Open Government Partnership New Zealand National Action Plan 2016-2018
Date: December to February 2018
Commitment 2 progress report: December 2017 to February 2018
Commitment 2: Improving official information practices
Lead agency: The State Services Commission
To make government information more accessible by adopting a consistent set of agency practices in response to requests for official information.
Milestones
Milestone 1
Ensure information about the OIA (how to make requests, etc) and responses to requests are easy to access on agency websites. This could include development of single OIA web pages for agencies
Progress: completed
Milestone 2
Publish OIA statistics (how many requests, time taken to respond, etc)
Progress: completed
Milestone 3
Develop a clear statement of government policy on proactive release of Cabinet papers and related material
Progress: completed
Milestone 4
Develop a suite of consistent measures about OIA performance
Progress: completed
Milestone 5
Improve access to official information by publishing responses to requests on government websites and developing principles for more proactive release
Progress: completed
Milestone 6
Agencies will be supported to deliver through the development of appropriate guidance and training.
End date: June 2018
Progress: underway
What have we been doing?
- Released the July-December 2017 collection of OIA statistics, including updated agency guidance on OIA statistics.
- Released guidance for agencies to help officials manage and make decisions on official information requests.
- Delivered workshops to support agencies with:
- developing a proactive release policy, and
- using the Official Information Capability Development Toolkit.
- Released new Official Information webpages on the SSC website to make it easier for agencies to locate information and guidance supporting practice improvement.
Links
What’s next
- Drafting the next set of practical guidance for agencies to help officials manage and make decisions on official information requests.
- Development of the OIA Forum programme for 2018.
- Participating in a workshop for District Health Boards on proactive release in their context.
- Providing targeted support to a small number of agencies on developing a proactive release policy.
- Drafting generic training material on the Official Information Act to support staff induction in agencies.
- Publishing case studies on different OIA structures and operating models that are working successfully across a range of agencies to provide some initial guidance for agencies when considering changes in these areas.