Copyright Law Reform and OER in Australia
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The document discusses copyright law reform and open educational resources (OER) in Australia. It summarizes the role of the National Copyright Unit in advocating for schools and managing copyright licenses. It outlines issues with current copyright law such as a lack of fair use provisions. It advocates for implementing the Australian Law Reform Commission's recommendations, including adopting a fair use exception. It also discusses the need to fully implement OER policies in Australia to promote innovation and the use of publicly funded educational resources.
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Copyright Law Reform and OER in Australia
- 1. Copyright Law Reform and OER in Australia 14th April 2016 OER Policy Forum Kraków Delia Browne National Copyright Director National Copyright Unit www.smartcopying.edu.au
- 2. Outline 1. Role of the National Copyright Unit (NCU) 2. Copyright Law Reform 3. OER/AUSGoal 2
- 3. National Copyright Unit (NCU) • The Ministers’ Copyright Advisory Group (CAG), through the NCU, is responsible for copyright policy and administration for the Australian school and TAFE sector. This involves: • Managing the obligations under the educational copyright licenses with collecting societies • Advocating for better copyright laws on the School and TAFE sector’s behalf 3
- 4. National Copyright Unit (NCU) • Educating the School and TAFE sector regarding their copyright responsibilities • Managing copyright compliance and cost management increasingly important increased use of ICT in schools has cost and risk issues copyright is becoming increasingly complex Laws need to be updated hence law reform and increasing copyright fees so work to get departments to implement AusGoal and encourage department curriculum areas and schools and teachers to use Creative Commons 4
- 5. National Copyright Unit (NCU) Education Lead for Creative Commons Australia Develop and Implement Smartcopying practices o Support and promote AusGOAL to Government Departments and Agencies o Advocate for the use and creation of OER in Australia 5
- 6. 6
- 7. Slides available @ http://www.slideshare.net/nationalcopyrightunit/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (unless otherwise noted) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- 8. Current Issues • Technology makes it easier to copy which leads to increased use which leads to demand for higher fees • Technology also allows for numerous technical transmissions which attract fees • No fair dealing/fair use to allow schools to use fair amount for education These issues are driving force behind NCU’s law reform activities 8
- 9. Copyright reform is needed to fully achieve the Government’s Innovation Agenda • Copyright law is standing in the way of Australian schools using innovative, digital technology in the classroom. There is an urgent need for reform. • Copyright laws designed in the age of the photocopier are not working in the age of the iPad and the 3D printer, and are holding back innovation in Australia’s schools. 9
- 10. Inflexible and out dated copyright law • Schools simply cannot meet the Government’s innovation goals while they are being impeded by outdated and inflexible copyright laws. • Current copyright laws penalise teachers for using new technologies in Australian classrooms. 10
- 11. Inflexible and out dated copyright law • For example: • different copyright rules apply depending on whether teachers use blackboards or interactive whiteboards • Australian schools pay millions of dollars each year simply to use freely available Internet materials such as health fact sheets or overseas free teaching resources • uses that are permitted digital uses in comparable countries are subject to copyright licence arrangements in Australia, such as taking a screenshot to use in a project, a teacher asking a student to print a map from Google maps for a homework exercise, or reproducing thumbnail images of book covers on a school intranet to show students what books are available in the school library. 11
- 12. Copyright exceptions not fit for digital age • Worse, Australia’s outdated copyright exceptions mean that they often don’t apply to digital technologies. So many traditional educational uses (such as playing a movie to show to students in a classroom) are no longer permitted - or attract additional licence fees - if teachers choose to use digital technologies or provide online alternatives to traditional classroom activities, instead of older ‘chalk and talk’ approaches. There is also significant uncertainty in relation to the educational use of educational apps and games. 12
- 13. Copyright reform must be seen as a key aspect of Innovation Policy 13
- 14. Implement the ALRC’s recommendations for a fair use copyright exception • The ALRC recommended that Australia adopt a fair use exception, which would enable educational uses in Australian schools - irrespective of the technological form of delivery - when these uses are fair to copyright owners. This would put Australian schools on an equal footing with schools in other jurisdictions, and allow teachers to make full use of the most up to date digital technologies in the classroom. 14
- 15. ALRC • The ALRC’s recommendations as a well-thought out pathway to modernise Australia’s copyright laws to enable sensible public interest uses, while still protecting the rights of copyright owners. The ‘fairness factors’ recommended by the ALRC would ensure that if a particular use harms a copyright owner’s market, the use is highly unlikely to be fair. 15
- 16. ALRC • Schools would continue to enter into collective licences to use content, and a significant proportion of educational uses of copyright materials will continue to be paid for under the ALRC’s proposals. However schools would no longer be disincentivised to use digital technologies due to outdated copyright exceptions, or to pay for uses where no copyright owner ever expected to be paid, such as free online tourism maps of health department head lice fact sheets. 16
