The Australian Government has made changes to functions overseen by the Attorney-General's Department and Department of Home Affairs. These changes involve the transfers of:

  • identity and biometrics functions into the Attorney-General's Department
  • protective security policy and government and major event security functions to the Department of Home Affairs.

Australia’s Third National Action Plan

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Public consultation has been extended until Sunday 17 September. Have your say online via the Open Government Partnership consultation.

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.

As an OGP member, Australia is required to produce a national action plan that sets out commitments that the government will deliver within a 2- or 4-year timeframe.

The Australian Government is working with civil society to develop a Third National Action Plan (NAP3), which will capture an ambitious plan for open government, transparency and accountability.

The Open Government Forum (the forum) is driving the development of this plan. The forum is a multi-stakeholder group made up of government and civil society representatives. The forum has developed a co-creation process and will seek input on the plan from members of the public.

Australia's co-creation process

Consistent with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) co-creation minimum standards, the forum has agreed on a co-creation process that sets out how the commitments under the NAP3 will be collaboratively designed between government, civil society and other key stakeholders.

Learn more about the co-creation process:

The themes for NAP3

As a first step in the co-creation process, the forum has identified 3 themes that will guide the development and selection of NAP3 commitments. These are:

  1. Public participation and engagement
  2. Government and corporate sector integrity
  3. Strengthening democratic processes.

The forum has established working groups to consider each of these themes, and potential commitments, in more detail. Learn more about the working groups, including their terms of reference.

Guiding principles for NAP3 commitments

Guiding principles for NAP3 commitments

The forum has also identified 5 guiding principles to help prioritise and select NAP3 commitments.

It will not be possible to include all suggested commitments in NAP3. The forum will consider how suggested commitments align with these guiding principles. It will also provide feedback to community members where a particular suggestion will not be pursued or will be deferred with the possibility of being pursued in the future.

An extract from the NAP3 OGP Guiding Principles is set out below:

 Relevance

  • Is the commitment relevant to open government and would fulfilling the commitment ensure that the Australian Government is more accountable and transparent?
  • Will fulfilling the commitment advance one or more of the open government principles (transparency, inclusive participation, accountability, innovation and ambition)?
  • Does this commitment address a clearly identified problem?
    • Is this problem a minor, moderate or high risk to the principles of open government in the Australian context?
  • Does this commitment expand upon international best practice?
  • Can this commitment be pursued through an open government lens and can we continue to build upon the commitment in the future?

Community views

  • Are relevant stakeholders supportive of this commitment and is there interest in this commitment from a diverse range of community groups?
  • Does the implementation of this commitment respond to feedback received from civil society, the media, academia, the private sector or other community groups?
  • Should further consideration be given to how we can engage with diverse community representatives in the development and implementation of this commitment?

Alignment

  • Have we confirmed that commitments are not in opposition to government priorities/reform activities while also ensuring proposed commitments prioritise innovation and ambition?
  • Does the commitment complement current initiatives?

Impact

  • Can the entity that would be responsible for implementing the recommendation be identified?
  • Are there existing identifiable resources within civil society, the private sector or government who can carry out, or assist with carrying out, this commitment?
  • Can we identify the community groups that would benefit from the implementation of this commitment?
  • Does the commitment further social justice in Australian society?
  • Once the commitment has been achieved, can we continue to build on the outcomes over the course of further National Action Plan processes using the data that has been collected?
  • Is it possible to measure the ambition, fulfilment and impact of the commitment and what sources of evidence will we use to do this?

Timeframes

  • Can the commitment be achieved within the OGP 2-year National Action Plan timeframe?
    • If not, could a proposed commitment be modified to take relevant timeframes into consideration?
  • Should the topic be noted as a topic of interest in the NAP3 and considered as a future commitment in the NAP4 or as an OGP Future Interest Topic (OGP FIT)?

Downloads and Get involved

Download the NAP3 OGP Guiding Principles.

Get involved

Phase 1: Public consultation has been extended until Sunday 17 September. Have your say online via the Open Government Partnership consultation. You can contact the OGP Secretariat via OpenGovernment@ag.gov.au if you need assistance with your submission.

The Open Government Forum is holding 2 formal public consultation surveys to inform the development of NAP3. This will be done in 2 phases:

Phase 1: mid-late August 2023

  • The Co-Creation process

  • Working group themes:
    • 1: Public participation and engagement
    • 2: Government and corporate sector integrity
    • 3: Strengthening democratic processes.

Phase 2: September - October 2023

  • The draft Third National Action Plan

Keep an eye on the Attorney-General’s Department Consultations page and our LinkedIn to find out more about how you can contribute to public consultation.

Contact details

Attorney-General's Department
3­­–5 National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600
OpenGovernment@ag.gov.au

Related websites

Open Government Partnerships
OGP Australia