Accessible E commerce Forum
5th meeting: 29 November 2001
For background to the forum see HREOC's main ecommerce page
Attendance
Present:
Graeme Innes, Deputy Disability Discrimination Commissioner (Chair)
Nick Hossack, Australian Bankers' Association
Helen Scott, Information Manager, Council on the Ageing
Gaynor Gravestock, Internet Industry Association Taskforce (by phone)
Jill Baillie, Civil Justice Division, Attorney General's Department
Karen Smith, Public Affairs Adviser, Credit Union Services Corporation
Bernadette Levitt, Manager Disability Services, Telstra
Tim Noonan, Blind Citizens Australia
Tony Burke, Australian Bankers' Association
Stan Moore, Australian Retailers' Association
Mark Bagshaw, International Marketing Manager, IBM Australasia
Michael Small, HREOC
Bruce Maguire, HREOC
Apologies:
Mark Relf, Physical Disability Council of Australia
Bridget Larsen, Australian Information Industry Association
Paul Waterhouse, Property Council of Australia
Peter Huta, National Office for the Information Economy
Shirley Douglas, Family and Community Services
Jim Larkey, Australian Association of Permanent Building Societies
1. Matters arising from previous meeting:
Helen Scott asked that it be noted she had sent apologies for the July
2001 Forum meeting.
Nick Hossack asked that it be noted the Forum had resolved to invite NOIE
to attend future meetings.
2. Building Bridges over the Digital Divide
Deputy Commissioner Innes formally launched the Commission's review report. He thanked all Forum members who had assisted in its development and noted the very wide range of initiatives taking place in this area. Both the Commission and the Attorney-General had issued press releases welcoming the progress made since the release of the original public inquiry.
3. ABA update
Mr Hossack invited Tony Burke and Tim Noonan to provide an update on the development of draft industry standards.
Mr Burke outlined the progress made by the Working Groups developing draft standards in the area of ATMs, EFTPOS, internet and telephone banking. The Working Groups have had broad representation from industry and the community and Mr Burke thanked all those who had contributed.
Mr Noonan explained that the Working Groups had tried to develop drafts which balanced the need for detailed specification with the need for an outcomes focused document in an area where technical changes and innovation was happening quickly.
Mr Burke reminded Forum members that the intent was to describe best practice in the drafts and identify a mechanism to deal with issues not resolvable at this point in time. Issues such as Smart Card technology, communications and identification mechanisms were yet to be addressed, but information on them was being filed for attention at a later date.
Mr Burke described discussions that had taken place with suppliers and manufacturers which gave considerable confidence the requirements of the draft standards could be met.
The drafts are to be released on 30 November for a period of community consultation with comments due back by 31 January. Mr Burke outlined a consultation strategy which included promoting availability of the draft on the web and in alternative formats and encouraging any interested individual or organisation to provide comment. In addition the ABA would be directly contacting particular representative organisations to undertake focus group meetings and provide an opportunity for in depth discussion. The ABA also proposed submitting the standards for international scrutiny, by standards bodies and others.
Members of the Forum and participants in the Working Groups were also asked to ensure their constituencies were aware of the drafts and encouraged to contribute ideas.
Discussion took place on the models for consultation and difficulties some groups may experience in meeting timeframes. Mr Hossack emphasised how important it was that all participants in the process of developing the standards were confident they had had the opportunity to make their contributions and encouraged groups to discuss particular concerns with Mr Burke.
Members of the Forum outlined how they would contribute to the broad consultative strategy.
4. IIA/AIMIA Action Plan
Ms Gravestock provided an update in the changes that had taken place within the Taskforce responsible for completion of the Action Plan. Further work had to be done on the performance measures part of the draft and Ms Gravestock was hopeful this would be completed by February 2002.
5. COTA presentation on information, education and communication
Ms Scott was invited to lead a discussion on the importance of information, education and communication strategies in addressing the digital divide, particularly for older Australians.
Ms Scott referred Forum members to a number of papers on these issues available through the COTA website, including a paper tabled at the forum, and reminded members of a number of initiatives reported on in Bridging the Digital Divide. She talked about the importance of lifelong learning strategies and the value of familiarisation and training programs such as those developed by COTA's, for example course developed by the WA branch of COTA which have been accredited, and in Victoria and NSW in partnership with the Commonwealth Bank.
Ms Scott also noted the need for more research on the most effective
methods for teaching older Australians and the need to find out more about
the gap between e-learning and the take up of e-commerce opportunities.
Resources have to be made available for research and training projects
to be undertaken; specific suggestions were made.
Ms Scott outlined ways of making information appropriate and gave examples
of existing information services for older people.
Mr Small suggested the information provided be added to the file on 'Communication' being developed by Mr Burke for further consideration.
Mr Hossack invited Ms Scott to hold separate discussions with the ABA on the development of a possible funded project using already identified effective models.
6. Other reports
Ms Baillie reported that the Government had announced an expansion of the Computers for Schools program during the election campaign and that it was unclear what that would entail and what scope exists for the donation of superseded Commonwealth computers for other groups such as those involving people with disabilities and older Australians. The AG's Department is consulting with the Department of Education, Science and Training about the expanded program.
Ms Baillie noted that the Attorney-General had demonstrated significant support for the computer donation initiative arising from the recommendations of the Commission's E-commerce inquiry and thought that he would be keen to see the initiative progressed to the extent possible. However, the expanded Computers for Schools program would need to be taken into account. Ms Baillie said it was open to the Forum to put forward its views about further computer donations to disability and older persons groups by writing to the Attorney-General, perhaps copied to other relevant Ministers
Mr Noonan noted that reports on the access projects undertaken by Blind Citizens Australia and funded by the Commonwealth Governments accessAbility Grants Program should be available soon.
Mr Bagshaw reported on a number of initiatives he was involved with both through IBM and the ANTA Disability Training Advisory Council. Discussions on a possible Disability Technology Innovation Centre were continuing. Mr Bagshaw stated he had been involved in valuable round table discussions with people with different disabilities on a 'whole of life' approach to setting priorities for change. He also noted how important it is for the work of the Forum to be seen in the context of the broader experience of people with disabilities participating in the community.
Ms Smith reported on CUSCAL's active participation in the Working Groups developing the draft industry standards. She also noted that CUSCAL members in SA had been working closely with members of the disability community on a number of access related initiatives. Work on the CUSCAL Action Plan was continuing and would be informed by the outcome of the industry standard drafting.
Ms Levitt reported on the official launch of the Telstra Centre for Accessibility in October. Telstra had also initiated an on-line disability awareness training program for staff and had invested significantly in accessibility compliance throughout the company. Ms Levitt also reported on a particular focus on e-commerce and m-commerce accessibility in the third revised Telstra Action Plan. Consultation on the public payphone research project was also continuing.
Mr Huta had provided a written update on the National Office for the Information Economy access initiatives which was circulated. The initiatives included NOIE developing a draft set of minimum standards for computer donations and looking at the feasibility of establishing an on-line clearing house facility for use by computer donators and potential recipient organisations.
7. Future role for Forum
Deputy Commissioner Innes reminded Forum members that when the Forum was established the Commission expressed a view that it should have a limited duration. He proposed that the next meeting of the Forum should use the Building Bridges report as a reference point to discuss priorities for action and a timetable for completion. Deputy Commissioner Innes asked Forum members to consider what issues they would like to pursue. Mr Hossack welcomed the suggestion and proposed one area for discussion was the role of HREOC/NOIE in obtaining benchmarking data in order to assess changes in the digital divide.
Next meeting
Next meeting was set for 7 March 2002