Meeting of the Open Government Forum - Minutes
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Meeting of the Open Government Forum
Minutes
10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Thursday 20 June, 2019
Leichardt Room, 50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne CBD
Attendance
Civil Society members
Dr Ken Coghill Swinburne University (Acting Co-Chair)
Dr Lyn Carson newDemocracy Foundation
Mr Konrad de Kerloy Herbert Smith Freehills
Mr Mitch Hillier Law Firms Australia
Mr James Horton Datanomics
Ms Serena Lillywhite Transparency International Australia
Ms May Miller-Dawkins Researcher and Advocate
Mr Mark Zirnsak Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Uniting Church in Australia
Government members
Ms Lee Steel Prime Minister and Cabinet (Acting Co-Chair)
Ms Christine Barron Treasury
Mr Damian Carmichael (for Elizabeth Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
Kelly)
Ms Sarah Chidgey Attorney-General’s Department
Ms Jo Da Rocha (for Jamie Fox) National Indigenous Australians Agency
Mr Matt Goonan (for Peter Alexander) Digital Transformation Agency
Ms Elizabeth Hampton Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Mr Lembit Suur Department of Finance
Ms Elizabeth Tydd NSW Information and Privacy Commission
Other
Ms Christine Johnston National Archives of Australia
Mr John Neil OGP Secretariat, Prime Minister and Cabinet
Ms Abigail Kuttner OGP Secretariat, Prime Minister and Cabinet
Apologies
Ms Stephanie Foster Prime Minister and Cabinet (Co-Chair)
Mr Peter Alexander Digital Transformation Agency
Mr Jamie Fox National Indigenous Australians Agency
Ms Elizabeth Kelly Department of Industry, Innovation and Science1: Welcome and confirmation of agenda
The Co-Chairs welcomed Forum members to the meeting, acknowledged the traditional owners of
the country, and confirmed the agenda. The Acting Government Co-Chair, Lee Steel, introduced
herself and thanked Ken Coghill for Acting as the Civil Society Co-Chair.
The Co-Chairs introduced Christine Barron as the new government member for the Treasury, and
thanked Christine Johnston from the National Archives of Australia for her attendance as a
non-voting member.
Lee noted that we are still waiting for confirmation around ministerial responsibility for the OGP.
Once this is confirmed, the Forum will be informed.
The Forum agreed that it would be a good idea to brief the incoming Minister responsible for OGP,
once confirmed, on Australia’s OGP wins to date, priorities, delayed commitments and next steps.
The OGP Secretariat undertook to prepare a draft brief and circulate it to the Forum for comment.
OGP Secretariat to prepare a background brief on OGP for a new or returning minister
responsible for OGP, and consult with the Forum regarding the content of brief and their input.
2: Declaration of conflicts of interest
No conflicts of interest were reported.
3: Actions arising from previous meetings
The Co-Chairs noted that all actions arising from previous meetings have been completed. The
Co-Chairs noted that a new, more user-friendly version of the OGP website has been launched and
thanked members for their feedback during the development of the new website. The Co-Chairs also
highlighted that invitations have been sent to all Forum members to sign up to a new collaborative
workspace through GovTeams, to facilitate discussions and information sharing between meetings.
Members agreed that the website is much easier to navigate and find information.
The Co-Chairs noted that although some feedback was received from members on the proposed
communities of interest, no members volunteered to lead any of these communities. In response,
the Forum agreed to consider a Civic Participation Forum in the context of consultations to develop
the third National Action Plan 2020-22 (NAP3), as proposed in the supplementary paper for agenda
item 10 circulated by Ken Coghill. The Forum also agreed that additional communities of interest
could be considered in the future.
4: National Action Plan 2016-18 updates
The Co-Chairs noted that since the last Forum meeting in February, the following commitments of
the first National Action Plan 2016-18 (NAP1) have been completed:
• 1.1 Protecting Whistleblowers, and
• 2.2 Build and Maintain Public Trust to Address Concerns about Data Sharing and Release.
