Conclusion

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This research provides an insight into changes associated with systems development generally, such as role changes, standardisation and increased technocracy. Given that most systems development texts still only provide what Kling (1994) would refer to as a discrete-entity model of systems development, this chapter provides adequate rationale for the dissemination of some type of "web" model of systems development in practice. It has illustrated how a systems development project can have unplanned social consequences and can induce significant organisational changes. It also strongly suggests that, while normative systems development approaches do not focus on social or organisational change, they are less likely to be successful.

A major contribution of this chapter is a description of legislative drafting during a time of change. Surprisingly, given the critical nature of legislative drafting in public administration and government, there is very little written about the role of drafters and their work processes. The provision of access to legislation is also an important area of law and this chapter has introduced some of the issues associated with it. The trends promoting the LSP are similar in other jurisdictions (Hocking, 1998), and other governments might be tempted to follow the direction of the Tasmanian Government.

This chapter has examined the implications to date and the foreseeable possible impacts of the LSP and adds to a growing body of literature investigating the effects of computerisation in different organisational settings. It has illustrated that computerisation of the processes of enacting, drafting and accessing legislation do not just induce technical and procedural changes, but can potentially impact on the roles, authority structure and culture of those associated with those processes. These changes are significant, not only for those who are interested in the effects of computerisation, but also for those who are interested in the processes of policy creation and implementation and the workings of parliament, the executive government, and public administration generally.

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