Issues in the Implementation of Electronic Commerce in the Human Services: Reflections on the Victorian Initiatives

Electronic commerce technologies have many potential applications in the health and human services sector. Implementation of these techniques is growing and assisting the administration and delivery of these services. There are a number of aspects of e-commerce in human services delivery which distinguish it from commercial transactions. This paper discusses factors affecting the development of e-commerce in the Victorian (Australian) human services sector. Some of these factors are related to the organisational context in which these services are delivered, some are related to the characteristics of the users and their carers and some derive from the symbolic meanings attached to the technologies themselves. To reap the benefits of e-commerce for health and human services, it is important that we understand the often complicated social and organisational context in which it is to be implemented.