Australia Results Report 2023-2025

Australia’s third OGP action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... introduced a national plan on artificial intelligence, amended privacy legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r... to address use of personal information in automated decision-makingAs governments are increasingly turning to algorithms to support decision-making for public services, transparency and accountability of algorithm use is necessary to minimize their harm and increase ... More, included a government program with youthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical ... More advisory groups, and took steps towards beneficial ownershipDisclosing beneficial owners — those who ultimately control or profit from a business — is essential for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. Technical... More transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More. This cycle renewed Australia’s engagement in OGP following a period of inactivity and re-engaged the Open Government Forum. Australia can build on this momentum, completing work on automated decision-making and artificial intelligence, beneficial ownership, procurement, whistleblower protection, political advertising, and mis-information and dis-information.

Implementation

Australia’s third action plan saw seven out of eight commitments completed or substantially completed, producing early resultsEarly results refer to concrete changes in government practice related to transparency, citizen participation, and/or public accountability as a result of a commitment’s implementation. OGP’s Inde... More on digital governanceAs evolving technologies present new opportunities for governments and citizens to advance openness and accountability, OGP participating governments are working to create policies that deal with the ... More, youth participation, and beneficial ownership. CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 1 introduced a new National Artificial Intelligence Plan and amended the Privacy Act (Cth) to address how personal information is used in automated decision-making. At a smaller scale, Commitment 2 continued steps to encourage civic participation through youth advisory groups. In addition, Commitment 4 passed an amendment on disclosure of information about ownership of listed entities that is expected to be followed by legislation allowing for a beneficial ownership register, potentially in 2027.

Although it is too soon to see evidence of results from the remaining commitments’ implementation, stakeholders also continued to work on other outstanding elements of the action plan even after the implementation period ended in December 2025. Commitment 6 prepared a draft whistleblower protection amendment expected to progress in 2026. Commitment 8 began a program to help improve media literacy in culturally and linguistically diverse communities scheduled to be completed in June 2026. If these efforts are completed, they may produce significant results on open government in the coming years.

Participation and Co-Creation

For this action plan, Australia’s OGP point of contact role transferred to the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD). The appointment of a new multistakeholder Open Government Forum (OGF) and co-creation of the plan started in April 2023. This renewed Australia’s engagement in OGP, following a period of inactivity after the 2018-2020 action plan. A short co-creation timeline limited public engagement, especially with non-traditional and marginalised communities, and selection of civil society-initiated commitments. During the implementation period, OGF received progress reports at regular meetings, although there was little opportunity for civil society to participate in commitment implementation. While the minimum requirements of the OGP Participation and Co-Creation Standards were not met during the co-creation period, they were met during the implementation period. Overall, a long-term government member reported that the OGF was more successful than during earlier action plans, offering a way to emphasise participation and direct consultation.^[1] Moving forward, the process would benefit from more time allocated to co-creation and implementation discussions, and establishing a common government and civil society understanding of the role of OGF.

Implementation in Context

This OGP cycle benefited from ministerial support. Some OGF meetings in 2023 and 2024 saw attendance from former Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus, and former Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General, the Hon Patrick Gorman.^[2] To support commitments’ efforts, Portfolio Ministers announced the future beneficial ownership register in October 2025 and Australia’s first National Media Literacy Strategy in February 2026.^[3]

Beyond the OGP action plan, Australia saw positive open government changes during the implementation period. These included the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission,^[4] Victoria’s Statewide Treaty,^[5] Western Australia’s information and privacy legislation,^[6] and an extensive range of citizen assemblies for state and local governments.^[7] On the other hand, limits were set on citizens’ right to protest,^[8] and growing usage of encrypted messaging applications could affect government records management.^[9]  Noting these limits, alongside recent threats to Australia’s social cohesion, and growing global authoritarianism, OGF members highlighted the importance of organisations like OGP, seeing efforts to increase public participation across the country as strengthening democracy.^[10]