The SME E-Commerce Forum Taskforce has published its report and action
plan for accelerating the uptake of e-commerce by Australian small and
medium sized enterprises.   The Forum's Website & Taskforce Report and
Action Plan are at <www.setel.com.au/smeforum2002>.  The Forum was
co-sponsored by Pacific Access, Telstra and the Small Enterprise
Telecommunications Centre (SETEL) <www.setel.com.au>.

Media inquiries should be directed to Ewan Brown, Executive Director
of SETEL, who compiled and edited the Report and Action Plan.  He may
be contacted on 02 6251 7823 (BH) or 0418 486 471 (M).  Comments on
the Report and Action Plan are invited and may be sent to Ewan at
<mailto:setel&#167;setel.com.au>.

Public invitations to participate in the Forum process were sent
during 2001 to the LINK, ICA, Regional Forum, DNS, Association and
other mailing lists.  Invitations were also sent to many people in
government, departments and agencies known to have an interest in
small business e-commerce issues.  About 100 representatives of the
small business, government and industry sectors, and academia
participated in the Forum in February 2002.

Some key outcomes from the process are set out below.

Ian Johnston, Policy Consultant, SETEL
SETEL is a national small business consumer association
advancing the interest of Australian small business
as telecommunications and e-commerce consumers

--

Some key outcomes:

- a series of initiatives from November 1999 by SETEL and the
E-Commerce and Telecommunications Advisory Group (ETAG)
<www.setel.com.au/publications/public/briefings/sb0108.htm#ETAG>
including requests to the Federal Government to conduct a forum on
small business e-commerce issues;

- a presentation - Electronic Commerce and Australian Small Business:
Next Steps? - to the National Small Business Forum, Parliament House,
Canberra, 3 November 2000
<www.setel.com.au/smeforum2002/tp/papers.htm#NSBF>;

- Telstra and Pacific Access agreed around mid-2001 to support the
initiative for a forum through the Telstra Small Enterprise
Consultative Council (TSECC);

- a Thinktank in September 2001
<www.setel.com.au/smeforum2002/#Thinktank>;

- a Forum in February 2002 <www.setel.com.au/smeforum2002/#Forum> for
individuals and representatives of associations, academia, government
and industry to engage one another, on a multi-lateral basis, on
Australian small business e-commerce issues and policies;

- a Forum Taskforce Report and Action Plan in July 2002
<www.setel.com.au/smeforum2002/final_report.pdf> [PDF-245KB]; and

- a website, including many working documents, as a basis for further
engagement and research on small business e-commerce issues and
policies <www.setel.com.au/smeforum2002>.