16th June 2017
The two new civil society members to join the international Steering Committee are Giorgi Kldiashvili Director of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), an NGO based in Georgia, and Tur-Od Lkhagvajav who holds several leading civil society positions in Mongolia. Congratulations to both, and thanks to Ken Coghill, current Chairman of the…
15th June 2017
Australia’s first Open Government National Action Plan (2016-18) is a series of reforms that include some ambitious commitments, that set the stage for potentially transformative outcomes for citizens. These include “transforming our information access laws, policies and practices are modern and appropriate for the digital information age”, “building public trust around data sharing and release”,…
31st May 2017
When the Interim Working Group agreed to go ahead with a plan to establish a Multistakeholder Forum by the end of June, I said it would be ambitious. It’s still ambitious. And it’s still doable. From here, at least, it does look like it’s still on track. On Wednesday 17 May, Department of the Prime Minister and…
25th May 2017
The Mexican Core Group of CSOs have pulled out of the national OGP National Action Plan process following the discovery of illegal surveillance of a number of people affiliated with members of the group. Read their notification. It’s big news, for example in the New York Times as well as Mexico The OGP issued this…
23rd May 2017
Media release- Australian Press Council 19 May 2017 “The Australian Press Council has awarded its Press Freedom Medal to two outstanding individuals for their major contributions to ensuring a free and open society: Peter Timmins – Australian Open Government Partnership Network and Michael Cameron – News Corp Australia. The 2017 Press Freedom Medals were awarded…
2nd May 2017
PM&C published yesterday a Discussion Paper with a proposal on how to establish a forum, and details of a consultation over the next few weeks. Three ways you can have your say: Participate in the Twitter Q&A on 4 May: If you’ve questions on the Open Government Partnership or the Multistakeholder Forum, you can also join…
10th April 2017
PM&C Interim Working Group Minutes of the meeting on 28 March. Key points: The Department’s Strategic Coordination Unit had assumed responsibility for coordinating implementation of Australia’s Open Government National Action Plan. (Contacts are Will Story and Alan Wu reporting to Deputy Secretary Steven Kennedy) IWG Terms of Reference extended to cover responsibility for providing oversight…
9th March 2017
Kat Szuminska, a member of the Network Steering Committee and the PM&C Interim Working Group has written an account of her involvement and that of her colleagues Henare Degan and Luke Bacon in the twists and turns as Australia prevaricated, joined and developed a national action plan, captured in the visual below (thanks Mel Flanagan,…
16th December 2016
Australia’s first Open Government Partnership National Action Plan was published on 8 December. The plan sets out 15 commitments to reform on a wide range of open government measures to be implemented or substantially implemented by July 2018. The Network Steering Committee welcomes the completion of of the plan, particularly the breadth and scope of…
8th December 2016
Australia’s first Open Government Partnership National Action Plan was released yesterday. In a Media Statement, Minister for Finance Senator Cormann said The Plan’s 15 commitments will help strengthen our democracy and deliver a more agile, innovative and collaborative nation. We will: deliver better protections for whistle blowers in the tax and corporate sectors, work with…