Declaration of Open Government
- 16
- Jul
The central recommendation of the Government 2.0 Taskforce’s report was that the Australian Government makes a declaration of open government. As the Minister responsible for that Taskforce, I am proud to make that Declaration today on behalf of the Australian Government.
Declaration of Open Government
The Australian Government now declares that, in order to promote greater participation in Australia’s democracy, it is committed to open government based on a culture of engagement, built on better access to and use of government held information, and sustained by the innovative use of technology.
Citizen collaboration in policy and service delivery design will enhance the processes of government and improve the outcomes sought. Collaboration with citizens is to be enabled and encouraged. Agencies are to reduce barriers to online engagement, undertake social networking, crowd sourcing and online collaboration projects and support online engagement by employees, in accordance with the Australian Public Service Commission Guidelines.
The possibilities for open government depend on the innovative use of new internet-based technologies. Agencies are to develop policies that support employee-initiated, innovative Government 2.0-based proposals.
The Australian Government’s support for openness and transparency in Government has three key principles:
- Informing: strengthening citizen’s rights of access to information, establishing a pro-disclosure culture across Australian Government agencies including through online innovation, and making government information more accessible and usable;
- Engaging: collaborating with citizens on policy and service delivery to enhance the processes of government and improve the outcomes sought; and
- Participating: making government more consultative and participative.
Supporting Initiatives
The Australian Government’s commitment to action on each of these principles is demonstrated by:
- the passage of legislation reforming the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and establishing the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner;
- the Government’s announcement on 3 May 2010 of its response to the Government 2.0 Taskforce report, Engage: Getting on with Government 2.0; and
- Its response to the Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for the Reform of Australian Government Administration report, in which the Government agreed that creating more open government is a key reform for the Australian Public Service.
Effective collaboration between citizens and government requires timely sharing of the information held by Government. The Government’s FOI Reforms create the new statutory Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and establish a comprehensive Information Publication Scheme that requires agencies to publish a wide range of information.
The Australian Government has commenced the program of initiatives outlined in its response to the Taskforce’s report in accordance with the agreed implementation timetable.
The Department of Finance and Deregulation will report annually on implementation progress of the recommendations of the Government 2.0 Taskforce to the Government through the Secretaries’ Information and Communications Technology Governance Board.
The Gillard Government is committed to creating a culture of public sector openness, transparency and engagement. This Declaration is a demonstration of that commitment.
The Declaration underpins a range of Government initiatives already under way. The establishment of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the Government’s broader freedom of information reforms aim to restore trust and integrity in government and drive agencies to proactively release information to the public. The Declaration also reflects one of the key reforms of Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for Reform of Australian Government Administration, which called for more open government.
The Declaration encourages and affirms among Australian Government agencies a culture of openness built on the key principles of informing, engaging and participating with the public. And it acknowledges that the internet holds a crucial role in realising a more open and transparent form of government in this country.
The Declaration is about making more government information available to the public online, and encouraging reuse of that information in new, valuable and potentially unexpected ways. It is about giving Australians more of a say in forming the policy and delivering the services that have an influence on their lives. It is about enabling government agencies and individual public servants to be more innovative and more responsive to input and feedback, while still maintaining the high ethical and professional standards we expect.
I believe that the Declaration lays an important foundation in implementing our Government 2.0 agenda. In the spirit of that agenda I urge you to read the Declaration and welcome your ongoing feedback as the Gillard Government implements a culture of openness and works towards a more participatory form of government.
Lindsay Tanner
Minister for Finance and Deregulation
loading...
[...] Minister Tanner launched the Australian Declaration of Open Government on the AGIMO Govspace [...]
This is a great thing to see! Lindsay, thanks for all of your work on this over the years. It is good to see it culminating before you retire from office.
I have an aside question: why is there such a focus on the “cult of personality”? I refer to the “Gillard Government”. Why is it always the “Howard”, “Rudd” or “Gillard” government, rather than just “the Government”?
We didn’t elect any of them as leaders, their parties did that. We elected the party to power, based on their policies, not the individual. If anything specific is required, the reference should be “the Labor government” or “the Liberal government” or “the Greens government” or whatever the party name of the day happens to be. Thoughts?
loading...
HOORAY!!! Congratulations to all you worked so hard to make this happen. Let’s hope Govt. departments start walking the talk.
loading...
How can the “Gillard government” declare Open Government as a commitment when the same government is playing hardball on a mandatory secret censorship system?
