For Australia S OGP National Action Plan

Interim Working Group

for Australia’s OGP National Action Plan

2:30-4:30pm, Tuesday 28 March, 2017

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

One National Circuit, Barton

MINUTES

Attendees:

Name

Organisation

Dial in

/
Steven Kennedy (co-chair) / Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Peter Timmins (co-chair) / Australian OGP Civil Society Network
Fiona McLeod / Law Council of Australia / Yes
Catherine Hawkins / Attorney-General’s Department
John Edge / Department of Finance
Diane Brown / Treasury / Yes
Katy Balmaks / Department of Finance
Angelene Faulk / Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Anne Lyons / National Archives of Australia
Elizabeth Tydd / NSW Information Commissioner
Maree Adshead / ODI Queensland / Yes
Mark Zirnsak / Uniting Church in Australia
Ken Coghill / Monash University
Katherine Szuminska / OpenAustralia Foundation
Will Story / Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Alan Wu / Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Naomi Perdomo / Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Apologies: Nil

1. Welcome and apologies

2. Updates

PM&C advised that the Department’s Strategic Coordination Unit had assumed responsibility for coordinating implementation of Australia’s Open Government National Action Plan.

Several members provided reflections on Australian Participation at the 4th OGP Global Summit.

Members noted:

· the paper provided by the civil society members outlining a number of issues for consideration

· the update from the teleconference between PM&C and civil society members on 22 March 2017, and

· the commitment delivery progress report.

3. Ongoing role of the Interim Working Group, including update of Terms of Reference

Members discussed the ongoing role of the Interim Working Group. The Interim Working Group agreed to the proposed additional clause 2(f), which provides that the Group will assume responsibility for providing oversight of the National Action Plan commitments, pending establishment of the permanent multi-stakeholder forum.

Elizabeth Tydd reflected on the importance of developing a consistent framework for assessing and reporting against the National Action Plan. The Interim Working Group agreed that it would consider this further at its next meeting, while acknowledging that the permanent multi-stakeholder forum would continue this work.

4. Implementation of commitments

a. Engagement principles to guide delivery of commitments

b. Communications and awareness-raising during implementation

The Interim Working Group agreed that PM&C would work with Kat Szuminska to redesign PM&C’s OGP Australia website to meet the new communication priorities now the national action plan has been agreed. This would include regularly-updated and accurate information on the implementation of Australia’s commitments – ensuring that agencies are willing to highlight issues in delivery proactively – and highlighting opportunities for public engagement in delivering various commitments.

Members discussed the importance of agencies seeking to take a partnership approach to delivering the commitments under the National Action Plan.

The Interim Working Group agreed that PM&C would work with Kat Szuminska and Peter Timmins to prepare a draft of high-level principles to guide Departmental engagement with civil society during implementation of Australia’s commitments. The principles should encourage anopen, transparent collaborative approach bythe lead agencythat goes beyond standard consultation techniques and provides the opportunity for participation that extends beyond non-government actorsidentified in the published national action plan. The Interim Working Group agreed that it would consider and settle these principles out-of-session and that PM&C, together with civil society representative(s) from the Group, would discuss these with agencies responsible for delivering National Action Plan commitments.

Members discussed, and thanked Kat Szuminska and Ken Coghill for, their paper on a framework for public participation and engagement.

The Interim Working Group agreed to put their proposal to Industry (the lead agency for Commitment 5.2) for their consideration and encouraged Industry to discuss this with the authors.

Members also discussed the opportunities for and value, in terms of increased public awareness, of further Ministerial engagement. The Interim Working Group agreed that agencies would consider opportunities to promote government engagement, including by taking opportunities to highlight the Open Government partnership with related announcements.

Members noted correspondence received from Chris Snow on various matters.

5. Multi-stakeholder Forum

Members considered papers prepared by PM&C and Ken Coghill on options for a model for a multi-stakeholder forum and the process for establishing the forum.

Members noted the success of the current Interim Working Group in developing a more ambitious National Action Plan than may otherwise have been agreed, while noting the concerns raised about the selection process for the current Group.

The Interim Working Group agreed that it was important to build on the success of this Group and that a single forum model, with an expanded membership and revised selection process, would be a good starting point for discussions.

The Group agreed that PM&C and Ken Coghill, and other interested Group members, would prepare a proposal for the forum (both its responsibilities and how it would be constituted) and a timetable for engaging collaboratively with other civil society members to develop the proposal. This timetable will be published as soon as possible.

The Group agreed that it would aim for the forum to be constituted by the end of June, seeking to balance the time needed to develop the proposal and for the forum to be constituted with the need to get the forum up and running soon. It was acknowledged that the proposed timeframe represented an extension beyond the original deadline to establish a forum by the end of March.

6. Other business:

a. OGP Steering Committee elections

PM&C noted the election of the governments of Canada, South Africa, Italy and South Korea to the OGP Steering Committee, and noted that two Australians, Ken Coghill and Neil Forsyth, had submitted nominations to represent civil society on the OGP Steering Committee. Results for those elections were not yet available.

b. National Integrity Conference 2017

Members discussed the National Integrity Conference held 16-17 March in Brisbane.

c. Civil society review

Members noted the paper prepared by Kat Szuminska on civil society review.

In response to a request, civil society Members agreed to release their names and contact details to the Senate Select Committee on a National Integrity Commission.

Peter Timmins requested that a proposed schedule of future IWG meetings be circulated, and that representatives from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, responsible for two Open Government commitments, be invited to attend.