Permanent Partnership Arrangements-What you had to say
Further in the series- Issues raised in Submissions on Draft National Action Plan
5.1 Permanent dialogue mechanism
Plenty of suggested improvements to spread awareness and around the concept of a multi-stakeholder forum-and other ideas.
From the PM&C round up:
Jack Mahoney OGP Support Unit
Milestone 2 – is the timeframe the period of functioning of the multi-stakeholder forum, or the period for establishment? Be explicit about the timeframe by when you expect to have it established. The text can then suggest how improvements will be considered over time.
Daniel Marsh Sociometry (consultancy)
Proposal for a permanent forum is commendable. It is reasonable to consult with civil society to develop the forum mechanisms, however, the draft should not proceed further without resolving the question of the institutional decision-maker and the decision-making process. The degree of delegation from the Minister should be made apparent very early in the piece, not when proposals arise in detailed implementation. Appropriate to have a high-level ToR attached.
Chris Russell LGA of SA
ALGA should be involved in the multi-stakeholder forum.
Nigel Waters Pacific Privacy (consultancy)
Supports the multi-stakeholder approach, and would welcome involvement.
Privacy interests should be expressly included in this forum – some candidates are: Australian Privacy Foundation, Electronic Frontiers Australia and Councils for Civil Liberties. Transparency International should also be included – surprised that TI is not in any of commitment stakeholder lists.
Leanne Hartill IAP2 Australasia
The multi-stakeholder forum should be just one part of a comprehensive engagement strategy. Should use the IAP2 skills and resources to provide opportunities for innovative and creative participation for all stakeholders.
Michael Croker Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand
Notes that the current Interim Working Group does not contain industry and business groups, and would like to be part of the proposed multi-stakeholder mechanism.
Karen Burgess The BubbleGum Club
Would like to be involved.
Bob Douglas
Concerned about the vagueness of the term ‘multi-stakeholder forum’ and the limitation implied in the draft plan about its role.
Governance must be designed in an open, participative way. Instead of multi-stakeholder forum, government should partner with civil society to create a transparent, participative, design process for the governance and reporting mechanisms of the OGP in Australia.
Recommends an independent Public Interest Council, publicly resourced but led by civil society, to research, assess and advise policy settings for achieving the SDGs.
Dr Madeleine Roberts
Questions the process by which the ‘general public’ can become ‘stakeholders’ – is not supportive of the membership of of the IWG – not representative of the general public enough.
Beth Slatyer Individual
Issues of ownership, independence, accountability and political economy need to be fully explored and openly debated before a model for the multi-stakeholder forum is agreed on. Civil society needs to be resourced to play its role in the design process. The following wording is proposed:
Objective: Australia will facilitate an independent design process, in partnership with civil society, of the governance, reporting and accountability arrangements for the first OGP Action Plan and future plans.
Milestone 1: Government to partner with civil society to support a transparent, participative, design process for the governance, dialogue, reporting and accountability mechanism(s) of the OGP in Australia. At a minimum these mechanism(s) will have the following responsibilities: develop and co-create future National Action Plans; track and report on implementation of NAP commitments; facilitate broader civil society and community engagement, conduct awareness and capacity building activities that foster informed participation and document decisions and communicate widely.
Milestone 2: Fund civil society to identify the costs for participation by civil society and the public/community in the work of the mechanism(s), and to reach agreement on how those costs will be funded.
Milestone 3. Establish the agreed mechanism(s) and funding arrangements.
Stan van de Wiel Individual
Need greater ways to oblige the public service to comply with commitments during implementation. Bureaucrats need to be more accountable.
Kate Irvine National and State Libraries Australasia
This is dependent on strong and affordable connectivity and digital literacy skills. Libraries play a key role in developing digital capability in the community.
Natasha Molt Law Council of Australia
Supports the establishment of a permanent multi-stakeholder forum and would welcome the opportunity to be a key member of the forum.
• Decisions of the multi-stakeholder partnership should be made by consensus or, alternatively, by majority with civil society; and
• Ministerial level decisions regarding the delivery of Australia’s NAP should be based on the advice of the multi-stakeholder forum.
Chris Snow Individual
The establishment of an independent professionally operated, public advisory council which has the primary objective of ensuring that the non-gov sectors fully participate in the OGP process. Initial funding from Gov with the organisation to become self-funding.
Grant Wardell-Johnson KPMG
The permanent group should contain representatives from the large business community and an umbrella professional business organisation.
Fred Michna Individual
• Justify why wiki proposals which grade less than an A are not fully represented in the draft national action plan to the people who contributed.
• Create a formal and open application process for the national steering committee selected by a citizen jury or a court. Run physical consultation events at a minimum monthly in all capital cities.
• Advertise on television and target under-represented groups.
• Engage with Australian Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people
• Run physical consultation events in all regional/rural areas. Digital engagement is not enough. Local councils and public libraries may be useful public resources
• Also run events in the evening so that people who work during the day can attend.
• Provide means-tested compensation for contributors and consultation attendees. People working for organisations funded to do this work should not be eligible. People who are legitimately poor should.
• Provide childcare for consultation events
• Provide independent, professional, paid copy-editing help for people without tertiary education.
Phil Newman TI Australia
Recommend that Government, at the earliest possible time, consults with civil society to identify existing tools and mechanisms whereby simple, effective, and real-time monitoring of Australia’s progress against commitments can occur.
Rob Gravestocks Articulous Communications
Suggests concept of a Citizens’ Parliament which would be based on a Citizens’ Jury but would be on-going. The large body (say 50-100 representatives) would be drawn from key stakeholders such as OGP, government departments and relevant citizen groups along with randomly selected citizens. This would ensure that a range of voices be heard and it is also anticipated that future commitments remain relevant and ambitious.
Operational guidelines (covering issues including structure, role, governance and membership) for the Citizens’ Parliament are developed by a one-day forum of key stakeholders.
Kat Lane Australian Privacy Foundation
Like to see privacy interests expressly included in stakeholder consultation arrangements – obvious candidates for inclusion are APF, EFA and Councils for Civil Liberties. Also include TIA.
Mel Flanagan
Aside from a few people connected to government and some civil society actors, hardly anyone knows about open government or understands it and how they can participate. I suggest that this be acknowledged and funding be allocated to help resolve this and a communications plan be added to this commitment.
Robyn Cochrane
A permanent dialogue mechanism is admirable, if inclusive and publicly accessible and not exclusive to specific multi-stakeholder groups. Members of the public may have relevant and valuable contributions to make from time to time so a stand-alone, centralised consultation hub with regular reporting and ‘opt-in’ for updates functionality could be viable.