Information Publication Scheme

What is the Information Publication Scheme

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) establishes the Information Publication Scheme (IPS).

The IPS is a government-wide scheme, aiming to promote and achieve a pro-disclosure culture across government. It sits alongside agencies’ other obligations under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act including Part III (Access to documents) of the FOI Act.

The IPS is intended to form the basis for a more open and transparent culture across government, with agencies encouraged to take a proactive approach to publishing the information they hold, and to consider publishing information over and above what they are obliged to publish.

The NDIA is required to publish a range of information on its website as part of the IPS. This includes information on the NDIA’s structure, functions, appointments, annual reports, consultation arrangements, and contact details of the NDIA’s FOI officer(s). Information routinely released through FOI requests and routinely provided to Parliament must also be published online. Together, this information forms part of the NDIA’s ‘IPS entry’ and is set out below under the heading ‘Information required to be published under the IPS’.

Who regulates the Information Publication Scheme

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is responsible for overseeing the IPS for all Australian Government agencies that are subject to the FOI Act. Read more about the IPS for Australian Government agencies .

Information required to be published under the Information Publication Scheme

The IPS Agency plan

The NDIA is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) and is required to comply with the IPS requirements. This IPS Agency Plan describes how the NDIA proposes to do this, as required by section 8(1) of the FOI Act.

The information published by the NDIA under the IPS is referred to in this IPS Agency Plan as the NDIA’s ‘IPS entry’.

This IPS Agency Plan describes how the NDIA proposes to implement and administer its IPS entry in respect of its own information holdings, by addressing:

establishing and administering the NDIA’s IPS entry
information architecture and accessibility of information
information required to be published
other (optional) information to be published
IPS compliance review.

The NDIA will continue to build and foster a culture within the NDIA, in which appropriate proactive disclosure of its information holdings is embraced, leading to successful implementation and administration of its IPS entry. This is in recognition that public sector information is a national resource managed for public purposes.

Purpose of the IPS Agency Plan

The purpose of this IPS Agency Plan is to:

assist the NDIA in planning, developing, and implementing its IPS entry
facilitate continuing public consultation about its IPS entry
show what information the NDIA proposes to publish, how and to whom the information will be published and how the NDIA will otherwise comply with the IPS requirements (this fulfils the requirements of section 8(1) of the FOI Act).

Objectives of the IPS Agency Plan

The NDIA’s objectives under this IPS Agency Plan are to outline appropriate mechanisms and procedures to:

manage the NDIA’s IPS entry
proactively identify and publish all information required to be published (section 8(2) of the FOI Act), including this plan
proactively identify and publish any other (optional) information to be published (section 8(4) of the FOI Act)
review and ensure on a regular basis that information published as part of the NDIA’s IPS entry is accurate, up to date and complete (section 8B of the FOI Act)
ensure, as far as practicable, that information published as part of the NDIA’s IPS entry is easily discoverable, understandable, machine-readable, re-useable and transformable
ensure satisfactory conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (Version 2) (WCAG 2.0)
measure the success of the NDIA’s IPS entry by reference to community feedback and compliance review processes
adopt, as fair as practicable, best practice initiatives in implementing and administering the NDIA’s IPS entry.

Establishing and administering the NDIA’s IPS entry

Corporate Counsel, Legal Services Branch is designated within the NDIA as the senior officer responsible for leading the NDIA's compliance with the IPS (the NDIA IPS Leader).

(a) Establishing the NDIA’s IPS entry as a new agency

The NDIA IPS Leader is supported by the IPS Project Team to establish the NDIA's IPS entry as soon as practicable following the establishment of the NDIA.

The IPS Project Team comprises:

General Manager, Governance and Public Affairs Division
Corporate Counsel, Legal Services Branch
Special Counsel, Public Law Section, Legal Services Branch
An FOI representative from the NDIA’s Legal Services Branch
Staff with IT expertise to publish the relevant documents.

The IPS Project Team will work with other key areas of the NDIA and establish other ad hoc working groups as required.

The IPS Project Team prepared and implemented an IPS project plan to develop and launch the NDIA’s IPS entry.

The IPS Project Team has developed – and is continuing to develop – an IPS information register. The IPS information register records details of documents and information required or permitted to be published under sections 8(2) and 8(4) of the FOI Act.

To prepare the IPS information register, the Legal Services Branch, in consultation with relevant NDIA areas, has:

reviewed and audited documents published on the NDIA website and identified the documents that will form part of the NDIA's IPS entry
created a list of potential IPS documents (including those not already published on the NDIA website)
established systems and procedures to review the IPS entry to ensure that it is kept accurate, up to date and complete.

The information register will also assist with facilitating conformance with WCAG 2.0, as it:

describes the format of all IPS documents currently published on the NDIA websites
contains information on WCAG 2.0 compliance and alternative formats of IPS documents
identifies any other issues that may affect publication of an IPS document on the NDIA website.

(b) Administering the NDIA' s IPS entry going forward

The NDIA's ongoing compliance with the IPS will be coordinated by the NDIA IPS Leader and IPS Project Team.

The NDIA will consider its information asset management framework in light of its IPS entry. This includes how the NDIA’s IPS entry interacts with the NDIA’s record management plans and policies.

Relevant areas of the NDIA will be responsible as required, for day-to-day tasks associated with complying with the IPS.

