and current projects. Although all the websites had information relating to “Attractions and Events” in their city councils, only 2 websites had provisions for online booking. All the councils provided links to relevant government laws, where necessary. All the city councils dedicated a page on their websites for careers and recruitment. Information provided on these sites includes future prospects at city council, working conditions, pay, current vacant positions and selection process. However, two sites (Hobart and Darwin) did not allow online (through the website) submission of applications and applications could only be made through email or post. All the city councils except Adelaide and Perth had dedicated privacy policies displayed on their website. Adelaide and Perth councils had included elements of a privacy statement in their website disclaimers. Alarmingly none of these councils had separate security policies, although most had embedded security information within their privacy policy, which warrants some uniformity. The privacy policy generally outlined the type of personal information the site collected, how the information is used, how the information collected can be accessed and the security measures the council takes to protect personal information. Visitors will feel more confident in doing online transactions with any website when the security policy provides some assurance about the steps and procedures taken to protect business assets and their confidential information (Mistry, 2001). To provide a sense of security to the site visitors, it is recommended that separate security policies are provided on websites. Only the Brisbane city council utilised their website to gather visitors’ feedback through an online questionnaire. Adelaide city council was quite ahead of other city councils in utilising web functions to allow two-way interaction with its citizens by creating an online chat option. However, this service is restricted to working hours only. It is hard to contemplate why other city councils have not provided a chat function which although easy to develop and implement can be expensive to resource. Other feedback mechanisms that were openly promoted on all websites were email, phone and postal delivery. Three sites provided an option for its online visitors to follow them on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and so forth. Online social networking can help businesses to make new contacts, contact potential customers, market themselves and most importantly disseminate key information to their members. Hence its usage in the current organisational environment is very vital. The popularity of social networks is an indication for the other four sites to follow suit and adopt them to keep in regular touch with their citizens. Only 2 sites allowed its constituents to make online bookings i.e. book function rooms, grounds and other community facilities. 100 percent of the websites had information for its suppliers or other businesses, however only 4 websites allowed tender (e-tender) submission on-line. Apart from convenience, this e-tendering option would help to reduce their costs and speed up the tendering process. All the websites offered a multitude of online payment options like credit cards, BPAY service, online bank transfers and so forth. Offering different ways of payment mechanisms makes it easier for people to pay their rates, fines and other taxes. All the seven chosen city councils adopted the first two forms of e-government (G2C and G2B) to serve their citizens and local businesses. However, F O A B P L I G I 228 O L G O R E-Government in Australia none of these city councils made provisions for the third form of E-government (G2G) to serve other local, state and federal government or Government agencies. Accommodating and offering information and services for other governments might help build relationships among city councils, develop emergency response systems with other government agencies like State Emergency Services, detect crime and improve homeland security (Evans & Yen, 2006). Cross browser compatibility checks were carried out in four different browsers (Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Mozilla’s Firefox, Google’s Chrome and Apple’s Safari) that customers are more likely to use. All the sites had a consistent look and the homepage loaded uniformly across the browsers. This proves that web designers develop sites that are supported by multiple browsers. Four of the seven surveyed sites offered visitors the opportunity to subscribe to RSS feeds. RSS is an easy way through which subscribers can choose to receive updates and news from different websites. Subscribing to RSS feeds negates the need for people to visit each site individually. Hence providing its constituents access to various information and services online is useful for the city councils as the Internet is ubiquitous in nature. These sites can be accessed 24/7 and remove time and spatial limitations. As described earlier, apart from being beneficial to the constituents, these sites are also advantageous for the city councils. As with any website, these sites also pose security and trust issues that need to be assessed by all the involved stakeholders before deciding to either offer the services or before using them. City councils should not lag behind in the process of technology adoption and commercial reinvention in order to reap the benefits of the Internet and ICT. their governments. High Internet adoption rates in Australia can point towards the possible number of citizens participating in electronic government activities. It is also clear that the high web presence among city councils indicates the rising importance of e-government. This research study has provided an insight into e-government development globally and has outlined key challenges and opportunities of e-government adoption. An assessment of the usability of seven capital city councils’ websites was carried out. This led to further discussion about their key functionality. As with any other research, this research also has its limitations. One city council in each state or territory does not represent the whole government sector. As it is impractical to include a greater number of city councils, the research was limited to seven capital city council websites. It was not practical to collect and analyse a large number of usability factors, so the questionnaire was limited to 24 questions that were deemed to have significant influence on usability. This study has also neglected an analysis of citizen/ user needs, wishes, and behaviours towards egovernment. This calls for further study to better understand citizen behaviour and e-government adoption patterns in Australia. This study has not looked at the number of hits that these councils’ websites get to prove their popularity but that could be the focus of another study. Also, whilst this chapter focuses largely through personal interest in e-government and website usability in Australia, a similar study can also be initiated for analysing the e-government adoption in other countries or by initiating a cross-comparison of e-government adoption between developing and developed countries. Similar studies could also be initiated for assessing the usability of federal government sites. However in spite of these limitations, the results obtained from the current study are promising and advance our knowledge of the state of e-government adoption in Australia. Analysis of the websites indicates that Australian city councils are utilising ICT to interact with its stakeholders. F O O R P L A B I G O L G I CONCLUSION E-government has the potential to change the level and quality of interactions citizens have with 229 E-Government in Australia In addition to this, it was found that new services such as the ability to make online payments, online tenders and initiate online contact with the city councils provides greater flexibility to both citizens and businesses. E-government provides opportunities to both governments and its citizens. However users require Internet accessibility, minimum hardware and software resources to access these sites and these can be a caveat for some of its populace. Thus, in conclusion, e-government will allow city councils to work smarter and provide their citizens a ubiquitous channel to facilitate transactions. E-government undoubtedly has the capacity to transform the way councils conduct their daily operations and make it a win-win situation. 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Retrieved on July 12, 2012, from http://www. darebin.vic.gov.au/Files/Darebin_eForum_Evaluation_090807.pdf Wood, F., Siegel, E., LaCroix, E., Lyon, B., Benson, D., Cid, V., & Fariss, S. (2003). A practical approach to e-government web evaluation. IT Professional, 5(3), 22–28. doi:10.1109/ MITP.2003.1202231. Clicks Only (a.k.a. Called Pure Online): This strategy refers to having only an online medium for conducting business processes. E-Government: The use of the Internet and ICT to electronically empower governments to provide information and services to a diverse range of stakeholders. Government to Businesses (G2B): This model refers to online activities in which the government deals with other businesses such as suppliers. Government to Citizens (G2C): This model refers to online activities in which the government provides access to information and services to its citizens. Government to Government (G2G): This model refers to online activities in which the government conducts activities between different government agencies. Information and Communication Technology (ICT): A broader term that refers to technologies which help to gain access to a variety of information and enable communication. ICT covers broad range of technologies including, but not limited to, mobile phones, communication mediums, software, hardware and networks. Really Simple Syndication (RSS): A web feed format for delivering the latest content from sites that interest people by not having to visit each site individually. Netizen: An avid user of the Internet. F O O R P L A B Yeo, V. (2011). Asia speeds up e-government efforts. Retrieved on March 20, 2012, from http:// www.zdnetasia.com/asia-speeds-up-e-government-efforts-62300717.htm O L G KEY TERMS AND DEFINITIONS Clicks & Bricks (a.k.a. Clicks and Mortar): This strategy refers to having an online medium in addition to a traditional medium for conducting business processes. I G I 235