faulker03

2016 should tell! Judith Sloan writing in The Australian includes Australia's commitment to the OGP in her list of contenders for Twaddle of the Year 2015, along with the innovation statement: My favourite part of the innovation statement is the bit about government as exemplar, an example of twaddle-speak itself. But let me turn to the master: “Right across the board you will see there are measures to ensure that government is digitally transformed, so that it is nimble, so that you can deal with government as easily as you can with eBay or with one of the big financial institutions.” And just to give substance to this government as exemplar gig, you will be pleased to know that “Prime Minister Turnbull has committed the Australian government to membership of the Open Government Partnership and public consultation was launched to develop the National Action Plan for open government. The Open Government Partnership is a voluntary, multi-stakeholder international initiat...

When Jack Waterford Editor- at- Large at The Canberra Times talks Freedom of Information, the rest of us listen.  After all Waterford has been on this beat from the very beginning, lodging a raft of FOI applications on 1 December 1982, the day the Commonwealth FOI act commenced, followed by hundreds in the years since including two that went all the way to the High Court; was named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year in 1985 for his work on FOI, and in 2007, Canberra Citizen of the year and a Member of the Order of Australia. His opinion piece last week " FOI laws are resented and resisted" is as usual a good read, including some history about John Wood, another FOI champion, and commentary on the AAT decision in Wood and PM&C , the subject also of an earlier report by Chris Knaus about access to documents concerning the Ombudsman in 2011, Alan Asher. Waterford on a rol l Waterford goes on to give the government a justified serve over the attempt to abo...

I'd like to think Paul Farrell in The Guardian and others on social media are right that additional funding for the Office of Australian Information Commissioner in the Mid Year budget update for "Enhanced Welfare Payment Integrity — non-employment income data matching" until 2019 may signal the end of the long drawn out unsuccessful government attempt to close the office.  The funds are earmarked for the privacy functions of the office.  The Budget in May included funding for privacy functions and (reduced) funding for FOI functions in 2015-16 but nothing in forward estimates for the three years to follow.  The government plan is to scatter some functions around including packing the Privacy Commissioner off to the Australian Human Rights Commission if/when the abolition bill passes the Senate. The FOI oversight and review functions would be scrapped. However another budget document revealed $4.2 million was allocated in the Budget over four years for the Privacy ...

The Australian Open Government Partnership Network has a Landing Page if you are interested in linking up with other civic minded democracy supporters and reformers. Help spread the word. A website and online Forum soon we hope. The network is an independent coalition of individuals and organisations formed for the purpose of engaging with government in the development of Australia's OGP National Action Plan. The network will provide a forum for the exchange of information and ideas on areas for reform, seek to ensure the action plan is developed in the true spirit of partnership, and work to assist government in the determination of priorities for consideration. A member of the Network Steering Committee and Co-founder of OpenAustralia Foundation Katherine (Kat) Szuminska has been invited to the annual civil society peer exchange meeting in The Hague, Netherlands in January for civil society leaders that are pivotal OGP actors at home.     The Government run informatio...

Network of civic citizens to engage on open government   A national coalition of organisations and individuals is gearing up to respond to the Federal Government’s invitation to engage on issues concerning how to make government work better, focusing on transparency, open government, citizen participation and technological innovation. The government has unveiled plans for wide ranging consultation over the next six months in the course of development of a National Action Plan to complete membership requirements of the Open Government Partnership. Information sessions are scheduled this week in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. http://ogpau.govspace.gov.au/ register-to-attend-an-ogp- australia-information-session/ Australia announced the intention to join the partnership in May 2013 but had not progressed the application until the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet last month released details of steps to finalise membership by July 2016. This requires developmen...

Sorry for silence here for a week or so , but.. ... 
I've been busy working towards a get together in Sydney on Friday 11 December of some of the organisations and individuals who wish to engage with the Federal government on issues concerning the Open Government Partnership, given consultation is about to start on development of a national action plan of reform measures around transparency, accountability, open government and citizen participation. 
Experience in other OGP member countries, the UK for instance is that an independent network can play an important role in collaborating with and challenging government to develop and implement ambitious reforms through membership of the partnership.  
Not a great time of the year for getting people together at short notice, but  invitations have gone out and look forward to exchanging thoughts with those who can make it. 
Organisations that have expressed interest in the independent network idea include   Accountability Roun...