Appointment of Open Government Forum members
The Albanese Government is today announcing the membership of Australia’s refreshed Open Government Forum, a significant step towards restoring our international status as an open and transparent government.
The Forum will play a crucial role in helping Australia deliver on its commitments to remain a member of the multilateral Open Government Partnership (OGP), which was put under threat by the former government’s inaction.
Australia joined the initiative in 2015 but in February 2022 our membership was threatened when the former government failed to submit the third National Action Plan, as required by the partnership.
The Third National Action Plan will be co-designed by Forum members and will seek a greater level of ambition for open government, transparency and accountability.
New civil society members of the Forum:
- Dr Kate Auty (co-chair)
- Professor Anne Twomey AO
- Ms Anooshe Mushtaq
- Professor Charles Sampford
- Ms Cindy He
- Mr Clancy Moore
- Mr Kyle Redman
- Dr Tania Penovic
- Mr Tim Lo Surdo
The government co-chair is Simon Newnham, Deputy Secretary, Attorney-General’s Department. Additional government members will be represented by agencies including:
- The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
- Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts
- The Information and Privacy Commission New South Wales
- The Australian Public Service Commission
- The Commonwealth Ombudsman
- Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
- Department of Finance
- Department of the Treasury
The renewal of Australia’s commitment to the OGP demonstrates the Government’s strong focus on ensuring integrity in our public institutions.
More information is available at Australia’s Open Government Partnership.