OPEN GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP 
ESTIMATES BRIEF - Hot Issue 
Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration 
Budget Estimates – October 2014 
PROGRESS TOWARDS JOINING THE OPEN GOVERNMENT 
PARTNERSHIP 
Issue: 
Australia’s progress towards joining the Open Government Partnership (OGP) 
and developing a National Action Plan 
Key Facts: 
• 
The Government is currently assessing the value of joining the Open 
Government Partnership. 
• 
Australia has a long history of openness with a number of mechanisms 
supporting transparency such as data.gov.au, which provides access to 
nearly 4,000 Commonwealth, state and territory datasets; and AusTender, a 
centralised publication of opportunities for business to provide goods and 
services to the Government as well as reporting contracts awarded.  
• 
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) has established an Open 
Government Guide which contains 162 specific recommendations covering 
19 different topics, such as open data and open contracting. Australia is 
already either partially or substantially compliant with more than 75% of 
the OGP recommendations.  
• 
While the Government considers its membership with the OGP, it remains 
committed to delivering its eGovernment and Digital Economy Policy 
agenda.  
• 
This agenda provides tangible benefits to all Australians, including 
improved online service design and delivery, greater digital literacy, more 
access to government data, and an ICT Project Dashboard to keep projects 
on time and budget. 
 
 
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Background: 
•  The Open Government Partnership was launched in 2011 to provide an international 
platform for governments to being more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens. 
There are now 65 participating countries: 
−  Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, 
Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, 
Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, 
Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malawi, Malta, Mexico, 
Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, 
Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovak Republic, 
South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, 
Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay. 
•  To finalise membership for the Open Government Partnership, Australia needs to: 
−  Endorse the Declaration of Open Government; 
−  Develop a public consulted national action plan; and  
−  Agree to independent reporting of progress. 
•  The National Action Plan needs to be developed with public consultation and contain 
three core elements: 
−  An introduction about what open government means for Australia; 
−  The Australian history and progress of open government; and 
−  A list of commitments to progress open government in Australia. 
•  Finance has commenced drafting a national action plan which is scheduled for completion 
in December 2014 and will take into account the Government’s e-government and digital 
economy agenda. 
 
Date:  
17 October 2014 
Cleared by (SES):  
Jan Mason 
Telephone No: 
02 6215 3504 
Group/Branch:  
BPAM/Technology and Procurement Division 
Contact Officer: 
Yvette Sims 
Telephone No: 
02 6215 2970 
Consultation: 
N/A 
 
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