Information Publication Scheme Agency Plan

Purpose

The purpose of the Commission's IPS Agency Plan is to:

• assist the Commission in planning and developing its contribution to the IPS
• show what information the Commission proposes to publish, how and to whom the information will be published and how the Commission will otherwise comply with the IPS.

Objectives

The Commission's IPS Agency Plan outlines the mechanisms and procedures the Commission is required to undertake in managing and making information available. These include:

1. effectively and efficiently managing its information holdings that are relevant to the IPS
2. identifying all information required to be published, including this plan, under the IPS and identify additional information that can appropriately be published as ‘optional information’
3. ensuring that online content conforms with the Government’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (V2)
4. regularly reviewing information published under the IPS to ensure it remains complete, accurate and up-to-date
5. ensuring that the information published under the IPS is discoverable, searchable, understandable and reusable
6. developing a mechanism and procedures to measure the success of the Commission’s IPS.

Implementing the Information Publication Scheme

Responsibility for the IPS

The Commission’s Chief Operating Officer, with assistance from the Director of Communications, oversees the implementation of the IPS.

How the information can be accessed on the website

The Commission's FOI page will be the main portal through which members of the public can access the information made available by the Commission under its IPS.

Freedom of information

The Commission’s FOI page explains how you can make a FOI request, the review process, fees and charges and contact information for the FOI Coordinator.

FOI disclosure log

The disclosure log provides access to documents disclosed by the Commission pursuant to an FOI request by listing summary information such as title, date of release, including number of pages and descriptions of the types of documents released. The publication of this information is in accordance with section 11C of the FOI Act.

Interested parties may access copies of the documents listed in the Commission’s FOI Disclosure Log (either in hard copy, CD or, where possible, email) by contacting the FOI Coordinator.

Agency structure

Details about the Commission’s structure can be found Governance page.

Statutory appointments

Commission Board members are statutory appointments.

Reviewing our information

The Commission seeks to publish as much information as possible, consistent with the objectives of the FOI Act. However, the Commission's publication practices must be balanced against its obligation to respect and maintain Confidential Commercial Information (CCI) and Personal Information.

The Commission may deal with highly sensitive personal and confidential information. This type of information will only be published when the public interest test applies or consent is provided by the owner of the information. The public and stakeholders should remain confident that any personal or confidential information the Commission possesses will be protected from release when it is appropriate to do so.

The Commission will ensure documents published can be found easily and are searchable. The Commission's website has user friendly navigation and an easy to use search function.

The Commission’s website will contain a list of any IPS documents that are impracticable to publish online. The web site will state that a person seeking access to any of these documents may contact the FOI Coordinator to arrange access.

The Commission encourages people to print copies of required documents, if they are available on the website, rather than asking the Commission to do so. The Commission may impose a charge when asked to print a large number of documents. This is consistent with charges in the Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 1982, which generally apply to access requests under Part III of the FOI Act.

Information architecture

The Commission will publish documents on its website. If it is not possible to publish documents, the Commission will advise how the information can be obtained. Wherever possible, the Commission will provide online content in a format that can be searched, copied and transformed.

Information publication requirements

The Commission will publish all documents required under sections 8, 8(A), 8(C) and 8(D) of the FOI Act.

What we will publish

• Agency plan (s 8(2)(a))
• Organisational chart (s 8(2)(b))
• Statutory appointments (s 8(2)(d))
• What we do (s 8(2)(c))
• Who are we (s 8(2)c))
• Decision making powers (s 8(2)(c))
• Annual reports (s 8(2)(e))
• Information released pursuant to FOI requests (Disclosure Log) (s 8(2)(g))
• Consultation documentation (s8(2)(f)) from time to time during consultation periods
• Operational information (s 8(2)(j))
• Contact information (s 8(2)(i))

The agency’s functions and decision making powers

• Roles
• Legislation
• Policy
• Reviews

Information provided to Parliament

• Contracts
• File Lists
• Grants reporting
• Discretionary Grants
• Publications, Statistics & Resources

Optional information

Taking into account the objectives of the FOI Act (s 8(4)), the Commission will publish as much information as possible on its website to comply with the FOI Act and in the interests of full disclosure (in addition to the information published under s 8(2)).

Administering the agency IPS

The Commission will initially publish all mandated information. The Commission’s objective is to publish all possible information in the interests of full disclosure of the documents used by the Commission in its functions and decision-making. The Commission will be as proactive as possible in publishing both optional and operational information in order to comply with its obligations.

Review

The Commission will ensure that all information is accurate and up to date at the time of publication. All line areas will be responsible for auditing their operational documentation. The Commission will endeavour to maintain an accurate register of information.

The Commission’s objective with respect to IPS is to ensure transparency and openness with the public in its decision making processes. The Commission will ensure that comments made by the public in relation to this Agency Plan will be taken into account and the plan amended as appropriate.

Feedback

Feedback on the Commission’s Agency Plan can be forwarded to the Freedom of Information Coordinator.

By post:

Freedom of Information Coordinator Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care

GPO Box 5480

Sydney NSW 2001

or by email: safetyandqualityfoi@safetyandquality.gov.au

or by telephone: +61 2 9126 3600 (Including International)