As part of managing the ongoing administration of the NDIA's IPS entry, the IPS Project Team will consider publishing a ‘Guide to publishing information under the IPS for NDIA staff’. The guide may:

describe processes to be followed internally to ensure the accuracy, currency and completeness of published information
help staff to identify on an ongoing basis any required or other information to be published as part of the NDIA' s IPS entry
describe the process for publishing information.

The NDIA will lead better practice initiatives to engage with the community about the NDIA's IPS entry to the IPS. These include:

making IPS documents as easily discoverable, understandable and machine-readable as possible
inviting and encouraging members of the public to contact the NDIA to provide comments on the NDIA' s IPS entry, particularly where documents are found not to be discoverable, understandable or machine-readable.

The NDIA will also arrange, where possible, for NDIA IPS documents, which are not available on the NDIA website, to be made available upon request.

The NDIA may charge a person for accessing any NDIA IPS document which is impracticable to publish online:

at the lowest reasonable cost
to reimburse specific reproduction costs or other specific incidental costs (section 8D(4) of the FOI Act).

These charges will be consistent with charges in the Freedom of information (Charges) Regulations 1982 (which generally apply to access requests under Part III of the FOI Act).

Accessibility of information

The NDIA will ensure, to the extent possible, that all IPS documents available on its website conform to WCAG 2.0.

The majority of documents listed on the IPS section of the NDIA website will be available in HTML to meet accessibility requirements. A small number of exceptions may apply to:

PDFs made of images of scanned documents
documents that are out of date, but that are provided for historical reference (these will be supplied in the formats in which they are currently available)
charts, tables and forms (these can be supplied in accessible formats on request).

Where possible documents covered by these exceptions will be published in 2 alternative formats.

To ensure that the NDIA IPS entry (including individual IPS documents) is easily discoverable, understandable and machine-readable, the NDIA will:

consider publishing an IPS ICON on the homepage of its website, which links to the IPS section of the website
design and publish an IPS entry point on its website
wherever possible, provide online content in a format that can be searched, copied and transformed
provide a search function for its website
establish a feedback channel for seeking and responding to community feedback about whether the NDIA' s IPS entry (and individual IPS documents) is easily discoverable, understandable and machine-readable.

The NDIA will, so far as possible, make its IPS information holdings available for reuse on open licensing terms in accordance with Australian Government policy.

The NDIA will continue to engage in public consultation about its IPS Agency Plan and IPS entry through the feedback mechanism on the IPS section of its website. Any comments on the NDIA’s IPS entry are welcomed by emailing [email protected].

Who we are

The NDIA is required under sections 8(2)(b) and 8(2)(d) of the FOI Act to publish information about the organisation and structure of the NDIA, the location of offices, governance arrangements, the senior management team and statutory appointments. This information is available on the pages set out below.

Our organisational structure
General information about us
Our governance arrangements
Information about careers with us
Information about our statutory appointments:
- Chief Executive Officer of the NDIA
- Members of the Board of the NDIA
- Members of the Independent Advisory Council
- Scheme Actuary and Reviewing Actuary.

What we do

The NDIA is required under sections 8(2)(c) and 8(2)(j) of the FOI Act to publish a description of the functions and powers of the NDIA, and the rules, guidelines, practices and precedents relating to those functions and powers. This is known as operational information.

Functions of the NDIA (including decision-making powers)

Information on the statutory functions of the NDIA (including decision-making powers).

Operational information

The NDIA’s Operational Guidelines set out the NDIA’s operational information, that is, the information held by the NDIA to assist it perform or exercise its functions or powers in making decisions or recommendations affecting members of the public (or any particular person or entity, or class of persons or entities).

Our reports and responses to Parliament

The NDIA is required under sections 8(2)(e) and 8(2)(h) of the FOI Act to publish annual reports laid before Parliament, and other information routinely provided to the Parliament.

A link to our reports and responses to Parliament will be published on this website as that information becomes available.

Routinely requested information and FOI disclosure log

The NDIA is required under sections 8(2)(g) and 11C of the FOI Act to publish information to which the NDIA routinely gives access in response to FOI requests and the disclosure log of information that has been released under the FOI Act. Information that can be published resulting from freedom of information requests and any routinely released information from such requests is found in our FOI disclosure log.

Consultation arrangements

The NDIA is required under section 8(2)(f) of the FOI Act to publish information about consultation arrangements that enable members of the public to comment on specific policy proposal for which the NDIA is responsible.

Consultation details for specific policy proposals will be published here from time to time.

The NDIA welcomes public comment on any aspect of the NDIS or the NDIA, including on policy proposals, anytime.

Contact us about FOI or IPS

The NDIA is required under section 8(2)(i) of the FOI Act to publish contact details of an officer (or officers) who can be contacted about access to the NDIA’s information under the FOI Act. You can find this information on our freedom of information page.

The NDIA also welcomes any comments from the public about its IPS entry. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any comments or questions about our IPS entry.

Other (optional) information

In addition to publishing the required categories of information set out above, the IPS encourages agencies to publish other (optional) information (section 8(4) of the FOI Act).

The NDIA is committed to fulfilling the requirements and objectives of the IPS and will be proactive in considering other (optional) information it can publish under the IPS.

The NDIA currently is considering other (optional) information it may publish under the IPS. This may include information on the NDIA’s priorities, finances, lists, submissions, and policies.