It’s good news that the Federal Government and civil society completed and lodged, with the (International) Open Government Partnership, Australia’s first National Action Plan (NAP) on 8th of December last year  to improve and strengthen transparency and openness in Government.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR OGP COMMITMENTS? The fourth OGP Global Summit will take place in Paris, December 7th – 9th. The OGP summit will involve 3000 representatives from 70 countries: Heads of State and governments, ministers, public servants, members of parliament, local authorit

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION Open Government Australia in its Draft National Action Plan includes Commitment 3.1 – Information management and access laws for the 21st century. At present the draft commitment reads; “We will ensure our information access laws are modern and appropriate

AN AMBITIOUS NATIONAL INTEGRITY FRAMEWORK Open Government Partnership Australia is developing a National Action Plan. The current Draft Plan  (as a subset of the commitment in theme 4, to Integrity in the public sector) now includes a commitment to a National Integrity Framework. Its

OGP – NATIONAL ACTION PLAN – POLITICAL DONATIONS This second submission from Accountability Round Table suggesting changes to the Open Government Partnership Draft National Action Plan addresses Commitment 4.1, the commitment to examine the ‘framework of donations to polit

OGP – NATIONAL ACTION PLAN – RECOGNISING THE ROLE OF THE OAIC This first submission from Accountability Round Table suggesting changes to the Open Government Partnership Draft National Action Plan addresses the role, overlooked in the National Action Plan, of the Office of

OGP NATIONAL ACTION PLAN. EXPLAINER. The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. It currently

Submission from the Accountability Round Table to the Interim Working Group Posted on September 5, 2016 by ogpteam This is a full reproduction of a submission received from the Accountability Round Table on 4 September 2016. On Saturday, the AGM of the Accountability Round Table Ltd t

The Hon Malcolm Turnbull, MP Prime Minister Parliament House CANBERRA   ACT 2600 06/04/2016   Dear Prime Minister I Chair the Accountability Round Table . I refer to our previous correspondence of 10 October 2015 concerning the Open Government Partnership.   May we thank you and

Feedback has been sought by the Government in the first stage of the preparation of Australia’s first Open Government Partnership National Action Plan. The Accountability Round Table’s submission to the Australian Government on the Open Government Partnership identifies various

After a change of Prime Minister and a good deal of pressure from ART and other accountability-promoting organisations, on 17th of November, the Turnbull Government has finally agreed to  join the Open Government Partnership. The Open Government Partnership exists to make sure, in it&

Malcolm Turnbull has promised to “restore accountability and improve transparency measures to be more accountable to you”. That commitment had been breached by the government, in particular by its bill to abolish the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, a mat

Following on from our letter to Senator Mitch Fifield, ART writes to the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull to urge urgent action to join the Open Government Partnership before the 27th of October deadline.  We argue, “To put it bluntly, our dealings with Ministers and Departments

In an article for The Conversation, Johan Lidberg of Monash University writes of the test for Turnbull in promoting open government and a “Government 2.0” approach to freedom of information, in what to do about Abbott’s FOI hostile approach and the OAIC “kill b

Australia’s failure to join the Open Government Partnership, (OGP) since it was first invited in 2011 is becoming an embarrassment. The OGP currently has 66 participating countries. The OGP has now set a deadline for Australia to join of 27th October – a deadline with whic

The Independent Community Accountability Network presents two significant speakers on issues of accountability and government. 7.30 pm on Monday 11th May 2015, Room 3, Hawthorn Community Precinct, 584 Glenferrie Road Hawthorn Melway p.45 D 11 There is no charge and the accommodation i

The New South Wales election on 28th of March is another opportunity to advance the transparency and accountability of government. The Accountability Round Table has sought from parties contesting the recent Victorian and Queensland elections, assurances concerning their commitments t

Accountability Round Table is a proponent of strong Freedom of Information provisions at every level of government. We were concerned at the apparent watering down of FOI provisions at the Federal level by amendment to the Freedom of Information Act. The Bill in question was the Freed

Following on from the revelations of the NSW ICAC, there have been a number of calls for a “federal ICAC” or federal anti -corruption commission. This year, there were a number of initiatives to try to establish such a commission. The earliest appeal for a federal anti-cor

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is an international organisation dedicated to making governments worldwide more open, effective and accountable by promoting transparency and integrity and fighting corruption through increased civic participation, developing good regulation and c