In the digital era, open government is a cornerstone of Australian democracy.

Code for Australia seeks to leverage the power of web technologies, open data, data visualisation and open source governance to address civic issues, community problems and develop digital infrastructure.

We believe digital technologies can improve civic transparency, efficiency, participation and education.

Interested in joining the movement?
Here's how we can get started:

1

Code for Australia

Code for Australia is a social enterprise initiative launched by Polycademy, a web app development & entrepreneurship bootcamp/academy.

Code for Australia is offered in two tracks:

  1. Cross Disciplinary Innovation Track - students of Polycademy who possess relevant skills outside of computer science, are sponsored by our partners to learn web application development, and build web apps that address civic issues. The relevant skills outside computer science is important to allow cross-pollination of ideas in public service innovation.
  2. Professional Developer Track - this is similar to the programs in America and Europe where professional developers volunteer a few days of their week for several months, to work and innovate with the public service. The developers receive a stipend for their time.

Members of both tracks also get access to workshops and mentors regarding Gov 2.0 and Public Service Innovation.

Both tracks are not yet ready for applications. We are currently negotiating with various organisations. The Cross Disciplinary Innovation Track will be piped through Polycademy's courses.

Check our blog for Code for Australia updates. You can also keep in touch by signing up to our newsletter.

2

Make Stuff Happen

As a citizen, you can evangelise open source governance and open data You can do this in three ways:

  • Build applications and mashups using data.gov.au, or services that help Australians engage with civic services. These applications could help with science communication. Think of Code for Australia as a movement for better governance, engagement and transparency. Check out the examples below of what kind of projects you could get involved with. Do note while we seem to emphasise data driven applications, they are not the only kind of applications that help drive open source governance.
  • Run hackathons or designathons dealing with Gov 2.0 issues. Polycademy runs Polyhack events, so if you're interested in running hackathons, contact us for collaboration.
  • No technical skills? No problem! You can learn to code at Polycademy, or talk to your government representative and bring attention to this movement.
3

Publish Open Data

If you are working as a public servant, try publishing your data (when possible) to the data.gov.au.

It will really go a long way if it can be used to better inform decision makers and improve transparency or civic services. Check out the tools available for open data analysis.

Open data is only the first step in transparency and open source governance. If the data is not understandable by the broader audience, then its information and knowledge will be locked up in obscurity. That's where Code for Australia can help.

There are many Gov 2.0 projects and events in Canberra and in other parts of Australia. Check out Canberra events such as Gov2au and Barcamp Canberra. If you're not in Canberra, check your local eventbrite and meetup groups.

We also want to meet up with you to discuss opportunities for collaboration if you are involved in Gov 2.0 projects in local, state or federal governments. Code for Australia is all about collaboration and civic engagement.

4

Partnership

If you're a business or government organisation and you want to leverage open data and data analysis, then you're in the right place.

The applications that are built through Code for Australia will be open source. You can suggest us an idea or an area of investigation. Or you could provide workshops on areas related to understanding the impact of data.

You can partner with us on the two tracks provided by Code for Australia:

  • The Cross Disciplinary Innovation Track involves sponsorship of all of part of the student's tuition in Polycademy. There is opportunities for cofunding. You can even send your own employees to do this.
  • The Professional Developer Track involves a stipend and suggested project guidelines such as the number of developers and skills required.

Both tracks would welcome your mentorship and workshops if you are willing to provide time. Contact us if you want to get involved.

What's the difference between Code for Australia and Code for America/Europe?

Code for Australia was inspired from Code for America and Code for Europe.

Code for America and Europe are more established than Code for Australia. Code for America offers many different programs including a civic startup accelerator. Code for Europe is currently running the fellowship program similar to Code for America.

Code for Australia's primary difference is the inclusion of the Cross Disciplinary Innovation Track in its programs. We believe that innovation happens at the cross roads of different fields, ideas and experiences. This means that in order for digital technologies to truly affect governance and civic issues, we need to tap into fields outside of software development. While it is good to have professional developers working with government bodies and representatives, if we could impart the skills of application development, user experience design, agile development methods and distributed version control, to people who are specialised in other fields such as statistics, science, economics, public policy, law or international relations, and of course vice versa, then we will see a true revolution in digital democracy.

We think this method is a more sustainable form of integrating web technologies into governance. Consultancies won't last forever. Like the old saying, give a man a fish and he will eat for one day, teach a man to fish and he will be self-sustainable.

On the other hand, in order to kick start this process, we are also going to follow Code for Europe's fellowship model, and we call that the Professional Developer Track.

Here are some examples of what we could do with Code for Australia:

Data Visualisation

Open Data Sources

Movements Elsewhere

Civic Apps

Events

Gov Initiatives