Australia.gov.au

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Australia.gov.au provides a single entry point to government in Australia, linking to information and services from around 900 Australian Government websites, as well as selected State and Territory government resources. In addition, the site indexes over 4 million pages from Australian, State and Territory governments. The search service uses both metadata and full text collections to ensure australia.gov.au is a comprehensive government portal. While its primary audience is Australian citizens, the site receives many visitors from outside Australia, especially intending tourists and migrants and people wishing to do business with Australia.

Australia.gov.au is owned and managed by the Australian Government Information Management Office, a group within the Department of Finance and Deregulation.^[1] The development of australia.gov.au is part of the Australian Government’s ongoing commitment to make government information and services more accessible, more connected and easier to find.

Australia.gov.au receives over 600,000 visitors each month, and is linked to by over 12,000 web pages.^[2]

History

www.fed.gov.au was first launched in May 1998, providing access to all Australian Government information on the web through search, subject trees and indexes.

www.australia.gov.au was launched in February 2002 as the entry point to the Australian Government customer and subject portals. The Australian Government Portals Framework, traversing subject areas from business to families, underpinned the site.

There was no clear distinction between www.australia.gov.au and www.fed.gov.au and the existence of two Australian Government entry points caused confusion. In 2004, a new entry point was created by combining the best elements of each of the existing web sites. The new site continued to use the name www.australia.gov.au as this best reflected the Australian Government brand.

Structure

Australia.gov.au has a number of features to make it easier to find government information and services:

Australian Government Initiatives

Users can quickly find links to Australian Government Initiatives which are featured prominently on the front page of www.australia.gov.au.

Search

The simple search function enables users to perform a search that offers a fast, current and comprehensive full-text search of approximately 4 million resources from over 900 Australian government web sites, plus government publications held in Australian Libraries.

Browse Australian Government Information and Services

Users can drill-down within the browse structure to find what they are looking for. Users are able to browse for information and services by audience, (e.g. Australians Travelling; Businesses; Migrants; etc) and by subject, (e.g. Public Holidays, Pensions etc).

Directories

Users can find specific Australian Government agency web sites using the A-Z list of Government sites or search using keywords to locate a link to the web site they are looking for. The Directories section also provides links to Parliamentary and Executive contacts and to the Government Online Directory which allows users to search or browse for Australian Government organisations, structure and key people.

Government Media Release Service

Subscription based daily notification of current Australian Government media releases. This also includes an index and search function for all Australian Government media pages included in the service.

Government Quicklinks

Provides links to popular Australian Government online resources such as the Centrelink, Australian Taxation Office, Bureau of Meteorology and www.business.gov.au websites.

State and Territory Governments

Includes links to State and Territory Government entry points.

FAQs, Help and Contact page

If site users can't find what they are looking for they can send an inquiry via the FAQs, Help and Contact page.

Awards

In March 2006, Australia.gov.au was awarded "Best Government Site" by Australian NetGuide.^[3]

References

1. ^ Department of Finance and Deregulation
2. ^ Google links
3. ^ Australian NetGuide

External links

• www.australia.gov.au
• Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO)
• www.gov.au