Australian Open Government

Australian Open Government Partnership Civil Society Network

News and notes

MEAA: “The balance needs to be tipped back to the public’s right to know”

3rd May 2018 – Uncategorised

The top 10 Press Freedom issues in a survey of journalists and the public by the MEAA and published on World Press Freedom Day-along with the annual report this year with a chilling title- Criminalising Journalism: From the MEAA “Press freedom in Australia has deteriorated over the past decade according to a survey of more…

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Press Freedom Medal 2018 media release

3rd May 2018 – Uncategorised

  MEDIA RELEASE | 3 May 2018 Press Council awards 2018 Press Freedom Medals The Australian Press Council has awarded Press Freedom Medals to two outstanding individuals for their major contributions to furthering the causes of free speech and freedom of the press. Peter Greste One of Australia’s most respected and experienced foreign correspondents, a…

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Network supports findings of independent review, highlights absence of ministers from open government dialogue

27th April 2018 – Uncategorised

These comments by the Steering Committee were submitted to the OGP Independent Review on 24 April. “The Steering Committee welcomes publication of the mid term report . Daniel Stewart has made a valuable contribution in tracing the development of the plan and the implementation of commitments to date. Throughout we found him interested in civil…

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Independent review report: underwhelmed by first effort, need to do better next time

27th April 2018 – Uncategorised

The independent report on Australia’s progress in implementing its first OGP National Action Plan by Daniel Stewart of Australian national University is a wake-up call to government and civil society. The report’s key messages are we didn’t do much of a job in bringing the citizenry into a dialogue about open government reform; none of…

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Consultation and submissions on second national action plan

11th April 2018 – News

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…

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Independent assessment report-scope to do much better next time

11th April 2018 – News

 The independent Progress Report on development and implementation of Australia’s first OGP national action plan is published today and available for public comment for two weeks. PMC highlights this conclusion: ‘The Australian government made substantial progress in completing several commitments in areas such as combatting corporate crime and steps to improve the discoverability of government…

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Open Government Week

9th April 2018 – Uncategorised

The Open Government Partnership is organising a global Open Government Week from May 7-11 to raise interest in open government and encourage government and civil society to come together to listen to each other’s ideas, discuss solutions, and commit to taking action. “The week will feature all things #opengov and include panel discussions, Facebook chats,…

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Consultation round one on Second National Action Plan

29th March 2018 – Points of View

The following  personal comments about the recent consultation meetings organised by Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet are posted on the PMC website. Always interested in your views. …………………………………… Based on the Sydney meet that I attended and feedback from Canberra and Melbourne, the round of consultations was disappointing to put it mildly. Attendances were…

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OGP Global Summit: Call for proposals

7th March 2018 – News

From Paul Maassen Director, Civil Society Engagement Open Government Partnership Support Unit Registration and the call for proposals have opened for the 5th OGP Global Summit to be hosted by The Prime Minister of Georgia, Mr. Giorgi Kvirikashvili in Tbilisi, Georgia, on July 17-19, 2018.   Representatives from more than 70 countries are expected to…

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Senate Estimates questions about the OGP.

5th March 2018 – News

In Senate Estimates  last week Senator McAllister (Labor NSW) asked questions of officers from Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet about the Open Government Partnership. The relevant extract from the transcript is reproduced below. Nothing particularly new to those following this closely emerged. One line of questioning by Senator McAllister was her interest in whether…

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