2Forum members asked if a ministerial press release could be arranged to raise awareness of the
whistleblower protections in the context of OGP, noting that the legislation giving effect to the new
protections will come into force on 1 July 2019.
Government representatives provided oral updates on the following NAP1 commitments:
• 1.2 Beneficial Ownership
• 1.4 Combatting Corporate Crime
• 2.1 Releasing High-Value Datasets and Enable Data-Driven Innovation
• 2.2 Build and Maintain Public Trust to Address Concerns about Data Sharing and Release
• 3.1 Information Management and Access Laws for the 21st Century
• 4.1 Confidence in the Electoral System and Political Parties
• 4.2 National Integrity Framework, and
• 5.2 Enhance Public Participation in Decision Making.
The representative from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science was unfortunately
unable to attend the meeting to provide an update on Commitment 1.3, Extractive Industries
Transparency (EITI). The Forum agreed that at the next meeting a comprehensive update should be
provided, and that the OGP Secretariat would raise this with Elizabeth Kelly. In addition, the Forum
agreed that the OGP Secretariat would ask the representative to provide the Forum out of session
with a copy of the KPMG gap analysis and briefing from the EITI conference in Paris.
OGP Secretariat to:
• Inform the Forum once ministerial arrangements for the OGP are confirmed.
• Regarding Commitment 1.3 Extractive Industries Transparency, provide the Forum with
an update on the status of this commitment and if possible, share a copy of the KPMG
gap analysis and briefing from the EITI conference in Paris on 19 June 2019 attended by
DIIS officials.
Christine Barron to report to the Forum about a ministerial press release connecting the new
whistleblower protections with OGP.
May Miller-Dawkins to circulate the OpenOwnership’s Guide to Implementing Beneficial
Ownership Transparency.
5: National Action Plan 2018-20 updates
Government representatives provided oral updates on the following National Action Plan 2018-20
(NAP2) commitments:
• Expand open contracting and due diligence in procurement
• Engage Australians in the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service
• Enhance public engagement skills in the public service
• Engage States and Territories to better understand information access
• Improve public service practices using place-based approaches
• Improve the sharing, use and reuse of public sector data
• Enhance the transparency of political donations and funding, and
• Strengthen the national anti-corruption framework.
3May Miller-Dawkins informed members about the OGP Local Strategy agreed by the OGP Steering
Committee in Ottawa in May 2019, given her role assisting the OGP Support Unit. The strategy
recognises the importance and value of open local government in achieving OGP’s vision of
improving citizen-centered governance and public service delivery and making governments more
responsive and accountable. The new approach takes an integrated approach to enabling,
supporting and learning from local open government, including:
1. Strategic national-local vertical integration – to support the further development of
effective national government and/or civil society strategies to enable and foster local
open government.
2. Enhanced OGP local program – to build on the existing program to encourage more local
government and civil society partnerships and incentivise leadership and innovation.
3. Platform for knowledge, learning, innovation and capacity building – to make use of online
and offline tools to create opportunities for local level reformers to share knowledge,
access expertise from partner organisations, and to receive trainings at a much larger
scale.
Between now and November, a detailed design and development phase will involve:
• Further sharpening the principles underpinning each pillar of the strategy to ensure they are
consistent with the overall guiding principles for the program and fit for purpose in meeting
the objectives.
• Designing processes for the application, selection, ensuring transparency of assessments,
intake and orientation for the new OGP local members program.
• Producing the first round of materials, tools and learning resources for each of the three
strategic pillars.
• Drafting detailed rules of the game, including any changes to the Articles of Governance and
way forward for ensuring that the interests of OGP local strategy and program are reflected
in the Steering Committee (which will be included for discussion in the December 2019
Steering Committee meeting).
• Securing partnerships to support the delivery of the strategy.
