Dr A. Wendy Russell
Enabling Technologies — Public Awareness & Community Engagement
Department of Innovation, Industry, Science,
Research and Tertiary Education
GPO Box 9839
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Dear Dr Russell
Independent Review of National Enabling Technologies Strategy
Public Awareness Community Engagement Programme
Introduction
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the final report of the Independent
Review of the National Enabling Technologies Strategy (NETS) Public Awareness
Community Engagement (PACE) Programme (Independent Review).
The NETS was launched by the Australian Government in February 2010 and is being
implemented by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and
Tertiary Education (DIISRTE).
The strategy includes a PACE programme to increase the Australian public’s
awareness of enabling technologies to enable a more informed public debate and to
gain an increased understanding of the public’s views to inform policy development.
The Independent Review was undertaken following concerns expressed by a
number of non-government organisations. The focus of the review is an
independent assessment of NETS PACE programme or Department of Innovation,
Industry, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISR) initiated or part-funded
materials from 2007 to 2011. These materials include publications and events.
The OAIC makes the following comments.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
The OAIC was established by the Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010 and
commenced operation on 1 November 2010.
The OAIC is an independent statutory agency headed by the Australian Information
Commissioner. The Information Commissioner is supported by two other statutory
officers: the Freedom of Information Commissioner and the Privacy Commissioner.
The former Office of the Privacy Commissioner (the OPC) was integrated into the
OAIC on 1 November 2010.
The OAIC brings together the functions of information policy and independent
oversight of privacy protection and freedom of information in one agency, to
advance the development of consistent workable information policy across all
Australian government agencies.
Having read the Independent Review’s final report, it is the OAIC’s view that it is
limited in the comments it can make in relation to it. The OAIC has not reviewed the
materials or evaluation reports of events that are the subject of the Independent
Review. Therefore, the OAIC is unable on comment on the recommendations
contained in the final report. However, the OAIC would like to highlight the OAIC’s
Principles on open public sector information.
Principles on open public sector information
The OAIC has strategic functions relating to information management in the
Australian Government. In this capacity, the OAIC is committed to leading the
development and implementation of the national information policy framework to
promote and secure open government.
As part of this vision, the OAIC has released a set of Principles on open public sector
information and an accompanying report. The Principles and report are available on
the OAIC website at http://www.oaic.gov.au/infopolicyportal/reports_infopolicy.html#PSI_principles
The OAIC encourages agencies to embed the principles in their internal policies and
procedures on information management. By doing so they will help build a culture
of proactive information disclosure and community engagement.
The Principles were developed by the OAIC through a process of public consultation.
They draw on considerable work in Australia and overseas that defines standards
and principles to shape government information management practices.
The OAIC would like to draw the DIISRTE’s attention to two principles that may
assist it progress the objectives of the NETS PACE programme:


Principle 1: Open access to information — a default position
Principle 2: Engaging the community.
Principle 1: Open access to information — a default position
The first of the Principles on open public sector information is that open access to
information should be a default position.
The Principle states that information held by Australian Government agencies is a
valuable national resource. If there is no legal need to protect the information it
should be open to public access. Information publication enhances public access.
Agencies should use information technology to disseminate public sector
information, applying a presumption of openness and adopting a proactive
publication stance.
The OAIC notes a number of comments in the Independent Review’s report relating
to the ‘neutrality’ and transparency of information presented in the various NETS
PACE programme materials under review. One set of materials was assessed as
lacking ‘fairness and transparency’. The Independent Review also finds that ‘the
objectives for the overall programme require greater clarity and transparency’.1
The Independent review also states that:
With an emerging area of science such as nanotechnology, which has generated a
range of scientific and public responses internationally, it is important for
awareness programmes to be balanced to enable people to develop their
understanding and form their views.2
These comments suggest that the objects of the NETS PACE programme may benefit
from greater openness and transparency. In the OAIC’s view, transparency is
fundamental to government administration and the premise that public sector
information is a national resource that should be available for community access
and use.
Information sharing better enables the community to contribute to policy
formulation, assist government regulation, participate in program administration,
provide evidence to support decision making and evaluate service delivery
performance. A free flow of information between government, business and the
community can also stimulate innovation to the economic and social advantage of
the nation.
1
Independent Review of National Enabling Technologies Strategy Public Awareness Community
Engagement Programme, p 13.
2
Independent Review of National Enabling Technologies Strategy Public Awareness Community
Engagement Programme, p 8.
Principle 2: Engaging the community
The OAIC notes the following statement in the Independent Review’s report:
Objectives for raising awareness, providing information and publicising new science
and technologies need to be distinguished from objectives for public participation
and engagement. Specifically, science promotion strategies need to be
distinguished from stakeholder engagement strategies, if there is to be genuine
stakeholder dialogue and deliberative input to decision-making. Because
information/awareness materials ‘set the scene’ for stakeholder engagement
strategies, it is important that neutral information is used throughout the entire
programme to create a clear message for audiences and participants.3
This view is consistent with the second of the Principles on open public sector
information. This Principle states that Australian Government policy requires
agencies to engage the community online in policy design and service delivery.4 The
Principle states that Australian Government agencies should:




consult the community in deciding what information to publish and about
agency publication practices
welcome community feedback about the quality, completeness, usefulness
and accuracy of published information
respond promptly to comments received from the community and to
requests for information
employ Web 2.0 tools to support community consultation.
Although this Principle relates to community engagement on how agencies publish
public sector information, the DIISRTE may wish to consider this principle when
developing communications tools for the NETS PACE programme in future.
The OAIC is pleased to read the Independent Review’s finding that the quality of the
NETS PACE programme has improved over time, and that the employment of the
STEPS engagement framework is assisting with this.
Yours sincerely
Jonathan Dobinson
Director, Corporate and Public Affairs
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
20 June 2012
3
Independent Review of National Enabling Technologies Strategy Public Awareness Community
Engagement Programme, p 7.
4 See Engage: Getting on with Government 2.0—Report of the Government 2.0 Taskforce.