NSW E-government unit wins key technology award

The New South Wales Premier’s Department has won an important award for the use of technology. The technology was developed by Social Change Online.

The award, which was part of the National Multicultural Marketing Awards run by the Community Relations Commission (CRC), was presented at a gala dinner in Sydney hosted by the Premier.

The Premiers Department's e-government unit entered their communitybuilders.nsw website in the Technology Category of the annual awards which recognise and promote excellence in working in a culturally diverse society.

The website was launched in January 2000 and was developed to assist communities in accessing information about each other and to strengthen community activities. Congratulating the winners, the Chair of the CRC, Stepan Kerkyasharian, said tonight:

"This site does a lot to unite the communities of New South Wales. Technology is a natural tool for community building and the Premier's Department's e-government unit has clearly demonstrated the potential."

"With its speed, its ease of access and multilingual capability, a community-friendly website can be what the e-government unit calls an interactive clearing house for everyone involved in community level social, economic and environment renewal and sustainability."

"There is information which all communities need and there is information which is specific to some or all ethnic communities. Covering these needs makes the site valuable to everyone."

"I encourage community organisations who have not made use of this site's 1200 resources to find information, to list upcoming events or take part in a forum on a significant current issue to do so. It's only a couple of clicks away", he said.

"... has facilitated discussion on a range of topics, such as aboriginal education policy, indigenous stress management, problem gambling amongst ethnic communities, and communication barriers between police and ethnic communities."

Warren Duncan +61 (0)411 117 846