Australia.gov.au

Infobox Website
name = australia.gov.au


caption = Australia.gov.au homepage
url = http://www.australia.gov.au/
commercial = No
type = Government
owner = Australian Government
author = Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO)

Australia.gov.au provides a single, comprehensive entry point for access to Australian Government information and services. It links to over 800 Australian Government websites and indexes approximately 3 million Australian Government resources. 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, it 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. [ [http://www.finance.gov.au Department of Finance and Deregulation] ] 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 450,000 visitors each month, and is linked to by over 12,000 web pages. [ [http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=link%3Aaustralia.gov.au&btnG=Search&meta= Google links] ]

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.

tructure

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 Campaigns and Initiatives which are featured prominently on the front page of www.australia.gov.au.

earch

The simple search function enables users to perform a search that offers a fast, current and comprehensive full-text search of approximately 3 million resources from over 800 Australian Government web sites, Government publications held Australian Libraries and the Australian Government Information and Services Catalogue. Searches on www.australia.gov.au are provided by Funnelback Pty. Ltd. Several other Australian Government websites use the same service.

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 Australian Government web sites or search using keywords to locate a link to the web site they are looking for. This 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.

Find Local Services

The six month Australian Government Service Locator trial gave users the option to use a map to find services. This trial service halted in August 2007.

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 and JobSearch websites.

tate and Territory Governments

Includes links to State and Territory Government entry points.

Contact Us page

If site users can't find what they are looking for they can send an inquiry via this page and we will endeavour to answer it within the next working day.

Design Evolution

Australia.gov.au has gone through several design iterations from its beginnings as two separate sites:

australia.gov.au (2001-2003) Design Evolution

australia.gov.au (2004-2007) Design Evolution

Awards

In March 2006, australia.gov.au was awarded "Best Government Site" by Australian NetGuide. [ [http://www.netguide.com.au/v2/ Australian NetGuide] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.australia.gov.au www.australia.gov.au]
* [http://www.agimo.gov.au Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO)]
* [http://www.gov.au www.gov.au]
* [http://www.funnelback.com.au Funnelback Pty. Ltd.]