The National Capital Authority is a prescribed authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act1982 (the FOI Act) and is required to comply with the Information Publication Scheme (IPS) requirements. The NCA fosters a culture within the agency in which appropriate disclosure of its information is embraced. This is in recognition that public sector information is a national resource managed for public purposes.
Purpose
The purpose of this Agency Plan is to:
Comply with s 8(1) of the FOI Act; and
Outline the NCA's objectives and identify appropriate procedures that need to be in place regarding the disclosure of its information in accordance with the FOI Act.
Objectives
The objectives of the NCA are to ensure that it:
appropriately manages its information
identifies and publishes all information required to be published under s 8(2)
identifies and publishes any optional information to be published under s 8(4)
regularly reviews its published information to ensure it is accurate, up-to-date and complete
ensures that published information is easy to find, understandable and recoverable
conforms with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
Establishing and administering the NCA's IPS
The NCA project team associated with the implementation of the IPS consisted of members of the Corporate and IT Services Units under the direction of the Chief Executive. The Project Team was responsible for ensuring that all the requirements of the FOI Act were complied with in regard to the implementation of the IPS on the NCA website.
The NCA's website has been reviewed and updated to incorporate new sections dedicated to the IPS, Freedom of Information, Freedom of Information Disclosure Log and Privacy. Ongoing improvements will be implemented as they are identified.
The NCA's ongoing compliance with the IPS will be monitoring jointly by the Director Corporate and the Chief Finance Officer.
Where information is available to download from the NCA's website or another website, a link will be provided to that site. If information is not available to download from a website, it may be obtained by contacting the NCA's FOI Officer by mail to GPO Box 373 Canberra, ACT 2601 or by email to foi@nca.gov.au. A charge may be imposed for the cost incurred by the NCA in copying or reproducing the information or for other incidental costs such a postage. The NCA will try to meet all reasonable requests for an alternate format of a document in a timely manner and at the lowest reasonable cost to you.
The information we are required to publish under the IPS include:
what we do
our structure and statutory appointments
our reports and responses to Parliament
our annual reports
contact details for our Freedom Information Officer
our FOI disclosure log and information routinely requested under the FOI Act
consultation information
operational information.
The NCA publishes a disclosure log on its website listing information that has been released in response to FOI access requests for documents held by the NCA. In accordance with the FOI Act, this information will be published on the website within ten working days of giving the FOI applicant access to the documents. The NCA's Disclosure Log can be viewed here.
IPS Information Architecture
To ensure that the NCA's information is easy to find, understandable and recoverable, the NCA will:
Publish an IPS icon on the home page of its website which will link to the IPS section on the website
Design and publish an IPS entry point on its website
Publish a site map for its website to help individuals locate information published under s 8(2) and s 8(4)
Provide a search function for the website
Provide links to information on external websites, where the information is not available on the NCA's website
IPS Compliance Review
The NCA will review this agency plan and its IPS procedures at least annually as part of its strategic planning processes.
