The Tasmania Police Web site aimed to increase communication with the public and deliver online services and transactions to the community.

The site, launched in August 2001, provided a corporate overview, recruitment guide, selected media releases and crime prevention advice. Services and transactions included application forms for street event and firearm permits, business keyholder registration, and intelligence reporting.

We delivered the site in a short timeframe (around six weeks), with a high level of security incorporated into the site (especially for online transactions). The client needed the ability for distributed authoring to keep the site up-to-date and deliver time-critical information if required. The site graphics were provided by the client's existing graphic designer, then incorporated into the site structure.

It was essential that the site be highly secure - both in terms of content management and online transactions.

The content management system prevents unauthorised modification (the authoring hierarchy has multiple levels of approval), and also helps protect the site from modification in the hosting environment. A "News Flash" feature enables the secure posting of urgent messages by a senior officer.

Transaction security is provided at several levels: a 128 bit SSL certificate to enable HTTPS form submission, separation of transaction processing from the main site, database encryption and firewalls in the hosting environment (a Lotus Domino server hosted by Networking Tasmania), and secure transfer of data to police headquarters for integration into internal systems.

The Tasmania Police Web site demonstrated our ability to rapidly develop an expandable site, provide secure online transactions, and integrate with existing agency infrastructure.