From Dog Licences to Democracy: Local Government Approaches to E-Service Delivery in Australia

Municipal councils worldwide are recognizing the need and value of the Internet to deliver information and services. The move to e-Government in Australia and across the world has been prompted by factors such as government reform and the need to reduce cost, and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. Only recently, however, have there been more significant moves towards local e-Government in many countries. This research paper reports on the progress local governments in Victoria, Australia have made towards e-Government implementation. The paper provides a background to types of electronic information and services provided by local government and the stages of electronic maturity. The research identifies many of the internal and external pressures on local governments which are often different from those at higher levels of government. The result for local government is often a varied and at times confused approach to eGovernment and electronic information and services which have a heavy focus on governance related issues.