You can’t have both. You are either open and treating Australian adults as adults in the modern world or you are censoring and treating Australian adults as though they are children.
Which is it?
I could also mention the 2007 election promise regarding Freedom of Information Reform. What happened to that?
loading...
Gail,
The Freedom of Information Reform became legislation earlier this year and the Office of the Information Commissioner is in the process of being established (I don’t think there’s a website for the Office as yet).
You can see more at: http://www.dpmc.gov.au/consultation/foi_reform/index.cfm
Cheers,
Craig
loading...
Yet every single document requested about the Internet censorship trial was censored under a recent FOI request.
Go figure!
loading...
Congratulations from Canada, most specifically The City of Edmonton. We applaud the leadership you have provided Senator Lundy ( and team ) to Australia and to the world.
We all live in a new world where open is the economy and the new ecosystem. Many may criticize this because they are nor sure what it is, many will praise you because they know what this can be.
Continue to drive towards what you know needs to be done !
Well done
Chris Moore
loading...
Maybe people in Canada might belive this latest release, but alot of Australians know better.
I an amazed that just because the Government releases this statement then you automatically believe it?
It is another statement without substance, it means nothing.
loading...
Ah Kanook, what has happened to you that brings you to such a cynical state.
I think that you might look again at the declaration. I seems that it is addressing the very issues that, perhaps rightly, you object to.
So, perhaps you might want to engage in the discussion with your thoughts on how things can go forward. I for one would liek to hear your thoughts.
loading...
Great work everyone! This is a fantastic step for Open Government in Australia, and I look forward to helping how I can to further put the principles in action!
It’s important to celebrate success, and this is wonderful news
We’ll be looking at some form of follow up consultation after the election, if anyone is interested in putting forward ideas:
http://www.katelundy.com.au/2010/07/16/the-declaration-of-open-government/
Cheers,
Pia
Office of Senator Kate Lundy
loading...
and may I say Pia that you are being too humble, you and Kate have been major forces behind this and I want to thank you and the rest of Kate’s team.
I am so excited
loading...
I think it’s a great step in the right direction but at the moment it seems like an ultimately hallow promise.
Open Government is a great goal, but supporting one of the most deceiving and secretive Ministers (that would be Senator Conroy) in his pursuit for secret Government controlled Internet Censorship under the guide of child protection makes the declaration laughable, sadly.
Take the time to ask him for a valid reason why the unreleased pages of the ISP Filtering Trial report by Enex were denied the FOI request, or why he is using lab test results from Telstra’s internal filtering trial to justify nationally implemented filtering technology. These are valid questions which have yet to be openly answered.
And those are but 2 of a very long list of his actions that not even he would be able to spin into being aligned with the Open Government declaration.
Being Open ...
... means listening to all the people, not just the people who agree with your idea or policy.
loading...
I must say though, given my comment above, I’m still very please to see these steps being taken. It all has to start somewhere.
Will it result in any real change? I’ll be honest, given past actions of the ALP (and no doubt the Libs too, but in this context that’s irrelevant) I’m very sceptical.
And a quick typo I noticed above, it was meant to be “under the guise of child protection” not guide*.
loading...
Great news!
Congratulations government. I trust that your openness will be rewarded.
And thank you taskforce – especially those of you who came from overseas to share your learnings.
One step closer to more deliberative democratic processes in Australia. Well done.
loading...
This article is a joke, right? Labor has no interest at all in having an “open” government.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’d like Labor to be open about your precious internet filter, ACTA, NBN discussions, the constant piling on of matters into the “Refused Classification” category, Gillard’s discussions with Rudd about usurping his role, and all the back-room deals you lot strike with your own personal stakeholders. Remind me again how open you lot were when Conroy gave the TV stations a quarter of a BILLION dollars with absolutely zero *official* strings attached.
Not that Liberals are any better, but at least they’re not claiming to be supporting “openness and transparency”.
loading...
[...] can’t please everybody, the Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation has released the Declaration of Open Government, but while many of his supporters are lauding this great leap forward there are just a few nigglers [...]
Well, I see the cynics have already piled on. Folks, this is pretty straightforward. It’s great news. The road to here has been long and difficult and many people involved have worked hard to get us here. Let me record a few for the record.
Mr Tanner, a longtime champion of reform in govt and the digital effort. Sad to see him go.
Kate Lundy (et al) – what would we have done without her. May she reign long and may she please be the minister for digital after the election, pretty please
Gov 2.0 TF – what a great thing they achieved. We would not be here without them. The gov 2 process will go down in history as a major turning point
The gov 2 community – the folks that worked alongside the TF. I have to mention people like Craig Thomler. It would be remiss not to
AGIMO – After some pretty ...
