ALP response to ALIA's ten questions

1. Will your party endorse, support and contribute to the funding of the National Year of Reading 2012? What is your party's reaction to the fact that 46% of Australians aged 15-74 do not have the prose literacy skills that are needed for everyday life and work?

Federal Labor supports the National Year of Reading 2012 in partnership with Australian libraries and library associations, schools, writers and others.

In the last budget the Gillard Labor Government committed an additional $67 million over four years into the LLN to commence from 1 July 2010.This investment is a part of the Australian Government’s $119.3 million Foundation Skills Package. Over 70 000 job seekers over the next four years whose LLN skills are a barrier to gaining employment and/or undertaking further education training and will benefit from this investment. These job seekers will include Indigenous Australians, young people, the mature aged and people in regional and remote locations.

The Gillard Labor Government is concerned about literacy performance amongst some segments of society, particularly disadvantaged groups. The Education Revolution is driving a renewed focus on the foundation skills of literacy and numeracy. Federal Labor has committed more than half a billion dollars to improving literacy and numeracy in schools.

Further, as part of Federal Labor’s Education Revolution, the Gillard Labor Government is investing more than $63.7 billion in school education funding from 2009-2012, almost doubling funding for schools in less than three years.

2. Does your party believe in the benefits of a national early childhood literacy initiative for Australian under-fives?

The research is clear that a child’s experience in their first five years sets the course for the rest of their life it shapes their future – their health, learning and social development. And we want to make sure that their future is bright.

Compare this to the dismal record under the former Coalition Government where

30 per cent of kids were missing out. When Liberal- National Coalition were in office, Australia was placed 13th out of 14 OECD countries in terms of public expenditure on early childhood education.

The Gillard Labor Government is delivering unprecedented investment in early childhood education and child care with more than $17 billion over four years - $10 billion more than was provided under the last four years of the former Coalition Government.

3. Does your party support mandatory ISP filtering?

Federal Labor believes that while the internet offers fantastic opportunities, governments have a responsibility to put in place measures that ensure Australians, in particular children, have a safe experience online.

Federal Labor’s $125.8 million Cyber-Safety Plan consists of a comprehensive range of measures encompassing education, law enforcement, research and mandatory Internet Service Provider (ISP) filtering of Refused Classification (RC) content.

Following completion of a live pilot of ISP level filtering the Government announced enhancements to its cyber-safety plan including: introduction of mandatory ISP level filtering of content that is rated Refused Classification (RC). We have also introduced a grants program to encourage ISP’s to offer additional level filtering services to households who want them.

Under Australia’s existing classification regulations refused classification (RC) material is not available in newsagencies; it is not on library shelves, you cannot watch it on a DVD or at the cinema and it is not shown on television. Moreover, refused classification (RC) material is not available on Australian hosted websites.

The Government's proposal will bring the treatment of overseas hosted content into line by requiring ISPs to block overseas content that has been identified as being RC-rated. The Gillard Labor Government understands that the public needs to have confidence that the material blocked under Internet Service Provider (ISP) level filtering, and the process by which it gets there, is independent, rigorous, free from interference or influence and has appropriate review mechanisms.

That is why the Gillard Labor Government has committed to a comprehensive suite of transparency and accountability measures to accompany the introduction of ISP filtering of Refused Classification (RC) content. More information on the complete suite of transparency and accountability measures can be found at www.dbcde.gov.au/transparency_measures.

The Gillard Labor Government understands that there is community debate about what material should be included in the Refused Classification (RC) category. That is why the Gillard Labor Government is also seeking a review of the Refused Classification (RC) category before any obligation on ISPs is implemented for mandatory blocking of Refused Classification (RC) content, to ensure that this classification continues to reflect current community standards.

4. Does your party recognise the value of a national digitisation strategy?

Federal Labor understands the importance and opportunities of the digital economy, and designing national policies to ensure that everyone can benefit from new technologies.

Federal Labor has already put in place a number of important building blocks to ensure that all Australians can participate and enjoy the benefits of digital technology and the digital economy.

High speed broadband is the critical enabling technology that will underpin the digital economy. Federal Labor is investing in a National Broadband Network that will deliver affordable high speed broadband to all premises in Australia, no matter where they are located. This national investment will mean that our economy has a wholesale-only, high speed broadband platform that will deliver a range of digital applications and services to consumers, businesses and organisations across the country.

Federal Labor is also committed to a digital future for Australia’s television services. That is why we are encouraging the switch to digital-only television through a firm switchover timetable for locations around the country. The switch to digital-only television will bring significant social and economic benefits to Australia. Digital television means better pictures, better sound and more choice through additional channels for consumers.

