Australia Design Report 2018-2020

Australia’s second 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... builds on themes and policy areas from the first action plan. The eight commitments include efforts to improve access to information and civic participation, and also increase opportunities for state and territory governments to participate in open government reforms through the OGP process. While government and civil society stakeholders engaged in a collaborative co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... in the development of the action plan, there remains opportunity to expand engagement with stakeholders across a broader range of interests.

The Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) is a global partnership that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to create action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive and accountable. 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 ... monitors all action plans to ensure governments follow through on commitments. Australia joined OGP in 2015. Since, Australia has implemented one action plan. This report evaluates the design of Australia’s second action plan.

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) is responsible for coordinating OGP activities. A multi-stakeholder forum comprising government and nongovernment stakeholders guide the action plan development, implementation, and monitoring.

The process to develop Australia’s second OGP action plan commenced in the middle of the first action plan’s implementation period, in July 2017. The forum initially received 58 ideas and proposals to be considered for inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... More in the action plan. These ideas were then shortlisted to 14, before eventually being narrowed to the final eight commitments. These eight commitments cover a range of thematic areas: anti-corruption, political financing, open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici..., public service deliveryTo ensure that citizens of all groups are better supported by the government, OGP participating governments are working to improve the quality of and access to public services. Commitments in this are... More, information 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, public engagement, and open contractingA transparent procurement process, known as open contracting, increases competition, improves public service delivery, and ensures governments better value for their money. Technical specifications: C... More.

Stemming from a co-creation process to vet proposals, a number of potential open government reforms were not included in this action plan. Themes such as 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 and whistleblower protection, were not included, despite previous IRM recommendations to consider further consultation in these areas.

Overall, the IRM’s assessment of commitments in Australia’s second action plan suggests a targeted focus on key policy areas, but a lack of 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... specificity limits opportunities to identify their relevanceAccording to the OGP Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should include a clear open government lens. Specifically, they should advance at least one of the OGP values: transparency, citizen partic... to OGP values or their potential impact on changing government processes.

Table 2: Noteworthy Commitments

Recommendations

Table 3: Five Key IRM Recommendations