... strange past, AGIMO have stepped up to the plate and become great thought leaders. We must acknowledge Peter Alexender, he has done great work against all odds.
I think that covers most players. They all should be congratulated.
I think that the government, after the election, needs to think hard about funding the digital effort. We need to make sure there is cash to back up the declaration. It must be clearly marked “for digital”.
And now for the stick! We need to have some pain for agencies that don’t get it. I know that sounds harsh but we must face the facts of life. Some agencies will try to ignore this.
Finally, we need a focusssed leadership here. What about a stat authority (under Kate, of course) that is charged with all things digital. It can sit in the comms portofolion but have its own agenda (and Mininster – have I mentioned that Kate would be great:). I believe that Mia G or Peter A could run that, they would do a great job.
I will leave it at that but sign off with some words from a great Australian
I’M EXCITED !!!
loading...
I’m all for the announcement and it is exciting you’re right. I don’t like to think of myself as a cynic, but it’s hard to get this bad taste out of my mouth I’ll admit. Having your own Government accuse you of being sympathetic to child pornographers because you don’t believe in the ineffective path they are taking with regards to mandatory ISP Filtering will do that.
I hope we see a change sooner than later because things surrounding at least Communications and IT can’t continue as they are.
loading...
[...] and the acceptance of its recommendations, the Australian government has finally issued its own declaration of open government, as the taskforce had actually [...]
Congrats from the Netherlands as well. Great step forward. Something to look upon with envy from this part of the world.
loading...
[...] over enkele voorbeelden van overheid 2.0 in Australië, vandaag wordt alweer een nieuwe stap gezet: Australië publiceert haar Declaration of Open Government. Daarmee geeft de regering gevolg aan haar belofte aan de Government 2.0 Taskforce twee maanden [...]
Talk talk talk talk talk….
*sigh*
loading...
[...] Declaration of Open Government [...]
Can you please tell me who is actually running government then? We all know it can’t be the PM!
loading...
Sadly in Australia transparent government seems to mean to the government – data retention and censorship of our internet usage ,secret black lists and secret inquiries .I believe the first step to a transparent government would be to start trusting the people that voted for them, some honesty and guts to stand up for whats right ,not what is politically correct wouldnt go astray either.
I can wish
loading...
..that the Australian Government makes a declaration of open government…
Politicians can ‘declare’ whatever the hell they like.
Its only until they actually physically *DO* create an open government that the public rightfully has to see this as just more empty words coming out of politicians mouths, and give them the lack of respect they deserve.
Frankly it makes me angry that politicians even have the balls to announce such shit.
loading...
So True!
It seems that many people actually believe that this declaration actually means something!
As you said its what Governments “DO” that is important, and this release is mere words with no substance. How many times do we have to read about some great idea from the Government, that actually turns into nothing but more baseless Hot Air.
loading...
[...] 2010 tags: Open Government Data by Marine Le gouvernement autralien vient de publier la “Declaration of Open Government“. Voici les points principaux: The Australian Government now declares that, in order to [...]
informing people: your communications will be censored by a secret government blacklist and all your internet activity will be monitored and recorded, you have been informed!
engaging people: accuse anyone opposing that idea of opting in to child porn
consulting people: ignore every opinion, poll, sentiment, logic, argument, discussion, debate, suggestion, demand, or any evidence that is not accord with your governments proposal to censor its citizens communications and monitor and record their online activity.
Really, how do you expect to be taken seriously spouting nonsense like ‘open and transparent government’ while in practice being repressive and authoritarian.
loading...
Unfortunately I see comments here from people from other countries who dont actually realise how very much opposite this Labour Government is to Transparent. If you live here in Australia you would realise that this Government has been trying to develop a system of Censorship unsurpassed in our Nations History. I have been a staunch and loyal Labour supporter and voter for 26 years, and this Government will never recieve my vote or my families vote, not after Senator Conroys disgusting efforts to implement his useless, wasteful, insulting Filter.
Remember , I am a labour supporter ( or was) and this is my opinion of this Labour Government! There is no transparency and never will be, just another sound byte to grab the medias attention and fool the easily fooled, another attempt to con people into believing that this Government cares what you think. I tried to include a copy ...
