Australian Government ICT Sustainability Plan
Background and Context of the Plan
The Gershon Review
In 2008 a review was undertaken by Sir Peter Gershon to identify ways in which the Australian Government could strengthen the whole-of-government management of ICT and maximise the benefits from ICT to drive greater efficiency and deliver better services. The Review of the Australian Government's Use of Information and Communications Technology (Gershon Review) highlighted a disconnect between the Government's overall sustainability agenda and its ability to manage energy costs and the carbon footprint of its ICT estate.
In response to the Gershon Review, the Government initiated a comprehensive ICT Reform Program to be implemented by the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), within the Department of Finance and Deregulation.
ICT Reform Program
A number of the initiatives of the ICT Reform Program aim to address issues relating to the environmental performance and sustainability of ICT in government operations, in particular the projects focused on data centres and Green ICT including the Australian Government ICT Sustainability Plan 2010-2015. The ICT Sustainability Plan has been developed by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, in consultation with AGIMO.
The ICT Sustainability Plan is an important ICT reform initiative and has been developed to integrate with other ICT reform projects such as the Australian Government Data Centre Strategy 2010-2025 and the Green ICT Procurement Toolkit, as well as existing policies like the Energy Efficiency in Government Operations Policy (EEGO), the National Waste Policy and the National Television and Computer Product Stewardship Scheme.
Development and consultation
The ICT Sustainability Plan was developed based on extensive research and consultation with key stakeholders, including Australian Government agencies, international governments, the ICT industry and other interested parties. General consultation with industry stakeholders was undertaken in 2009 through the publicly available Whole of Government ICT Sustainability Plan Discussion Paper.
The Discussion Paper includes contextual information, background research and key question related to ICT sustainability and environmental management issues within the Australian Government.
Implementation activities
Find out the latest on the implementation of the Plan including the development of guidance materials/fact sheets for agencies.
Guideline updated
The mandatory Environmental Standard 4 (ES4) Recycled content office copy paper has been recently updated. This update provides greater clarification of the recycled content paper requirements which apply to all FMA agencies from July 2015 onwards.
Guidance materials
A suite of ICT Sustainability Plan guidance materials (guidelines and fact sheets) is available to assist agencies and suppliers with implementation of the Plan.
Coordinated Procurement
Mandatory ICT coordinated procurement arrangements have been introduced by the Department of Finance and Deregulation in the past 12 months. Information can be found on their website.