The face to face consultations on ideas for the second national action plan concluded on 23 March and  submissions have closed

I’ve commented that the consultation meetings were a disappointment-putting it mildly.

Attendances at all five gatherings were low.The presentation and facilitation (at the Sydney meeting at least) was uninspiring. Part of what was discussed was captured on Butchers paper, but plenty wasn’t.

The submission process similarly left a lot to be desired. Again the low profile of the OGP initiative means relatively few participants so far.

The PMC website is difficult to navigate and there was uncertainty about whether the contribution got through when you pressed the save button.I know some didn’t. If yours isn’t published yet that’s a worry- contact PMC and let us know what transpires.

With hindsight the safest method was to email ogp@pmc.gov.au and ask for confirmation your submission was received. Wise after the event I know.

Thanks to those who battled through to put forward suggestions.

Given 80% of Australians favour a national integrity commission, no surprise this features strongly in submissions. Other ideas are many and varied. We’ll highlight some in the next week.

Trying to take in what has been put forward in submissions now published here under five topic headings and an “other ideas’ link- some as PDF or Word attachments and others reproduced in full -is another exercise made unnecessarily complex.

The Open Government Forum meets tomorrow for a first run through on what is on the table. See item 5 in the Business papers here.