... of a letter I sent to my local Labour Candidate in the upcoming election, but unfortunately this site will not allow me to post it. To put my letter in a nutshell, this Government has betrayed the trust of the people and is acting in a way that you would have never expected, many people are not aware exactly how terrible the Internet Filter will be and what it will mean, those of us who do know have been trying desperately to show people online what it means
The loss of votes in the upcoming election can be largely attributed to Senator Conroy and his rediculous Internet Filter.
loading...
I am following this closely, you country is leading along with New Zealand, United States and the UK in respect to leveraging information and technology to transform Governemnt.
I realize that passion runs high when you are in the midst of the situation, I would encourage you to consider the perspectives of those outside of Oceania as well as those inside.
We operate in a global ecosystem, people and information travel across borders, you have a beautiful and vibrant country. Open minds lead to open solutions
All the best as you work thru your challenges
loading...
Erm… okay…. so are you suggesting we should allow the government to censor whatever they want for other countries benefits? It makes no sense whatsoever…
loading...
Emma you missed my point, step away from your internet filter “filter”, for a moment stop allowing that to appear on this issue, and consider for a moment that what your government is doing is good. Have you read the open gov task force report ?
All the best as you seek to understand
loading...
Chris, could you please explain to me how our Government is doing good? Really, I would love to know.
The Filters set up in other countries quoted by our Government are actually Opt In, The Labour Party said ours would be “Opt In”, but since they formed Government it has now changed to MANDATORY!
Our Minister for Broadband, Stephen Conroy, has continually stated on television that “He will not allow Australians to Pot into Child Pornography” , How insulting do you think that is to we Australians? According to him any that critisize this policy is “In Support Of Child Pornography”. My goodness, dont you think we have the right to be angered by this man, and this Government!
Also please bear in mind the actual facts, and that is this FILTER will not close one child porn site (actually if you can find one I would be amazed!), it will not remove ...
... one image, will not protect children from Grooming, will not result in the arrest of one Peaodophile!
So before suggesting that we “Step Away from the Filter for a moment and allowing that to appear on this issue” is simply astonishing!
This article is about the Governments so called Declaration od Openness, and we have seen no openness on this issue. This release proves the point that this release is simply another stunt, baseless, worthless, useless.
loading...
Politics is the same all around the world. Kind of like sausages, mostly pork and fillers.
loading...
Absolutely fantastic and a breath of fresh air for public servants and the community. Now the hard work begins to create a public service that is in tune, engaged and innovative enough to deliver on the promise.
The fascinating challenge is going to be to create an environment that liberates the capabilities of all members of the Australian Public Service.
On a Canberra winters day it is apt to ay that there are rays of sunshine across the APS. They should be celebrated and used to illuminate the dark corners. The issue of organisational culture looms large.
Fantastic stuff Lindsay.
loading...
Great post Steve. It is so exciting. The cultural change is going to be a huge challenge. The next government (Julia is at the time of my writing in with the GG) needs to think deeply about how to make this open government thing work.
Like was done with the Gov 2 TF, it is vital that the gov reaches out to the people in the APS and the web industry. Together, we can evolve this thing for the benefit of all Australians
loading...
So does this mean that the Government will now stop trying to force legislation such as internet censorship and storing our personal internet data upon us?!
If not, it doesn’t mean a thing.
loading...
I agree with the comments about the Australian Government doing the opposite of what is says. But this is a hugely significant step to be welcomed, because once enshrined it can be used to develop good policies around open government. In fairness we have seen a commitment to more intelligent use of technology I think, although the Internet censorship thing is a national shame and I think driven more by people with a very right wing religious agenda than actually a well thought through policy. But we now have it in our hands to do something based on a formal announcement and unless there is a backflip (highly unlikely) it gives us something to move forward with. Good move Lindsay!
loading...
Congratulations on this initiative.
There’s emerging social media technology that may be of interest.
Imagine government and other web sites being able to answer an open ended collection of English questions, (such as “How much could we save through green energy?”) and also explaining the answers in English. Imagine government folks and citizens socially networking, Wikipedia-style, to continually expand the range of questions that can be answered.
You can Google “Executable English” to find this.
Shared use is free, and there are no advertisements.
loading...
Pfft, what a waste of time. This is all fluff to apease the taskforce recommendations.
loading...
Great… so now my private information is going to be less secure within government. What happens when a public servant goes to Facebook to engage with the public and accesses a compromised Facebook page that executes malicious code on the government workstation opening a backdoor to allow criminals to come in and steal all my private information… I hope everyone doesn’t mind their private information being freely available for anyone to meddle with now. The government should be taking security seriously instead of pandering to Gen Y that wants to use “social networking” to do business. It really bugs me that security has obviously been overlooked in this declaration. The government has obligations under the Privacy Act to protect my information and this declaration certainly doesn’t give me any confidence that they are meeting those obligations. The Office of the Privacy Commisioner should look into the privacy implications of this ...
