What experience do you have with the Australian legislative markets?
I have been working with legal publishers, government agencies, regulators, and legislatures for over 20 years in Australia, New Zealand, and globally. My projects and consulting work have always been focussed on business transformation for drafting offices and publishers through adoption of the latest tools and technology.
What changes have you seen recently with Australian legislatures?
The pandemic and remote working brought an initial wave of big changes, with recent advances in AI further accelerating the rate of change. There is a realisation that traditional approaches are no longer fit for purpose and a greater openness to the benefits and potential offered by modern technology solutions. Legislatures have always, quite rightly, been cautious but more recently this is tempered by the availability of sophisticated and mature technology offerings that deliver real business value.
What are the current challenges faced by your legislative clients?
From informal conversations and meetings to conferences and industry events I am always eager to hear the latest from my colleagues, clients, and prospects. The number one challenge on everyone’s mind is how AI can be safely and securely adopted by their organisation. There is a lot of promise and potential but also a lot of risk and concern. We are spending a lot of time addressing this challenge, offering expert advice, guidance, demonstrations, tools, and solutions.
We also hear about several less technical challenges. How to address the growing demands for more and more complex legislation. How to efficiently communicate and collaborate with Parliamentary and Departmental colleagues and instructors having varying skillsets and experience. How to attract, retain, and develop a deep bench of drafting, editorial, and publishing talent. How to adopt best practices for organisational knowledge management, beyond tribal sharing. How to gain visibility of business operations to improve management and coordination of large drafting offices. How to better meet public accessibility requirements. It has been a pleasure to contribute our skills, experience, and technology to help tackle some of these thorny issues.
Why did you join Propylon?
At Propylon, I found a depth of expertise and experience that is unmatched by any other legislative technology organisation. This has translated into a range of impressive and comprehensive software products and solutions for legislatures, regulators, agencies, authorities and codes & standards bodies. I am excited to launch RWS Propylon in the Asia Pacific region to bring an exciting set of new products and technologies to market.
What is the future of legislative technology in the wider Asia Pacific market?
I expect we will see a massive shift in how legislation is created, delivered, and consumed. Technology advances will be leveraged to enhance public access to legislation, for example delivering the latest legislative data direct to users of generative AI. Upstream of delivery will be a wide range of efficiency improvements and workflow enhancements for development of legislation. This productivity environment will be supplemented with sophisticated tools for legal research and analysis. Most importantly, these innovations will be carefully crafted to uphold the highest standards of quality, consistency, and precision demanded by our custodians of the rule of law. At Propylon, we are excited to be part of the journey!
What upcoming events would you highlight to Australian legislatures?
The CALC Conference 2026, Singapore, will be the key event for the legislative industry in this region. The conference theme “Legislating in a Changing World” is sure to deliver some interesting discussions, information, and insights. The Law via Internet (LVI) conference will be hosted by CanLII this year, in Montreal, Canada. Finally, we have our Propylon Summit in New Orleans, USA!
What's next for Australian and APAC legislatures
As legislatures continue to evolve in response to new technologies and growing demands, the need for trusted expertise and innovative solutions has never been greater. Gareth Oakes’ insights highlight both the complexity of the challenges ahead and the significant opportunity to modernise how legislation is created, managed, and delivered.
As Propylon open our new office in Adelaide, South Australia, it’s exciting to be in the thick of the technological developments.