More information on the OGP Local Engagement Strategy and next steps is available on the OGP’s
website, at: www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/SC_Local-Strategy-and-
Resolution_20190529.pdf
OGP Secretariat to:
• Circulate a copy of the draft Framework and the list of focused initiatives being considered
under the commitment, Improve Public Service Practices using Place-Based Approaches.
• Follow up with the states and territories that did not reply to Stephanie Foster’s letter
regarding the commitment, Enhance State and Territory Participation in the Open
Government Partnership.
46: Update on OGP matters and outcomes from the Summit
Alan Wu, Senior Regional Coordinator, Asia-Pacific, OGP, provided a general update on processes as
well as the Global Summit held in Ottawa, Canada between 29 and 31 May 2019. Key updates
include:
OGP processes
• The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) End of Term Assessment for NAP1 is being
considered by the International Expert Panel and will be provided to the OGP Secretariat at
the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet shortly for review. The OGP Secretariat will
share the Assessment with the Forum for their review.
• The first draft of the IRM Design Report for NAP2 was originally due in March but is delayed.
• New processes are in place for mid-term self-assessments, as well as the IRM reports for
national action plans. More detail on these new processes is available from the OGP
Handbook, at: www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-
content/uploads/2019/03/OGP_Handbook-Rules-Guidance-for-Participants_20190313.pdf
o Countries are no longer required to prepare mid-term self-assessments where they
maintain an online repository showing the status of commitments and milestones.
The Australian OGP website fulfils these conditions. End of term self-assessments
are still required.
o The focus of the IRM mid-term and end of term reports has been revised. Going
forward, the mid-term IRM will focus on the design of commitments, including the
method used to develop the commitments and their form/design. The end of term
IRM will focus on implementation of commitments.
• Robin Hodess (B Team) and Argentina will take on the role of Lead OGP Steering Committee
Co-Chairs from October 2019. They will strive to advance the principles of inclusion (with
attention to gender, diversity, and youth) and continue to strengthen the OGP to increase its
collective impact. Key priorities of the Argentina-Hodess co-chairship will be to:
o Create an open state: A holistic approach to capture the nodes of openness in
government beyond the executive (i.e. Parliaments, the judiciary, local
governments) and embed OGP values across governance models.
o Rebuild trust and integrity in digital democracy: Building on the work being done to
combat corruption and the declining trust in public institutions, bring digital and
democracy together by building frameworks that protect people while enhancing
government transparency and accountability mechanisms in the digital age.
• A process is currently underway to appoint two new incoming co-chairs to the Steering
Committee (one from government and one from civil society), with candidacy statements
due by 15 July 2019.
Global Summit
• Key themes discussed were the:
o importance of gender and inclusion in promoting responsible, transparent and
accountable governments
o critical role open government plays between elections, especially in upholding civic
space and ensuring the fair use of technology in democratic processes, and
o impact citizens can have on open government processes by active engagement.
• A new campaign, ‘Break the Roles’, was launched to encourage meaningful action on gender
and inclusion in 2019. A new coalition of 22 members – including Oxfam, UNDP, Open
5Contracting Partnership, Argentina, Afghanistan, and Kenya – was announced to support the
campaign. More information is at: www.opengovpartnership.org/campaigns/break-the-
roles/.
• The OGP launched its flagship report on the state of open government, providing a thorough
review of progress made by OGP member countries in the first eight years of the
partnership. The Global Report can be used to help identify areas of strength where a
country can share learnings, and areas where it might consider developing and
implementing OGP commitments in the future. The Report is accessible at
www.opengovpartnership.org/campaigns/global-report/.
o For Australia, information derived from third-party indicators on common OGP
themes indicates relative strengths in civic space and open policy-making, and
relative weaknesses in beneficial ownership and participatory budgeting.
• The Steering Committee approved a new OGP Local strategy.
• The OGP website has been redesigned, and livestreams from the Summit area available at:
https://ogpsummit.org/en/news-and-media/livestream/.
Forum members asked for more detail on the discussions around trust in public institutions,
including whether any examples were given to illustrate times where trust has been improved in a
public institution.