... declaration.
Example of security issues with Facebook: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Facebook-Users-Tricked-into-Loading-Malicious-Code-in-Their-Browsers-146604.shtml
loading...
Also I might add , I notice the Wizzbang labour website has removed every trace of mention to the Internet Filter, you will find no information at all, its been completely hidden. the Website asks for people to get involved and offer advice on issues, so far every attempt to mention the Filter has been instantly nuked by the powers that be in the Labour party that run the site.
So your so called open Government is already burying the new slogan, catch-cry by muting any attempt to dicuss this issue on the Labour Party’s site.
Yeah, really open Government, Pffft…..
loading...
I also notice that the Australian Government has started removing posts from here!
Yeah, real open Government!
loading...
Hi Kanook,
We haven’t removed any comments from this page, but did take down some trackbacks (listed at the bottom of the page) because we felt they were spam. For more information about our approach to comments please see our moderation policy.
loading...
Your post count was 45 or so a couple of hours ago and it’s only 30 now.
However, as a large amount of even the most abrasive comments remain I’d be hard pressed to say that you’re making this page an ALP friendly propaganda tool.
Incidentally, I was wondering why so many stupid trackbacks were happening…
loading...
Interested, I have been watching this comment stream closely and I have not seen this drop of posts. I can clearly see that all posts remain.
Me thinks you are seeing some conspiracy that is not there.
Perhaps you might ponder that you (and people like Kanook) are actually posting your less than positive views on a government site. That is quite amazing, if you think about it.
loading...
How can you even put Labor and Open Government in the same sentence.
I have only been alive long enough to understand they are in government now, but what i have seen is they are a corrupt party, with no moral fiber or political attributes, they are determined to implement an internet filter to destroy freedom to information and freedom of speech.
They have wasted billions which could have been spent on infrastructure. Lead by a man named Rudd who ran the party like a dictatorship.
If labor holds power longer, God help us all (and im atheist).
loading...
Open government? Not with the internet filter!
loading...
Congratulations on this epoch making initiative! Even with any shortcomings, this is the best that can happen to citizens and society. I hope you take forward this Declaration of Open Government in letter and spirit and become a role model for Australasia. We are ready to extend support with open source communication and collaboration Tool for all citizens to be informed, engage and participate to establish true democracy.
loading...
You are kidding, Right?
You actually believe that just because the Government makes such a baseless statement then it must be true?
Surely you Jest??
loading...
[...] Open Gopvernment Directive von Präsident Obama erarbeiten möge. Minister Lindsay Tanner hat die Declaration of Open Government nun am 16 Julie im Namen der Australischen Regierung vorgestellt. In der Tat erkennt man schon auf [...]
wow an open government? really? I guess that’s why some messages that are obviously against this lie have been removed, as we can’t have the people who vote voicing their opinions against an open government can we?
If the Government was truly trying to be ‘open’ it would take on board what those messages said, not remove/hide them like they don’t exist, just like the internet filter will do.
I don’t expect this message to see the light of day, but if it does it won’t last long. Open Government indeed…
-kaw-
loading...
Hi kaw,
As at the time of this comment, some 42 spam trackbacks have been removed as part of our published post-moderation policy, as discussed by Mark above. No comments have been edited or deleted.
Regards
John Sheridan
loading...
I would also add that other than the trackbacks, one spam comment has been removed — it was promoting a car accessories website. We’ll continue to remove spam comments such as that one as part of moderating the blog.
Anyone interested in the question of why spam ends up on blogs may like to read this Wikipedia page about online spam.
(Slight edit: The first sentence should have said, “one spam comment has now been removed”.)
loading...
Thats why this Government has removed all mention of the Filter from their ALP website, thats why they hid it before calling the election, they dont want to talk about it, discuss it, or listen to the people. Conroy and Gillard couldnt care less about an OPEN GOVT, if they did they wouldnt be hiding it.
They are doing what they always do, close their eyes and cover their ears. There is nothing open about this Government.
And I have been a labour supporter for 26 years!
loading...
So, who will police this alleged “openness”?
For years now Australian Veterans have asked for a “single desk” to make the whole entitlement/ benefit thing a lot easier for us olds, for a decade – nothing.
