Australian Open Government Partnership Civil Society Network

The Australian Open Government Network

The Australian Open Government Civil Society Network is a coalition of civil society organisations and individuals committed to making government work better for people through transparency, participation and accountability. The network collaborates with and challenges governments in Australia to develop and implement ambitious open government reforms through Australia’s membership of the Open Government Partnership.

The Australian Open Government Network was formed in December 2015 after the Australian government reaffirming its commitment to join the OGP.

There are over 80 members in the network (mid March 2017)

In addition to individual members,organisations represented include Transparency International Australia, Accountability Roundtable, Electronic Frontiers Australia, Australian Privacy Foundation, Australian Press Council, Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, International Association for Public Participation, Open Knowledge Foundation Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Uniting Church in Australia and Publish What You Pay Australia.

The Network is coordinated independently of government and has a steering group,is convened by Peter Timmins.

The Steering Group for 2017

Dr Ken Coghill (Chair)  (Accountability Roundtable)

Dr Nicholas Gruen (Open Knowledge Foundation Australian Chapter)

Dr Moira Paterson (Individual member) Professor, Monash University Faculty of Law

Professor Matthew Ricketson (Individual member) Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance representative on Australian Press Council (both members of the Network)

Beth Slatyer (Co-Convenor,  Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy)

Kat Szuminska (OpenAustralia Foundation) Cofounder and board member of OpenAustralia Foundation

Greg Thompson (Transparency International Australia) Board member of Transparency International Australia (since 1995), Australian Volunteers International (since 2008), Anglican Board of Mission(since 2015).

Mark Zirnsak (Justice Mission, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Uniting Church in Australia)

Director of the Social Justice Unit of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania,

Uniting Church in Australia since 2005. This includes active membership of Transparency International Australia and Publish What You Pay Australia.

The group was founded by:

• Dr Nicholas Gruen, Open Knowledge Australia
• Jon Lawrence, Electronic Frontiers Australia
• Dr David Solomon AM (chair), Accountability Roundtable

• Katherine Szuminska, OpenAustralia Foundation
• Dr Johan Lidberg Individual Member (Associate Professor in journalism Monash University)
• Peter Timmins Interim Convener

View our Terms of reference to learn more about how we work.

The Open Government Partnership

The Open Government Partnership is an international initiative that provides a platform for reformers inside and outside governments around the world to develop reforms that “promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance”. Since its foundation in September 2011, over 2,000 commitments have been made by 65 participating countries, covering a third of the world’s population.

Countries must meet a set of basic eligibility criteria and agree to an Open Government Declaration to join. Once a member, governments must develop a National Action Plan with civil society in their country on a biennial basis. The government must regularly report on its progress and work with civil society to achieve the agreed reforms. Progress is evaluated at regular intervals by an independent researcher appointed by the OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism. The OGP emphasises partnership between government and civil society at all levels. Its steering committee is formed of equal government and civil society representatives, with co-chairs drawn from each.

Malcolm Turnbull committed the Australian government to fulfilling our OGP member in November 2015. You can find official resources and announcements from the Australian government at its Open Government Partnership – Australia website. This includes the framework and schedule for government and civil society to create Australia’s first OGP National Action Plan by July 2016.