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Legal Compliance Standard

Whole of Victorian Government ICT Standard: Legal Compliance

Website Management Framework

Short description

Departments and agencies will ensure that website content, services and processes are aligned with departmental/agency and government legal compliance practices, to protect the rights and interests of citizens and manage operational risks.

Identifier: WEB/STD/03
Version No.: 2.0
Status: Approved
Date of effect: 1 October 2010
Next review date: 1 October 2012

Owner: Government Services Division, Department of Treasury and Finance, Victorian Government

Issuing authority: Government Services Division, Department of Treasury and Finance, Victorian Government

Standard: Legal Compliance - WEB/STD/03

Requirement

1. Ensure disclaimer, copyright and privacy notices are prominently displayed in line with relevant whole of Victorian Government (WoVG) standards.(1)

2. Ensure conformance to all department/agency and government guidelines.

3. Ensure third party materials are not published without adequate rights to do so.

4. Ensure compliance with all applicable Acts, taking into account the purpose and functionality of the website. Such Acts may include, but are not limited to the: (2)

  • Copyright Act 1968 (Cth);
  • Defamation Act 2005 (Vic);
  • Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth);
  • Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic);
  • Privacy Act 1988 (Cth);
  • Public Records Act 1973 (Vic); and
  • Spam Act 2003 (Cth).

5. Ensure that adequate documented processes are in place to enable the immediate removal of any material on the site that is:

  • found to be in breach of any law or regulation; or
  • contrary to policy or the function of the department/agency.

6. Ensure that the terms of service of all third party products and services are reviewed on commencement of use and regularly thereafter by legal counsel.

Overview

Websites operate within a legal and regulatory framework that governs the way content, services and software are provided. Website owners must take into account the following five key areas of law with respect to their website(s):

  • Laws that relate to the ownership or protection given to both content and services. These primarily consist of intellectual property laws. This includes including copyright and trade marks (which define who is entitled to use trade names and logos in relation to content and services).
  • Laws that affect the use of the internet for commercial or government purposes – including the use of electronic transactions and privacy considerations.
  • Laws that affect the use, accessibility, broadcast and communication of content and services.
  • Laws that regulate the claims made by or about any content and services. This includes laws that prohibit misleading or deceptive conduct and, for example, 'green' claims.
  • Laws that apply to particular internet techniques, facilities and tools such as the use of links and Web 2.0 applications, such as social networking platforms.

Rationale

To ensure that the rights and interests of citizens and the government are protected.

Derivation

State and Commonwealth policy and legislation.

Related principles / objectives

Operational risks are managed.

In scope

  • All departments, the four inner budget agencies (Environment Protection Authority, State Revenue Office, VicRoads and Victoria Police) and CenITex.
  • All internet sites including channels, portals and subdomains.

Audience

Departmental/agency Website Management Taskforce Coordinators, Website Managers, legal counsel, developers, content creators/reviewers and/or anyone responsible for the management of a website.

Compliance Date

From the date of effect of this standard.

Reporting Requirements

Department/agency – annual reporting using the Government Services Division WMF template.

Guidelines, toolkits and references

Further information

For further information please contact web.standards@dtf.vic.gov.au

Glossary

Corporate website - Each department/agency has a single corporate website that describes the structure and functions of the department/agency. Examples: www.diird.vic.gov.au, www.police.vic.gov.au, www.epa.vic.gov.au

GSD - Government Services Division, Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance

Program/issue Website - A website that provides information or services on a particular campaign, program or issue. Examples: www.tenders.vic.gov.au,

Spam - Spam is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages. Spam types include email spam, instant messaging spam, Usenet newsgroup spam, web search engine spam, spam in blogs, wiki spam, online classified ads spam, mobile phone messaging spam, internet forum spam, junk fax transmissions, social networking spam, and file sharing network spam.(3)

Thematic/portal website - A thematic website contains content focused on a particular topic. Example: www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au. A portal website presents information from diverse sources in a unified way, often providing outbound links for users to access further information. (4) Example: www.vic.gov.au

Web 2.0 - In general terms, Web 2.0 refers to websites and/or web applications that facilitate user interaction (and user-to-user interaction), content creation and sharing and the dynamic (non-static) presentation of content.

WMF - Website Management Framework

WoVG - Whole of Victorian Government

Footnotes

1 See Consistent User Elements (WEB/STD/06) and Minimum Information Provision (WEB/STD/09).

2 This list is not intended to be exhaustive. Website owners – particularly those that manage websites that contain sensitive or advice-based information – should periodically seek advice on their website's legal compliance.

3 Adapted from the Wikipedia entry for Spam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(electronic)). Accessed 20 October 2009.

4 Adapted from the Wikipedia entry for Web portal (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_portal). Accessed 27 May 2009.

Alternative Formats:

The standard is available from the Government Services Division in pdf format (187kb). (This document requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader). You can also convert PDF documents into alternative formats.

 

Added: 30 November 2005 Page views: 20,942 Rating: 0.0 Votes: 0
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Last updated: 11 October 2011
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