Here’s a sneak peek from the PIAS report about the projects chosen for case studies and why they were chosen:

“The first project we examined was Australian Policy Online that is the largest online resource for Australian policy information. It provides access to policy documents in various stages of development—and from many segments of society—but does not specifically provide access to party-based policies. BelowTheLine is an independent initiative aimed to help voters better understand their voting choices in Upper House elections. By voting below-the-line the voter gets to choose candidates in order of their own preference; rather than preferences allocated by the parties (as is the case if the citizen votes above the line in Australia’s preferential voting system). OpenAustralia provides access to the most important record of the workings of Federal Parliament; the Hansard. Citizens are able to search the Hansard through the OpenAustralia project to see what their representative has voted for in Parliament. GetUp is an advocacy organisation, highly active in the broader community that champions key issues voted upon by GetUp subscribers. The core coordinators may then support these key issues through launching campaigns that may include paid broadcast advertisements, posters, and other lobby work. Australia’s National Forum is an online portal including a journal, forum, pollsters, and collection of political blogs.  The site works as a publishing outlet and discussion board for largely journalistic comment. WeGov is a large-scale project funded by the EU 7th Framework Programme that is developing a means to allow two-way dialogue between citizens and policy makers. Through information exchange with social network sites, analysing online discussion, and developing visualisation tools, they will be able to monitor and report upon large-scale discussions of a policy-orientated nature.”