27.08.2010
The ALRC is thrilled to be launching its new website today, which the Commission sees as integral to better communication, easier access and greater participation in the process of law reform.
President Professor Rosalind Croucher sees the new website as a much anticipated development that will assist the ALRC to be more accessible and responsive to its stakeholders and to the community in general.
“Web 2.0 tools and social media hold enormous potential for sharing information, knowledge and ideas and for enabling the community to collaborate and contribute actively to public life. Our new website is more user-friendly, will allow easier access to the wealth of information on the website and gives greater scope for the public to talk to the ALRC, interact with other stakeholders, and contribute to our work”.
Key features of the new site include:
- Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and forums, and integration with social media tools
- Improved accessibility, usability and design
- Better access to ALRC publications, including an option for online purchase
- An online submission tool
The past 12-18 months have been an exciting time in which the ALRC has actively explored new ways to communicate, consult and collaborate online. We launched our first blog so that people could comment and discuss their thoughts publicly on each of the questions and proposals in the Family Violence Consultation Paper. And we now have a second blog for the Inquiry into Discovery in the Federal Courts. We established the e-newsletter for the Family Violence Inquiry which grew from 230 subscribers to over 900. And late last year the ALRC began ‘tweeting’ (under the name @AusLawReform). Since then a steadily growing number of followers keep up to date on ALRC activities, consultations and relevant issues via our Twitter feed.
The new website incorporates under one ‘roof’ the functionalities we have found useful, which will streamline both administration and participation processes.
The website is built using Drupal, an open source content management system. A big thank you to PreviousNext for their design and development skills.
We hope you enjoy the new website. Please let us know what you think. Websites are constantly developing, and the ALRC website is no exception, so we welcome your feedback. Please also take the opportunity to subscribe to any inquiry newsletters you might be interested in, or contribute to one of our blogs or forums.
Marie-Claire Muir, Web Manager
(02) 8238 6333