Federal Labor has also invested $60 million in the Digital Regions Initiative that will fund innovative and sustainable projects which improve healthcare, education and emergency services in regional, rural and remote communities. The Digital Regions Initiative is about making sure that regional, rural and remote communities benefit from broadband and digital technologies, and are not left behind.

Eleven projects have been offered funding totalling $32.9 million under Round One of the Digital Regions Initiative. The eleven successful projects provide:

• $13.6 million to the health sector.
• $4.9 million to the education sector.
• $3.3 million to the emergency services sector.
• $11.1 million to other sectors.

5. What role does your party envisage that libraries will play in the roll out of the NBN?

The Gillard Labor Government understands that to keep our economy strong all Australian consumers and businesses need access to affordable high speed broadband. High speed broadband will be critical for the future delivery of education to our young people, including by libraries.

The National Broadband Network will connect 93 per cent of Australian homes and businesses with “fibre to the premise” technology delivering speeds of up to one gigabit per second – 1 000 times faster than many people experience today. The remaining premises will be served by next generation wireless and satellite technology, delivering speeds of 12 megabits per second or more – with average data rates of more than 20 times higher than most users of these technologies experience today.

6. Will your party provide funding for the purchase of quality digital content for all Australians through the Electronic Resources Australia project?

Electronic Resources Australia (ERA) is a service to all libraries in Australia so that all Australians may have access to more databases and electronic information resources.

ERA started in 2007 and by 2009 there were 646 schools across Australia participating, as well as public schools and special libraries, tertiary institutions and state libraries. The subscription amount for each electrical resource database is determined by the number of subscribers/libraries who participate each year.

Approximately 7,000,000 Australians are served by libraries that subscribe to resources through ERA.

In 2009 the ERA, product panel was expanded from 9 to 25 products. There were also changes to the subscription periods. Libraries now have the ability to subscribe for a calendar year, which allows schools to work more easily within their budget periods.

ERA is, and will continue to be, the best value for money subscription service to the selected databases and any further databases that may be included in the future. While the poll is the mechanism to determine the cost of each data bases for the following year, it is possible to subscribe through the ERA without having participated in the poll. The greater the participation in each polling period – which usually opens in March and closes in April of each year – the greater the possibility of reduction of subscriptions.

7. Does your party recognise the potential of libraries to deliver social, educational and economic benefits at a national level?

The Gillard Labor Government believes qualified teacher librarians can be an asset in any school and are able to deliver a multitude of long lasting benefits to children and the nation by offering a diverse variety of reading material, digital resources and learning programs.

8. Is your party in agreement with the principle that there should be a teacher librarian in every school? Will your party support the continuance and conclusion of the House of Representatives Inquiry into School Libraries and Teacher Librarians in Australian Schools?

While the Government provides funding for schools, the day-to-day management of schools and allocation of staff, including teacher librarians, is the responsibility of the government and non-government education authorities in each State and Territory.

The Federal Parliament is currently conducting a parliamentary inquiry into the role, adequacy and resourcing of school libraries and teacher librarians. The Gillard Labor Government looks forward to the findings of the inquiry.

9. Will your party recognise the role of public libraries in providing access to e-government services and publications and how will it support this role?

Federal Labor recognises that public libraries play a critical role in providing access to a range of services online, including e-government services and publications services and publications.

In part, this objective is supported by the Government’s investment in the National Broadband Network that will connect all premises in Australia, including libraries, with genuine, affordable high speed broadband services.

10. What is your party's position about ensuring free and longterm public access to government information, particularly government publications and e-government services?

The Gillard Labor Government commissioned an independent report – Engage: Getting on with Government 2.0 to examine the Government’s online engagement. The report, released in late 2009 outlined ways to drive online engagement between the public and the policy makers, and to make the government information more open and accessible.

The Gillard Labor Government accepted all 13 recommendations of the report and has begun to implement the recommendations.

• The central recommendation – the Declaration of Open Government – was made by the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner, on 16 July 2010. (http://agimo.govspace.gov.au/2010/07/16/decleration-of-open-government).
• The release of the 2010 ¡V 11 Budget papers was under a Creative Commons license allowing the public to copy and re-use these documents under a far more flexible copyright arrangement.
• Agencies have started using departmental blogs and twitter. The Department of Finance and Deregulation now blogs, seeking collaboration and engagement on subjects including Government 2.0, Better Business Regulation and ICT procurement. The Department of Health and Ageing has your health blog, which provides an opportunity to offer suggestions for improvement to Australia¡¦s healthcare system.