Introduction
The Royal Australian Mint (‘the Mint’) is an agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) and is required to comply with the Information Publication Scheme (IPS) provisions. This agency plan describes how the Mint proposes to do this, as required by section 8(1) of the FOI Act.
The agency plan describes how the Mint proposes to implement and administer the IPS in respect of its own information holdings by addressing:
- Establishing and administering the Mint’s IPS contribution
- Information architecture
- Information required to be published
- Other information to be published (optional information)
- Accessibility of information published
- Compliance review
- Best practice initiatives including promoting community engagement.
The Mint recognises that public sector information is a national resource managed for public purposes. This Plan upholds parliamentary intention to increase public participation in Government processes and to increase scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of Government activities . This Mint will continue to build and foster a culture within the agency, in which appropriate proactive disclosure of its information holdings is embraced.
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Purpose
The purpose of this agency plan is to:
- Assist the Mint in planning and administering its IPS entry
- Facilitate public consultation about that contribution
- Show what information the Mint proposes to publish, how and to whom the information will be published and how the Mint will otherwise comply with its IPS requirements under the FOI Act.
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Objectives
The Mint’s objectives are to outline appropriate mechanisms and procedures to:
- Manage its IPS entry
- Proactively identify and publish all information required to be published (s 8(2))
- Proactively identify and publish any other information to be published (s 8(4))
- Review and ensure on a regular basis that information published as part of its IPS entry is accurate, up to date and complete (s 8B)
- Ensure that information published as part of its IPS entry is easily discoverable, understandable, machine-readable, re-useable and transformable
- Measure the success of the Mint’s IPS entry by reference to community feedback and compliance review processes
- Adopt best practice initiatives in implementing and administering the Mint’s contribution to the IPS.
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Administering the Mint's IPS Contribution
General Counsel is responsible for managing the IPS under the FOI Act 1982. The Legal Services Section, led by General Counsel, will maintain registers of IPS required and optional information, as well as liaise with authors to ensure that it is up-to-date, accurate and complete.
The Mint may charge a person for accessing any IPS documents which it is impracticable to publish online:
- at the lowest reasonable cost; and
- to reimburse specific reproduction costs or other specific incidental costs (section 8D(4)).
The Mint will generally not impose a charge where the reimbursement or incidental cost would be lower than $100.
The Mint will publish on the IPS section of its website a list of any IPS documents that are impracticable to publish online and give details of how a person seeking access to any of these documents will be able to arrange access.
The list of documents will include indicative charges that may be imposed for making that information available and an explanation for the charge. 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).
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IPS Information Architecture
The IPS entry is published on the Mint’s website (Royal Australian Mint | Royal Australian Mint) under the following headings:
Required Information
- Agency Plan (s 8(2)(a))
- Our People (ss 8(2)(b) and 8(2)(d))
- About Us (s 8(2)(c))
- Annual Reports (s 8(2)(j))
- Corporate Plan (s 8(2)(j))
- Annual Reports (s 8(2)(e))
- Compliance and Reporting (s 8(2)(h))
- FOI Disclosure Log (ss 8(2)(g) and 11C)
- Contact Us (s 8(2)(i)).
Other Information
- Employment Framework (s 8(4))
- Policies (s 8(4))
To ensure that the Mint IPS entry (and individual IPS documents) is easily discoverable, understandable and machine-readable, the Mint:
- Publishes a IPS entry point on its website
- Wherever possible, provides online content in a format that can be searched, copied and transformed
- Has updated the sitemap on its website, to help individuals identify the location of information published under ss 8(2) and 8(4)
- Provides a search function for our website
- Responds to community feedback regarding whether the IPS information holdings (and individual IPS documents) are easily discoverable, understandable and machine-readable.
The Mint will, so far as possible, make its IPS information holdings available for reuse on open licensing terms.
The Mint will ensure, to the extent possible, that all documents available on its website conform to WCAG 2.0 AA. Where a person requires an alternative accessible format of a document, it will be made available on request.
Most documents listed on the IPS section of the Mint website are published in HTML format 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 (these will be supplied in the formats in which they are currently available)
- Some charts, tables and forms (these are supplied in accessible formats on request).
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IPS Compliance Review
The Mint will review and revise this agency plan annually to coincide with the Mint’s strategic planning process.
The Mint will review the operation of its IPS when necessary, or at least every five years, in accordance with the Guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner about IPS compliance review.
The Mint will adopt the following criteria for measuring its performance:
- Agency plan - has the Mint published a comprehensive plan for its IPS compliance?
- Governance and administration - does the Mint have appropriate governance mechanisms in place to meet its IPS obligations, including a sound information management framework?
- IPS document holdings - has the Mint reviewed its document holdings to decide what information must be published under s 8(2) and information that can be published under s 8(4)? Is the Mint’s IPS entry accurate, up-to-date and complete?
- IPS information architecture - does the Mint have a publication framework in place and has it taken the necessary steps to ensure that information in its IPS entry is easily discoverable and accessible?
- Agency compliance review does the Mint have appropriate processes, systems and resources in place to monitor and review its IPS compliance and to make necessary improvements to its IPS implementation?
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Contact
Should you wish to comment or provide feedback on this IPS Agency Plan, please contact General Counsel at foi@ramint.gov.au.