THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
Attorney-General
Minister for Emergency Management
Special Minister of State
Minister for the Public Service and Integrity
MEDIA RELEASE
AUSTRALIA JOINS OPEN GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP
The Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus QC, announced today that Australia will join the Open Government Partnership.
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation that promotes transparency in government, encourages citizen participation and tackles corruption.
Australia shares the values of the Open Government Partnership and we have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with other nations in the partnership, Mr Dreyfus said.
We believe that greater openness and accountability in government promotes public participation in government processes and leads to better informed decision-making.
The Open Government Partnership provides an international forum for countries, civil society and the private sector to stand together to address the challenges of governance in the 21st century.
Mr Dreyfus said the Government had improved transparency since 2008 by
- Passing and implementing significant reforms to Freedom of Information, abolishing conclusive certificates and certain application fees, and creating the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
- Establishing data.gov.au as the Governments central public dataset repository
- Adopting Government 2.0 principles, providing the public with accessible government information and creating awards to encourage excellence in accessible information
- Creating guidance to make public-sector information accessible, such as the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner Principles on Open Public Sector Information and National Archives guidance on Digital Recordkeeping.
The Government will start work on a National Action Plan to build on our existing commitments to open and transparent government, Mr Dreyfus said.
The Plan will address one of the Open Government Partnership challenges of improving public services, increasing public integrity, effectively managing public resources, creating safer communities and increasing corporate accountability.
Membership of the Open Government Partnership will complement Australia's leadership internationally in promoting democracy, transparency and good governance, Mr Dreyfus said.
It will also assist Australia to spread the values of transparency and accountability in our region.
More information on the Open Government Partnership is available at http://www.opengovpartnership.org/
WEDNESDAY, 22 MAY 2013
