The federal government has launched an inquiry into the need for printed parliamentary documents in "an increasingly digital and online environment” - the latest move in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's ambitious digital transformation policy.
In announcing the review, the Joint Committee on Publications, chaired by outspoken Queensland LNP MP George Christensen, said that since the last review of printing standards in 2007, "the costs associated with printing had changed significantly." The committee will consider shifting printed parliamentary papers to an online-only format from 2017.
The inquiry will review the current standards for documents presented to Parliament. Since the last review of printing standards in 2007, the costs, technologies and capabilities associated with printing have changed significantly. The inquiry will focus on the relevance of the current printing standards and their scope of application in an increasingly digital and online environment.
Submissions are open until 3 January 2017. The committee’s terms of reference will include:
To inquire and report on the printing standards for documents presented to Parliament, with particular reference to:
- The current level of need for printing standards and scope of their application;
- Minimum standards required by the Parliament to ensure the ongoing integrity of access to parliamentary records (including for distribution, long term storage, handling and archiving, and given its custodial role in preserving parliamentary records);
- Impacts of Parliamentary printing standards on producing and receiving entities;
- Costs of producing Commonwealth documents and value for money;
- The impact on the standards of the Parliamentary Papers Series (PPS) shifting to online-only format from 2017 onwards;
- Consequential standards to preserve public access to documents presented to parliament in an online environment (c.f. other Commonwealth accessibility requirements);
- The practicality of the PPS in an online environment and the functions of the Joint Committee on Publications.
PIAA CEO Andrew Macaulay says the association will be making ‘strong representations’ to the joint committee. “Yes, we will be making submissions on behalf of the industry and, per the notice, we have lodged a notice of intent to do so."
Mary Jo (MJ) Fisher, the PIAA's director of government relationships, yesterday was defending print-related matters before another government inquiry, the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.
“Some of these proposed reforms will directly impact printers,” says Macaulay. “You’ve got fringe independent types of political parties arguing against printed declarations of printed materials, Australia Post is again attacking print and you’ve got others advocating for digital voting. Our argument here is that there needs to be a public record, that physical copies of printed declarations are vital, and we will prosecute that argument.”
Government printing contracts have long been a cornerstone of the industry and there are fears the new inquiry by the Joint Committee on Publications is the thin edge of the wedge. In recent months, Spicers, Konica Minolta, Bluestar, Canprint, Union Offset, Bauer Media, Ricoh, Adamson Printing, the Camerons Group, Big Sky Publishing, The Printing Factory Group, New Millennium Print, Prominent Press, National Mailing & Marketing and others have won printing contracts large and small with federal government agencies and departments.
NSW printer The Camerons Group has a seven-year, $2.8 million contract - that ends on 31 December 2016 - to supply the Australian Electoral Commission with Declaration Envelopes. ACT-based Canprint Communications signed a $6 million contract to deliver print and production services to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Fraser & Jenkinson, based at Scoresby in Melbourne’s east and trading as Print Media Group, has a $6.5 million contract to supply Printing and Writing Paper to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade until September 2017.
The federal government last month unveiled a new Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) to replace its Digital Transformation Office (DTO).
The DTA will be responsible for the implementing “wide ranging changes in digital capability across government departments."
Angus Taylor, Assistant Minister for Digital Transformation, says the new agency will "integrate digital delivery across government and provide greater transparency of the investment in and benefits realised from the Commonwealth’s ICT and digital projects." New interim DTA chief executive Nerida O’Loughlin replaces Paul Shetler, the former chief executive of the DTO.
Shetler recently spoke of ‘the important task to demonstrate the benefits of the digital transformation agenda to people, businesses and the Australian Public Service in terms of its economic and social benefit, costs savings and time management.”