Australia Action Plan Review 2023–2025

Australia’s third action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... includes promising commitments to introduce new legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r... on automated decision-makingAs governments are increasingly turning to algorithms to support decision-making for public services, transparency and accountability of algorithm use is necessary to minimize their harm and increase ... More by government, political donation transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, and whistleblower protection. The action plan renewed Australia’s engagement in OGP following a period of inactivity and re-engaged the Open Government Forum. However, a short co-creation timeline meant inadequate public engagement, especially with non-traditional and marginalised communities.

This report evaluates the design of Australia’s third action plan, which has eight commitments across six ministerial portfolios. This action plan renewed Australia’s engagement in OGP. In 2020, the previous Liberal-National Coalition government co-created a draft action plan, but it was not submitted.[1] Following the 2022 election, the LaborTransparent workforce data and increased representation of workers in labor policy-making lead to policies that better protect workers’ rights and remove barriers for underrepresented groups in the ... government co-created this action plan of new commitments, many of which build on election commitments. Most commitments cover existing policy priorities already resourced by the government.

The action plan includes promising commitments on automated decision-making by government (CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 1) and transparency of political donations and truth in political advertising (Commitment 7), as well as whistleblower protection (Commitment 6). These seek to address long-standing open government policy areas. They also respond to public concern about government services such as Robodebt and the impact of mis- and dis-information in the 2022 federal election and the 2023 Voice referendum. Each of these commitments intends to progress potentially impactful legislative reforms. Additional milestones, such as codes of conduct and considering changes to processes, are recommended as a safeguard to achieve open government results should Parliamentary authority not be secured.

Commitments on youthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical ... More advisory groups (Commitment 2), integrity strategy (Commitment 3), beneficial ownershipDisclosing beneficial owners — those who ultimately control or profit from a business — is essential for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. Technical... More (Commitment 4), procurement and grants (Commitment 5), and mis-and dis-information (Commitment 8) have modest or unclear potential for results. Commitment 3 could strengthen its potential for results by ensuring that the integrity strategy is binding, ambitious in scope, and implemented and monitored during the action plan period. Commitment 4 could incorporate the government’s wider beneficial ownership program to strengthen the ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... of these reforms. Regarding Commitments 2, 5, and 8, the IRM recommends clarifying their scopes to ensure that they pursue work that goes beyond practices and plans already previously announced or undertaken.

The process for developing the action plan did not meet the minimum requirements of the OGP Participation & Co-Creation Standards that came into effect in 2022. The timeline for the co-creation process was published after the co-creation process had started, and the public’s suggestions for the action plan did not receive a reasoned response. OGP instituted a 24-month grace period to ensure a fair and transparent transition to these updated standards. As this action plan was co-created and submitted before 31 December 2023, it falls within the grace period and accordingly, the procedural consequences that normally attach to non-compliance with the standards do not apply here. Australia was found to be acting contrary to OGP process during its previous two action plan cycles.[2]

The Open Government Point of Contact role transferred from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD), following the May 2022 Federal election. In April 2023, after public applications, AGD formed a new multistakeholder Open Government Forum (OGF) of equal numbers of civil society and government members and two co-chairs.[3] OGF included engagement at the ministerial level. The process of re-engaging OGF, along with AGD staff responsibilities establishing a National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC),[4] contributed to delays starting the co-creation process. Co-creation began in April 2023 and ended in December, led by AGD and OGF. To gather public input on the action plan, the AGD Consultation Hub distributed two online surveys (from 21 August to 17 September, and from 9 November to 22 November), but only received 32 responses[5] and 10 responses[6] respectively. Opportunities to participate were publicised in an information webinar and on AGD social networks. Over six weeks, three OGF working groups co-created the commitments, focused on public participation and engagement in government, strengthening government and corporate sector integrity, and enhancing Australia’s democratic processes. The working groups consulted with external stakeholders, many from academia. OGF narrowed the working groups’ twelve final proposals to eight commitments. These commitments had mostly been proposed by government agencies. This decision prioritized commitments that were considered achievable over 2024–25 and constrained the action plan’s open government breadth. OGF members were generally disappointed about this decision.[7]

Initial themes proposed by OGF members—covering public NACC hearings, decisions to go to war, and work to counter violent extremism—did not gain sufficient OGF support to be considered further by the working groups. A number of other unsuccessful themes will potentially be considered for the fourth action plan, including proactive disclosure culture, public sector board appointments, open data, public engagement skills, and protection of rights.[8] Other suggested themes on lobbyingLobbying transparency allows the public to ensure that there is diversity of participation and contribution to public decision-making. Technical specifications: Policies and actions affecting lobbying..., citizens’ budgets, and peoples’ ability to move between the public and private sectors did not progress.

The OGF civil society members applauded the AGD’s and the co-chairs’ leadership and ability to meet a tight timeline but would have preferred an earlier start. They were disappointed that consultation with stakeholders and experts relied on the working groups’ outreach over a short period. They reflected that there was a need for stronger outreach or a media campaign to elicit wider engagement across Australia in the co-creation process.[9] Groups representing non-traditional and marginalized communities appeared unaware of the AGD’s open government website, Consultation Hub, and social media sites.[10] AGD notes that the public consultation occurred at the same time as the Voice Referendum, and that they were requested by some civil society organizations not to overload them at that time. As the first OGP cycle led by AGD, they reported being eager to correct any problems in consultation practices.[11] In future co-creation processes, the positive steps which ensured equal participation by OGF’s government and civil society members could be augmented to widen public engagement. Bringing in diverse voices and communities and providing a longer timeline for consultation would illustrate the added value of the OGP process. A more even mix of government and civil society commitments could also be achieved.

