From Digg.com:
The Department of Education and Training (DET) in New South Wales may increase the penetration of Linux on its 165,000 desktop fleet because open source is "clearly an industry trend". In this video interview, the IT director says: "The possibility of running Linux-based desktop platforms is real for us".

http://digg.com/linux_unix/Australian_Education_Dept_considers_desktop_L...

"... wikis [have been installed] at companies like Bluescope Steel, CSC and Seven Network's Pacific Magazines as a key piece of... their intranets. At Pacific Magazines, selected staff are able to edit individual Web pages within the password-protected site, capturing vital operational detail that would otherwise be left undocumented or stored in isolated databases. "The IT department love it because the huge burden of updating the intranet has been lifted off their shoulders."

More: Mark Jones, "Corporate Blogs" MIS 15 (November 2006): 42, 44.

"...wikis have quietly permeated the fabric of [U.S.] government IT."

Includes case studies involving the General Services Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, CIO Council and others.

Unfavourably contrasts wikis with proprietary software such as Lotus Notes. Claims the latter "...could prevent casual or cross-agency collaboration. Plus the training requirement is huge,.."

More: http://www.gcn.com/print/25_25/41673-1.html

"Starting in June 2007, PCs in French deputes' offices will be equipped with a Linux operating system and open-source productivity software. The project,..will see 1,154 French parliamentary workstations running on Linux, with OpenOffice.org productivity software, the Firefox Web browser and an open-source e-mail client."

Maybe x-post to: senator.lundy@aph.gov.au?

More: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6138372.html

From Linuxwatch.com - OpenOffice extension rivals SharePoint:

Most people think that OpenOffice.org is a strong office-suite in its own right. But, when it came to a back-office document collaboration and management engine, like Microsoft SharePoint to enable OpenOffice users to work together, it was a different story.

The document-centric system makes the process of creating and reviewing documents simpler, by means of built-in document version control plus check-in/check-out capabilities, according to the company. It also includes an integrated Rights Management Services. With this, authors can determine how their documents are distributed and used by others.

Everyone,

The OSDC is coming up. If you haven't already booked, I strongly recommend that you do so. I personally consider this to be one of the greatest conferences I have ever been to. And as an ex-public servant I have been to quite a few.

http://www.osdc.com.au/

From the OSDC website.
'The Open Source Developers' Conference is a conference designed for developers, by developers. It covers numerous programming languages across a range of operating systems. Talks vary from introductory pieces through to the deeply technical. With three talks on at any time, spanning over three days; there is bound to be something of interest to any developer.'

Australian federal & state government departments & agencies using Linux on the desktop "to some degree": Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation, N.S.W. Judical Commission, N.S.W. Roads and Traffic Authority & the Victorian Department of Justice.

The same article includes comments by the Red Hat General Manager for Australia & New Zealand to the effect that "... the primary inhibitors to large-scale Linux desktop adoption are Windows applications, especially Excel macros and a perception of a large training cost associated with the move."

Source: Rodney Gedda, "Linux Ready

A motivating post highlighting the impact of FOSS on these three sectors. Stories related to government involve use of FOSS in server infrastructure & customer relationship management.

More: http://www.crmchump.org/2006/10/in_a_world_wher.html

"[Vienna] is using [Red Hat] for both mission-critical applications such as database servers and other systems including file servers. The decision to go with Red Hat as the platform of choice was made on the basis of extensive positive experiences in the past and a fundamental decision to deploy the most reliable and efficient technologies."

More: http://linux.sys-con.com/read/301128.htm

"The migration is scheduled to take place, subject to development of user applications and other factors, by approximately 2009. More than 170 applications will be replaced with open source."

More: http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;2120885092;pp;2