Principles on open public sector information

• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

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25 May 2011The Principles on open public sector information (the Principles) form part of a core vision for government information management in Australia. They formally recognise that public sector information (PSI) is a national resource that should be published for community access and use. The Principles set out the central values of open PSI: information should be accessible without charge, based on open standards, easily discoverable, understandable, machine-readable, and freely reusable and transformable. Australian Government agencies are urged to embed the Principles in their policies and practices to become confident and proactive publishers of information.

This report outlines the development of the Principles following their release in draft form in November 2010 for consultation. The report discusses the comments that were received and explains revisions made. The final version of the Principles is available at Appendix A.

The report is divided into two main parts.

• The first part explains key aspects of the Principles such as the principles-based approach, the definition of PSI and how the Principles interact with the FOI Act. It also provides an overview of the consultation process and broad themes raised by stakeholders.

• The second part addresses each of the Principles in turn, outlining comments made on specific Principles and briefly explaining the changes and revisions made in response.