OGP Secretariat to share the IRM End of Term Assessment for the National Action Plan 2016-18
with the Forum for review, once received.
Alan Wu to consider whether any examples were given during discussions around trust in public
institutions at the Global Summit, and if so, share these with the Forum.
7: Discussion of the OGP Global Summit
Damian Carmichael from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science attended the OGP
Global Summit on behalf of the Australian Government. Damian noted that the Summit reinforced
that the OGP is a global countries movement, with a range of concurrent initiatives aimed at opening
government and promoting democracy. In addition, Australia’s Open Government Forum stood out
as a well-functioning multi-stakeholder forum, with effective government and civil society
participation.
Based on the discussions in which Damian took part, future focus areas for countries may be around
inclusion and diversity, and using data and algorithm decision-making (for example with ethical uses
of artificial intelligence). Forum members noted that the CSIRO and Attorney-General’s Department
have separately published papers on the ethics of artificial intelligence, and its use in the justice
system.
8: OGP work being undertaken by members
Lyn Carson provided background on the work of the newDemocracy Foundation, including its
previous research outcomes and the benefits of civil society juries and assemblies.
Lembit Suur provided background on his work at the Department of Finance, including oversight of
the Public Governance Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and the AEC’s Tally Room
69: Global perspectives on OGP
Serena Lillywhite gave the Forum an overview of the latest thinking and developments of civil
society and NGOs, following her attendance at the OECD Global Forum and the UN Responsible
Business and Human Rights Forum, both held in Bangkok earlier this month.
Key themes raised during these meetings were anti-corruption (including beneficial ownership and
open contracting) and the need for greater involvement by business in a number of initiatives.
Ken Coghill also advised that the Accountability Roundtable and the Australian OGP Network have
used the grant received from the OGP Secretariat for the Enhanced Australian Civil Society
Engagement Project to encourage civil society participation. The major activity was running National
Integrity Forums in Melbourne and Canberra during April 2019. These Forums involved a series of
panels with table level discussion, and were each attended by approximately 60 to 70 people made
up of existing and new civil society stakeholders. A report on the project as a whole will be published
shortly, however the proceedings from the Canberra Forum were recorded and are already available
on the Accountability Roundtable’s website.
10: NAP3 Brainstorming
The Co-Chairs opened the NAP3 discussion by noting the importance of designing and promoting a
collaborative NAP3 consultation process, given feedback that past consultations did not reach
enough people. The Co-Chairs reinforced the need to make full use of the time available, to
incorporate time for government decision-making processes and ensure there is time to ascertain
and narrow down the priorities of citizens, and retest these, before the Plan is due to the OGP by 31
August 2020.
Lee Steel provided a brief overview of the NAP2 consultation process, noting that the face-to-face
sessions were beneficial but that they could be structured to ensure a wider and more diverse
attendance.
Developing NAP3
Forum members put forward a number of mechanisms that could be used to spread the word about
consultation and promote civil society participation. These mechanisms include:
• Reaching out to stakeholder groups, community organisations and conferences with
wide-ranging networks (e.g. Lions clubs, CWA, chambers of commerce, NFP conferences).
• Sending out invitations from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
• Advertising through social media, local newspapers and tertiary organisations.
• Being specific about discussion topics, instead of using broad titles such as ‘OGP
consultation’ to demonstrate the value proposition for civil society.
The Forum discussed the merits of engaging local (and regional) communities, noting that
commitments should be informed by local communities but will need to apply to a national
audience, given the scope of NAP3. Methods of engaging local communities were discussed,
including by tapping into local councils, information commissioners and community organisations.
The Forum noted that we will need to keep the NAP1 and NAP2 commitments in mind when
developing the NAP3, to ensure the NAP3 commitments are not duplicative, progress existing
commitments where there is more work that can be done, and tackle new themes. In particular, the
7NAP3 commitments should progress, as much as possible, the key open government themes of
transparency, access to information, accountability and public engagement.
