New Zealand End-of-Term Report 2014-2016

In early 2017, the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... published the end of term report for New Zealand’s first 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.... The report covers the full action plan implementation period of 1 July 2014 through 30 June 2016.

In New Zealand, the findings from the IRM researcher, Steven Price, are summarized below:

“The New Zealand government made some improvements to access to information and civic participation. The government released new datasets and consulted CSOs on public engagement practices. However, the government’s process falls short of OGP’s co-creation guidelines, the commitments lacked clear activities for implementation, and the gains were marginal. With the next action plan, the government could focus on creating opportunities for stakeholders to be involved in implementing commitments.”

The final report is available below. The two-week public comment period closed on 20 January 2017.