Page 3647 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 27 October 2015
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MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: I am trying to listen to what you have to say.
MR BARR: I am trying to speak but I am being constantly interjected upon by those opposite.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Please continue, Mr Barr.
MR BARR: Thank you, Madam Assistant Speaker. Members should be aware of a range of initiatives currently in operation which support open government: the contemporary and accessible online open government program, the strong integrity framework in both the Assembly and the ACT public service, a commitment to consultation and engagement with the community, and accessible and interactive cabinet meetings and access to cabinet ministers. It is important to be open and accountable at every level across the public sphere, not just in the executive and here in the Assembly but across the ACT public service as well. There are three principles of the ACT government’s commitment to open government: transparency in process and information, participation by citizens in the governing process, and public collaboration in finding solutions to problems and participation in the improved wellbeing of the community.
In striving to achieve an open government our key achievements include publishing MLA travel and entitlements, freedom of information, summaries of cabinet outcomes, emergency department and surgery waiting times, and cabinet documents. There were more than 322,000 page views to the ACT government’s open government website in the last financial year, and since the beginning of the current financial year there have been more than 100,000 page views. There are currently seven open consultations on the ACT government time to talk website and in the last financial year there were 57 consultations across government. The government has released and published 426 FOI application materials since October 2011.
This government publishes summaries of cabinet outcomes online only two weeks after the cabinet deliberations in question, which we understand is the quickest public release of cabinet consideration in any Westminster system government. The proactive release of data through the ACT government open data portal has produced 171 datasets so far. In this area one of the most popular datasets has been cyclist crash data which lists on-road cyclist crashes since 2012 which have been reported by the police or the public through the AFP crash report form. This dataset has generated enormous interest and has helped craft a range of policy reforms to promote safer cycling in Canberra.
Since 2011 full cabinet documents from 10 years prior have been made available for release. Adopting a 10-year release schedule made the ACT the first sitting government in Australia to release the deliberations of its cabinet. I repeat that: the ACT was the first sitting government in Australia to release the deliberations of its cabinet. Those records offer the community detailed insights into how the government makes its most important decisions. By comparison, commonwealth cabinet documents are released only after 20 years.
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