Y2K: Aussies move fast on firestorm

By Adam Gifford

Between the lines

The Australian Government yesterday introduced a "good Samaritan" law offering legal protection for company Y2K statements.

The New Zealand Government should follow suit, and fast. Such a law was recommended six months ago by its own Y2K Task Force, and rejected out of hand.

The Australians say their law will make it easier for companies to provide information about their Y2K readiness, in turn making it easier for companies to check their supply chains.

The law will also limit the firestorm of litigation which is sure to usher in the new millennium. It has been known for years that many computer systems were fatally flawed. So if a company's Y2K-related failure causes damage or distress to customers, it can make no credible excuses in court unless it has a comprehensive paper trail, under the good Samaritan law, showing it did its best.

While Canberra makes a big effort to beat the bug with such mechanisms as that law, tax deductibility for Y2k software changes, public awareness campaigns and even contributions to regional preparedness through its foreign aid programme, our Government hangs back.

The Year 2000 Readiness Commission is doing what it can with one hand tied behind its back. Yesterday it launched its first major campaign, targeting small and medium businesses, which employ four out of five New Zealand workers.

The commission is precluded from running a mass publicity campaign, another task force recommendation, by specific Government order. Instead, the commission's main tool is 300,000 information packs. Once they reach the workplace there should be no excuse for further delay by companies.

But one problem for many local companies, especially the smaller ones, is a lack of the type of Y2K information a good Samaritan law can encourage. Without it, people are wasting precious time worrying about things which may not be a problem, or they may be ignorant of things which will be a problem such as the need to identify alternative suppliers.

Many smaller organisations are likely to experience little or no effect from the bug. However, they must still make time within the next few weeks to go through their computer systems, their business processes and their supply chains to identify any potential problems.

Leave it any longer and the outside resources needed for any fix may be booked out. If organisations with more than 50 staff are not reasonably down the track by now, they are probably too late. Time to focus instead on contingency planning.

The Government can shed light on Y2K readiness by getting its own house in order. Late last year it ordered quality assurance audits of what key departments and infrastructure providers were doing. Those audits are yet to be made public.