Overall, the IRM recommends that the OGF focuses on creating more detailed commitment milestones and on ensuring implementation meets the open government expectations of its civil society members and the public at large. For example, the members of each working group could engage actively in the rollout of the commitments their working group developed. This would continue the collaborative work co-creating the commitments. As the electoral midterm has been reached, and the next Federal House of Representatives election must be held on or before 24 May 2025 to coincide with a half-Senate election,[12] oversight of milestones and work to achieve results are necessary. Connecting with related efforts such as the Strengthening Democracy Taskforce,[13] Closing the Gap 2024’s collaborative work,[14] or the new Data and Digital Government Strategy and Implementation Plan work,[15] which builds on previous action plans, could assist with progress.

Promising Commitments in Australia 2023–2025 Action Plan

The following review looks at the three commitments that the IRM identified as having the potential to realize the most promising results. Promising commitments address a policy area that is important to stakeholders or the national context. They must be verifiable, have a relevant open government lens, and have modest or substantial potential for results. This review also provides an analysis of challenges, opportunities, and recommendations to contribute to the learning and implementation process of this action plan.

Table 1. Promising commitments

[1] The previous government’s co-creation of third action plan,
“Australia’s third Open Government national action plan: Create Phase report”
(10 Jul. 2020) is available via snapshots on Trove (accessed 24 Mar. 2024), https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20201115151807/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/40787/20201115-0000/apo.org.au/node/307405.html.

[2] Sanjay Pradhan (OGP CEO), letter to Hon. Mark Dreyfus (Aus. Attorney-General), 9 Feb. 2023. https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Australia_Under-Review-Letter_20230209.pdf.

[3] Mark Dreyfus MP, “Appointment of Open Government Forum members” (Mark Dreyfus, ALP, 5 Apr. 2023), https://markdreyfus.com/media/media-releases/appointment-of-open-government-forum-members-mark-dreyfus-kc-mp/.

[4] Commonwealth of Australia, “The National Anti-Corruption Commission” (accessed 12 Mar. 2024), https://www.nacc.gov.au/.

[5] Australian Government: Attorney-General’s Department, “Open Government Partnership Phase 1: Published Responses” (accessed 12 Mar. 2024), https://consultations.ag.gov.au/integrity/open-government-partnership/consultation/published_select_respondent.

[6] Australian Government: Attorney-General’s Department, “Open Government Partnership Phase 2: Feedback updated 15 Dec 2023” (accessed 12 Mar. 2024), https://consultations.ag.gov.au/integrity/ogp/.

[7] Kate Auty (OGF Co-chair), interview by IRM researcher, 12 Dec 2023; Kyle Redman (OGF member), interview by IRM researcher, 1 Feb 2024; Anne Twomey (OGF member), interview by IRM researcher, 6 Feb 2024; Anooshe Mushtaq (OGF member), interview by IRM researcher 7 Feb 2024; Charles Sampford (OGF member), interview by IRM researcher, 8 Feb 2024; Clancy Moore (OGF member), interview by IRM researcher, 20 Feb 2024; Liz Tydd (OGF member), interview by IRM researcher, 20 Feb 2024; and Tania Penovic (OGF member), interview by IRM researcher, 23 Feb 2024.

[8] Australian Government: Attorney-General’s Department, Australia’s Third Open Government Partnership National Action Plan 2024–2025 (Commonwealth of Australia, 2023), https://www.ag.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/australias-third-open-government-national-action-plan-2024-2025.pdf.

[9] Kyle Redman (OGF member), interview by IRM researcher, 1 Feb. 2024; Anooshe Mushtaq (OGF member), interview by IRM researcher, 7 Feb. 2024; and Charles Sampford (OGF member), interview by IRM researcher, 8 Feb. 2024.

[10] See Phase 1 and Phase 2 public submissions. Australian Government: Attorney-General’s Department “Consultation Hub” (accessed 14 Apr. 2024), https://consultations.ag.gov.au/.

[11] Simon Newnham (Government Co-chair) and Liz Brayshaw (Newnham’s delegate when he was unable to attend an OGF meeting), interview by IRM researcher, 22 Feb. 2024.

[12] Wikipedia, “Next Australian federal election” (accessed 12 Mar. 2024), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Australian_federal_election.

[13] Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, “Strengthening Democracy Taskforce” (last updated 13 Mar. 2024), https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about-us/taskforces/strengthening-democracy-taskforce.

[14] Commonwealth of Australia, Commonwealth Closing the Gap 2023 Annual Report and Commonwealth Closing the Gap 2024 Implementation Plan (2024), https://www.niaa.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/ctg-annual-report-and-implementation-plan-hq.pdf.

[15] Commonwealth of Australia, Data and Digital Government Strategy (15 Dec. 2023), https://www.dataanddigital.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/Data%20and%20Digital%20Government%20Strategy%20v1.0.pdf.