Information Publication Scheme Agency Plan

Intro​​​duction

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) establishes an Information Publication Scheme (IPS) for Australian Government agencies subject to the Act.

The OSI has developed this plan in compliance with section 8 of the FOI Act, which provides that an agency must prepare a plan showing which information the agency proposes to publish for the purposes of the IPS; how, and to whom, the agency proposes to publish the information; and how the agency otherwise proposes to comply with the IPS.

Purp​​ose

This plan will:

• support the OSI to comply with section 8 of the FOI Act
• assist us in planning and administering information we publish
• provide a mechanism for community feedback about information we publish, and
• detail the information we propose to publish, how and to whom we will publish the information, and how we will otherwise comply with the IPS.

Objective​s

To develop appropriate processes and procedures to:

• Manage information we publish and review it regularly to ensure it:
  • is accurate, up-to-date and complete.
  • is easily discoverable, understandable, machine-readable and reusable.
  • meets minimum (or better) accessibility standards provided in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2 (WCAG 2.0), as set out in the Australian Government Style Manual Agency Responsibilities and Commitments.
• Proactively identify and publish all information required under the IPS, as well as additional information appropriate for proactive publication.
• Measure the success and efficacy of our IPS through regular review processes.

Admin​​istering the IPS

The OSI's Chief Operating Officer is responsible for the OSI's IPS compliance, supported by staff responsible for information governance. Detailed procedures for facilitating this work are in development.

If necessary, the OSI will list on our website any documents that are impracticable to publish online and provide details of how those documents can be accessed.

We may charge for access to a document which is impracticable to publish online.

Further information about charges, including how and what amounts we may charge for processing a request is available in the Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019 or on the What charges may apply? page on the OAIC website.

IPS infor​mation architecture

Information we publish under the IPS on the OSI IPS webpage appears under the headings below.

Required info​​rmation

• Agency plan (section 8(2)(a) of the FOI Act).
• Who we are (sections 8(2)(b) and 8(2)(d) of the FOI Act).
• What we do (sections 8(2)(c) and 8(2)(j) of the FOI Act).
• Our reports and responses to the Australian Parliament (sections 8(2)(e) and 8(2)(h) of the FOI Act).
• Routinely requested information and disclosure log (sections 8(2)(g) and 11C) of the FOI Act).
• Consultation arrangements (sections 8(2)(f) of the FOI Act).
• Contact us (section 8(2)(i) of the FOI Act).

To ensure information we publish is easily discoverable, understandable and machine readable, we will:

• make information we publish under the IPS discoverable by providing an access point to it on the front page of our website, using the IPS icon recommended by the Information Commissioner in the Guidance for Agency Websites: ‘Access to information’ web page
• review information we publish under the IPS against the WCAG 2.0
• consider implementing a search function on the OSI website to help individuals identify the location of information we publish
• consider community feedback about whether information we publish is easily discoverable, understandable and machine readable.

Inform​​​ation required to be published under the IPS

Documents and information required to be published under sections 8(2)(a) to 8(2)(j) of the FOI Act will be published on our IPS webpage under the following headings.

Informa​​tion we are required to publish

IPS ag​​ency plan

This will include our IPS agency plan, which will be available in an accessible format.

Who we are

This will include:

• information about our organisational structure
• information about our Executive
• information about officers of the OSI appointed to the agency under Acts (other than APS employees within the meaning of the Public Service Act 1999). For statutory appointees this will include the name of the appointee, the term of appointment, the position to which the person is appointed and the provision of the Act under which the appointment was made.

What we do

This will include:

• information about our establishment and purpose
• information about our other activities and functions. This may include, for example, authorisations and delegations for the exercise of functions and powers under Commonwealth legislation, corporate plans, budget statements and other relevant information.

Our reports and responses to the Australian Parliament

This will include links to our annual reports and Senate Order responses.

Routinely requested information and disclosure log

This will include information in documents to which we routinely gives access in response to FOI requests.

Consultation arrangements

This will include information about how and to whom members of the public may submit comments about policy proposals for which we are responsible.

As the OSI is not a policy agency, it is unlikely the OSI will be required to make arrangements regarding public consultation for policy proposals.

Contact us

This includes information about how and to whom members of the public may submit requests for access to documents under the FOI Act.

Other information to be published under th​e IPS

In addition to information we are required to publish, we will consider and, where appropriate, publish other information that we hold, taking into account the objects of the FOI Act.

IPS complia​​​nce review

Under section 9 of the FOI Act, we are required to review the operation of the IPS in the OSI:

• as appropriate, from time to time
• in any case – within 5 years after the last time a review was completed.

We will review the operation of the IPS in our agency annually, measuring progress and identifying actions for improving compliance against the objectives of this plan and the IPS generally.