This is as distinct from the USA, where they have their National Resource Directory, drawing together, Federal, State, local, and philanthropic agencies, including Assistance dogs, under the one rubric:
http://www.nationalresourcedirectory.gov/
So who has the best, and most open, Veterans’ Administration system then…
loading...
A generic comment…
If the Government can throw open all proposals / communications / transactions (G2G and G2C) (except for select confidential / secret subjects such as foreign relations, defense, etc.and declare the secret files), through an integrated e-Governance Platform for anyone to see, then it may generate the trust and confidence of the people which appears to be lacking in the present system. The public should be free to vote for or against any issue and the government should respond with its actions on the same.
May be the identity of the communicators can be blanked for protecting the privacy of the individual; but the same must be secured at the back-end through a system of unique random anonymous identity and data security.
Any suggestions on this?
loading...
[...] Declaration of Open Government (Australia Dept. of Finance and Deregulation) [...]
[...] Conveniently in time for the election, the Australian government has launched its Declaration of Open Government. A number of the comments below the posting are far more cynical than my linking it with the [...]
Senadora Lundy:
Tal vez le pudiera resultar de interés conocer el funcionamiento del sistema Infomex, en México. Es un sistema que permite enviar solicitudes de información por Internet, recibir las respuestas e interponer quejas.
Más del 96% de las 550,000 solicitudes de información que ha recibido la administración pública federal mexicana ha sido a través de Infomex.
Saludos cordiales.
Samuel Bonilla.
loading...
The [Google] English translation:
Senator Lundy,
Perhaps it might be interesting to know how the system works Infomex, Mexico. It is a system which allows requests for information over the Internet, receive the responses and lodge complaints.
Over 96% of 550,000 requests for information that has received the Mexican federal government has been through Infomex.
Best Regards
Samuel Bonilla
loading...
[...] one of the recommendations of the Government 2.0 Taskforce Report, the government released its Declaration of Open Government last week. This is an extremely good thing and bodes well for the progress of Government 2.0 in [...]
So government.
Can you please tell the good citizens of communist Australia a singular reason why we should even consider Labor to be an open government.
It was quite obvious almost immediately Kevin Rudds vision for Australia was comparable to Communist China.
A singular entity holding power with no regards for what the general public want or need.
[Moderator's note: sentence removed because of inflammatory language.]
You then attack what we hold dearly in this Democracy: Freedom to information and Freedom of speech, by the introduction and implementation of a Mandatory internet censorship program which you hide from the public because you know of the backlash this is causing.
Labor, you are a disgrace of a party and the public will not stand for your atrocious wasting of taxpayer money and the constant assault on democracy.
Regards,
Phil
loading...
[...] Federal Government’s use of its fledgling blog to publish its declaration of open government last week has stimulated a vigorous debate about the initiative — with some commenters offering their [...]
[...] Australian Government has issued a Declaration of Open Government which advocates greater innovation in Government 2.0 by Australian Government [...]
Congratulations on this milestone!
As many of the comments above illustrate, an important next step is demonstrating the alignment of the actions, behaviours and policies of the government with the principles and values stated in the Declaration. People do take issue with some of the policies that seem to contradict the stated direction and principles of the government.
However, many of the fundamentals are already there – and mentioned as Supporting Initiatives – or forthcoming. Incidentally, this blog – including the number of comments and the feedback from AGIMO – is a great example of that.
Personally, I am confident that with a strong focus and the right strategy for what I would call “the transition period”, the government will be successful in turning what is currently the Declaration of Open Government into a Reality of Open Government.
loading...
This is excellent news and a very positive, tangible step. From the comments here it’s obvious we have a lot of work to do to convince the cynics that there is a genuine desire to engage and participate in an open and transparent manner. I know there are people within the government/APS who are keen as beans to share their data and invite the public into design and decision-making processes, who see themselves as public servants and want to do the best job they can for the citizenry of Australia.
This Declaration is a very clear authorisation to those people to go out and engage now.
Very exciting times ahead!
loading...
Great to have an Open Government. How about the language used in the information provided? Would there be a requirement for them to be written in plain language/English?
loading...
[...] I describe this example here, not to bemoan how hard the job of a journalist is – nor even to give readers an insight into the inner workings of the press. Instead, I describe it here to consider how laughable I consider the Declaration of Open Government that Minister for Finance and Deregulation Lindsay Tanner so pompously made last week. [...]
Comments on this post have been closed during the election period. For more information please see this post about the Caretaker Conventions.
loading...