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

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

This paper, “Democracy at the Crossroads?” was delivered by Hon Tim Smith QC  at the Cairn’s Tropical Writers Festival, 11 August 2016. In it, he sets out two broad principles to which members of parliament should adhere, The “Fitzgerald Principles” and The “Public Office Public

Colleen Lewis argues in The Age that the Victorian government amendments to IBAC let Victorians down. This is so because IBAC will still fail to carry out the basic work of Anti-Corruption Commissions – to “shine the accountability spotlight on the sinister, secretive corn

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

Reforming the Policy Processes of our Democracies [1] “Principles to guide policy reform – can Plato show the way?” Paper presented by Hon Tim Smith QC,  at Melbourne University School of Government Conference , “ Democracy in transition”, 7 December 2015 The challenge of reform How s

Barry Jones, a longstanding member of Accountability Round Table has written two papers on the state of democracy in Australia from two different perspectives. These provide a context for openness and accountability in Australian government and public institutions. The first, written

Below is the text of an address on the noxious effects of money and lobbying on Government decision-making given to ICAN, The Independent Community Accountability Network by Associate Professor The Hon. Dr Ken Coghill. This talk was given at an event held on Wednesday 28th October 201

This article is one of an occasional series of opinions by our members. After the NSW election: Some reflections Author: David Harper (The Hon David Harper AM QC, former Judge of the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of Victoria, Member of ART) Download PDF version here The Baird Governm

On 24 March 2015, the Baird Liberal government responded to ART’s request for pre-election commitments to transparency accountability and anti-corruption in government. The substance of this reply is posted below. Thank you for providing the Baird Government with the Accountabil

On 24 March 2015 Luke Foley responded to ART’s request for pre-election commitments to transparency accountability and anti-corruption in government. The substance of this reply is posted below. Thank you for writing on behalf of the Accountability Round Table in your letters da

On 23 March 2015, ART sought from the Greens clarification of its position in relation to the final issues raised in its original commitment request letter of 25 February 2015, namely those concerning the public trust principle.  The following response was received  from the  Greens o

The principle of “Public office, Public trust” has been discussed before on this website, notably by Tim Smith in 2012, and again in July 2014, and further, in October 2014, Tim discussed public trust in the context of urban planning. Thanks to David Lusty,  Special Counse

This is the text of a speech presented by the Hon T H Smith QC, at Waverly Rotary Club on 27 January 2015   Australia’s Democratic governments; a proud history, their present state and future? Tim Smith 27 January 2015 On this year’s Australia Day, community concern about the int

A timely editorial in The Age on Saturday 24th October, “Politicians must be seen to honour public trust” argued that “Tourism Minister Andrew Robb’s investments in restaurants and the promotion of one of them by a government agency is a reminder of the paramou

In an address to the Melbourne University Urban Heritage Conference, Government Secrecy and Urban Planning – The Forgotten Trust and Reform The Hon Tim Smith, QC  continues his argument that government is based on a longstanding ethical and legal obligation – that Public office is a P

Smith T 2014 Integrity in Politics? Public Office as a Public Trust? Is there Hope?  Paper presented to the University of the Third Age, 23 July 2014 by the Hon. Tim Smith Q.C This paper addresses in more depth than Tim Smith’s 2012 paper, the idea that “public office is a

“Public Office, Public Trust” Lecture. University of Melbourne Law School 2012. The Hon Tim Smith, QC This paper, delivered to the University of Melbourne Law School “Integrity in Government” Search Conference on 4 December 2012, is an introduction to the idea

Accountability Round Table has sent to the Parliament of Australia, Standing Committee of Privileges and Members’ Interests, a proposal for a Code of Conduct to be adopted by all parliamentarians. We argue that the absence of such a Code has resulted in continuing uncertainty for Memb