This May the IPC supports Information Awareness Month 2019
The IPC is proud to support Information Awareness Month 2019 during the month of May.
Information Awareness Month (IAM) is an annual collaborative event between various bodies within the records, archives, library, knowledge, information and data management communities. Its aim is to increase public awareness of information and its place in all aspects of our day-to-day lives.
The theme for IAM 2019 is ‘Innovation with Information’. This theme is reflected in Australia’s second Open Government National Action Plan 2018-20 (OGNAP 2). Under the OGNAP 2, eight focused commitments have been secured to help enhance transparency, accountability and public engagement. One of these commitments is ‘Engage States and Territories to better understand information access’, which is under the guidance of the NSW Information Commissioner, Information and Privacy Commission (IPC) CEO and Open Data advocate, Ms Elizabeth Tydd.
Ms Tydd said, “I am pleased to highlight the work already completed as part of the states and territory Information Commissioners/Ombudsmen commitment, including measuring access and use of FOI laws; and producing a national dashboard together with a national compendium to highlight citizens’ rights under information access legislation..
“Our commitment to the OGNAP 2 will now continue with a citizen survey to understand the experience of people exercising their right to access government information. It will provide important insights to help us understand the experience of citizens and outcomes in exercising that right.”
According to Ms Tydd, the planned surveys will inform activities to promote and support the right to access government information. The survey commenced in April for the first time.
“Such a survey brings a citizen lens one of the central elements of open government – the right to government information,” she said.
If you would like to know more about Ms Tydd’s work on Open Government initiatives, visit www.ipc.nsw.gov.au/information-access.
During Information Awareness Month the value of good information practices and policies will be highlighted and promoted by a series of events. For more information on Information Awareness Month, please visit www.informationawarenessmonth.org.