In addition, members discussed the importance of considering commitments that are vertical and
specific, such as open contracting, as well as horizontal in nature (i.e. cutting across the OGP
themes), such as access to information.
OGP Secretariat to circulate a short paper on the spread of NAP1 and NAP2 commitments across
the OGP themes.
Settling a consultation process
The Forum discussed the need to settle a proposed process, which takes into account the Forum’s
expertise as well as the OGP Participation and Co-Creation Toolkit, the APS Framework for
Engagement and Participation, and the Open Dialogue Framework. Forum members agreed that a
process for consultation must be agreed before consultation begins, but that the process should be
flexible and adapted as required.
Members agreed that the Forum should put forward themes for consultation and should ensure that
civil society has enough background on the OGP and our previous National Action Plans. Similarly,
members agreed that the consultation process should initially be open, before becoming more
focused on a subset of priority ideas. For example, Forum members could lead working groups on
particular topics, rather than using a single meeting to tackle all issues. This approach was viewed as
an efficient way to run the consultation process, on the basis that it would allow civil society to react
to ideas and understand what we are seeking from them.
Damian Carmichael noted that this would be a good opportunity to test the Open Dialogue
Roadmap, developed in the context of the NAP2 commitment, Enhance Public Engagement Skills in
the Public Service. The Forum agreed to Damian Carmichael, Lyn Carson and May Miller-Dawkins
taking forward the work on a plan for public engagement, in consultation with other interested
members, to bring forward to the Forum out of session.
Damian Carmichael, Lyn Carson and May Miller-Dawkins to develop and seek feedback from the
Forum on a proposed consultation process and timeline for NAP3.
Themes for NAP3
The Forum considered the supplementary paper circulated by Ken Coghill and began brainstorming
ideas for commitments. The Forum agreed that prospective commitments should be considered
against the OGP themes. Themes discussed by the Forum included:
• Commitments with place-based benefits.
• Public participation in legislative design.
• Code of conduct for Parliamentarians and post-ministerial employment.
• Transparency and integrity of electoral processes and privacy rules, including the use and
sharing of personal information collected by political parties.
• Publishing of public sector contracts once they have been signed.
• Availability and timeliness of access to archives.
• Better understanding the factors that contribute to a decline or increase in trust in
government.
• Maintaining the rule of law in our judicial system.
8• Preventing undue influence of lobbyists.
• Progressing the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Adequacy of protection of whistleblowers and media freedoms.
• Transparency and public participation for decision-making related to land use, public
resource use and zoning.
• Transparency of multi-level/jurisdictional government contracts and public-private
partnerships.
• Public release of government evaluations and research.
• Sharing of government evaluations, research and policy across the same and different levels
of government.
• Publicising the government’s progress against performance metrics relevant to public policy
goals.
• The link between availability of information and pro-integrity measures.
• Increasing corporate accountability.
• Business engagement with OGP.
OGP Secretariat to
• Investigate whether the results of the Citizen Experience Survey, which provides a
measure of public trust, satisfaction and experience with Australian public services, can be
shared with the Forum.
• Circulate a copy of the Order to establish the National Indigenous Australians Agency.
Ken Coghill to lead the civil society members to generate preliminary ideas for commitments,
incorporating the ideas generated by civil society with the University of Melbourne for reforming
political process (ref. Reece, Walker & Mellett 2019 Reforming-our-Democracy).
11: Other Business and close
The OGP Secretariat provided interested members with a demonstration of the new GovTeams
collaborative workspace for the Forum to plan and communicate between meetings.
The Co-Chairs reminded members of the upcoming Forum meetings scheduled for 1 August and
31 October 2019, noting that these dates may change now that the Parliamentary sitting calendar
has been agreed.
OGP Secretariat to confirm the upcoming Forum meeting dates now that the Parliamentary sitting
calendar is agreed.
Forum members to consider whether an extra meeting should be scheduled for 2019, taking into
consideration the approach to be developed for the 3rd National Action Plan consultations.
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