Information policy media releases

Australian Information Commissioner, Professor John McMillan has welcomed the announcement today by the Attorney-General the Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP that Australia will join the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

As part of a worldwide movement, the Australian Government is fundamentally changing the way that information is valued, managed, used and shared with others. However, there is more work to be done.

Information experts from public and private sectors are gathering today at a conference in Canberra to share ideas and insights on the future direction of government information policy. The inaugural 2011 Information Policy Conference is being held to mark the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's first year of operation.  The Office was established in 2010 to oversee freedom of information, privacy, and information policy, including the strategic management of public sector information.

(embargoed to 12.01am 25 May 2011)

Australia's open government reforms will be strengthened tomorrow with the release of the Principles on open public sector information.[1] The Principles, to be launched by Australian Information Commissioner Professor John McMillan at the Meta 2011 conference in Canberra (see www.metalounge.org), provide a framework for government information management in Australia.

Australian Government agencies are now required to publish a broad range of information on their websites as part of an Information Publication Scheme (IPS) required under new freedom of information laws.