Government Transparency: Six Strategies for More Open and Participatory Government

Offers strategies for realizing Knight's 2009 call for e-government and openness using Web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies, including public-private partnerships to develop applications, flexible procurement procedures, and better community broadband access

Self directed disability support (SDDS): building community capacity through action research

Disability support has historically been organised and financially managed through government and service provider agencies (agency funding). Increasingly it is offered through individualised, person - centred packages of support (individual or self directed funding), which allow people to manage how their own funds are spent. Opportunities for self directed disability support (SDDS) – in both agency and individual funding approaches – are expanding across Australian states and territories, in line with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) reforms. This project explores how people with disability manage the transition towards self directed disability support. Australian evidence on this critical topic is thin. We know little about the impact of self directed options on people requiring support, informal carers and support providers (Prideaux et al 2009). Likewise, there is little systematic information about the effectiveness of existing disability support systems (Baxter et al 2010). Such information is gathered in this project, and it is important for assessing the impact of new approaches on equity of access, quality and availability of support, and community outcomes (Ungerson & Yeandle 2007) . The Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC), University of New South Wales (UNSW), in collaboration with People With Disability Australia (PWDA) and the Centre for Children and Young People (CCYP), Southern Cross University (SCU), is conducting the project. This plan explains the project methodology and management. Authors: Karen R. Fisher, Sam Cooper, Christiane Purcal, Ngila Bevan and Ariella Meltzer

Serious Notice: A Celebration, Discussion, and Recognition of Joel Reidenberg’s Work on Privacy Notices and Disclosures

This Essay pays tribute to Professor Joel Reidenberg’s rich academic career and, specifically, to his contributions to the study of privacy policies. In doing so, this Essay takes a close look at privacy policies and possible ways to effectively intermediate their content through various labeling schemes. While severely flawed, privacy policies are here to stay. Therefore, an in-depth analysis of ways to enhance their efficiency is merited. This Essay thus examines key strategies for privacy-related intermediation, obstacles, and problems arising in the process, as well as possible solutions. The analysis weaves together theoretical and empirical privacy law scholarship (much of it by Professor Reidenberg), “classic” work on the limits of disclosure policy, and general scholarship on certification. Part I of this Essay provides a brief introduction to privacy policies and the challenges of their intermediation. Part II examines the additional steps that must be taken to ensure that privacy intermediation is effective and efficient in terms of the system’s design, especially through setting disclosure objectives and priorities. It also addresses the use of personalized disclosure and its possible shortcomings. Part III assumes that privacy intermediation is successful and confronts the potential problems that may lead to the trivialization of labels and rankings over time. These dynamics result from a possible flood of appeals for reevaluation and ensuing grade inflation. This part also briefly explains how such concerns may be mitigated through proper design, tailored disclosures, and tinkering with the liability regime of intermediaries. This Essay concludes with some parting thoughts about Reidenberg’s substantial contribution to “law and technology” scholarship and the ways others may develop it in years to come

Integrative advertising : the marketing 'dark side' or merely the emperor's new clothes?

This paper assesses the move towards more 'integrative advertising' methods which rely on the mixing of commercial and non-commercial content, and the suitability of the current EU legislative framework to deal with such developments. In essence, the paper examines the 'identification' and 'transparency' principles in the context of online advertising. This analysis allows for the drawing of conclusions vis-à-vis future policy initiatives and enforcement challenges. The paper states that for true advertising literacy mere identification of commercial communications is insufficient and that efforts need to be made in order to educate consumers (especially children) to allow for the continuing relevance and reliance on the notion of the average consumer