- 17. Innovation Policy - encouraging the use of open educational resources (OER) • Education and innovation policy is focused on increasing Australia’s STEM capability, but copyright is operating as a roadblock. OER policy must be a key component of Australia’s innovation policy. 17
- 18. Lack of practical implementation of OER policies • Australia was initially a world leader in the adoption of OER policy, but is now falling behind due to a lack of practical implementation enforcement of existing OER policies. 18
- 19. OER Implementation in Australia • Australia is a signatory to the 2012 Paris OER Declaration, which calls on Governments to openly licence publicly funded educational materials. However this has not been implemented. • The Australian Government’s Open Access and Licensing Framework (AusGOAL) is the world's best practice in open licensing for publicly funded information. This requires Commonwealth Departments and agency materials to be licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY licence. However AusGOAL implementation has stalled. • Other countries are moving ahead, while Australia is failing behind (see the recently announced #GoOpen campaign and the EU’s Opening Up Education initiative). • Lack of Australian produced OER means teachers are forced to use OER predominantly from the US rather than Australian funded resources. 19
- 20. US # GoOpen • Governments around the world are recognising the benefits of OER. See for example the Obama Government’s #GoOpen initiative (http://tech.ed.gov/open-education/) • In order to ensure that all students – no matter their zip code – have access to high-quality learning resources, we are encouraging districts and states to move away from traditional textbooks and toward freely accessible, openly-licensed materials that can be constantly updated and adjusted to meet students’ needs. 20
- 21. OER is critical because it facilitates educational uses that can otherwise be impossible – or overly costly - because of copyright restrictions. 21
- 22. Publicly Funded Resources should be Openly Licensed • publicly funded resources continue to be created and licensed in a manner that doesn’t enable them to be extensively used by schools, teachers and parents or openly licensed in the future. This means: • of the $90 million per annum the school sector pays to licence copyright materials for use in schools, a significant proportion of this is still spent on schools paying to use Government funded resources. CAG estimates that approximately $925,000 of the approximately $60 million paid under the Part VB licence in 2014 was paid out for materials that should have fallen under the AusGOAL framework; • taxpayers are essentially paying for these materials twice: once when Government funded resources are created and then again when they are used in schools 22
- 23. Copyright obstacle in developing 21st Century Skills • restrictions in the Copyright Act limit what teachers can do with copyright-protected content (for example, a teacher can usually only copy 10% of a text-based work under the Part VB statutory licence). In contrast, OER resources enable teachers to assist students to develop skills for the 21st century workplace, by using resources for remixes, code clubs, research and data mining, to collaborate with students in other schools or the wider community - the only limit is the students’ imagination! 23
- 24. OER policies: • do not replace the need for copyright reform. • are a core part of the puzzle in encouraging public access to publicly funded resources in a digital age. 24
- 25. Current Law Reform Activities • Working towards implementation of the ALRC review • Copyright Amendment (Disability Access and Other Measures) Bill 2016 • Productivity Commission’s review of IP • Ernst & Young’s cost benefit analysis of fair use 25
- 26. ALRC: 2013-2014 The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) released their final report to the Attorney-General on Copyright and the Digital Economy. This was a significant and extremely extensive review of copyright law --- the biggest in 25 years. The ALRC inquiry: http://www.alrc.gov.au/inquiries/copyright-and-digital- economy 26
- 27. ALRC: final report • Exceptions in the Copyright Act have not kept pace with changes in technology and practice, and are no longer fit for purpose. • Central recommendations • Simplification and streamlining of statutory licences • Introduction of a flexible ‘fair use’ exception to copyright 27
- 28. Copyright Amendment (Disability Access and Other Measures) Bill 2016 Simplified Statutory Licence • NCU led roundtables with stakeholders to reach agreement on the form of a simplified and streamlined statutory licence and have asked the Commonwealth Government to implement. • This model, which is based on the model that was recommended by ALRC in its Copyright and the Digital Economy Report, would greatly benefit schools by removing complex and technical provisions that have for many years imposed unnecessary regulatory costs on schools and which were found by the ALRC to be completely unsuited to the digital environment. • It also has the potential to lead to a reduction in the amount that schools are paying under the statutory licences. 28
- 29. Productivity Commission • Public inquiry into Australia’s intellectual property system, including copyright. • The Productivity Commission is seeking input on questions that include: • the role that fair dealing and/or fair use can play in striking a better copyright balance; • whether copyright remains “fit for purpose”; • whether changes are needed to reduce the compliance and administrative costs associated with intellectual property rules. 29
- 30. Using government policies to leverage implementation of OER and Copyright Law Reform 30
- 31. Digital Education Revolution (Australian Labour Government 2007- 2013) • The Digital Education Revolution is a suite of initiatives, including: • National Secondary Schools Computer Fund • Supporting the Australian Curriculum Online (SACOL) • Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Innovation Fund • National Schools Interoperability Program • Australian Curriculum Connect Project 31
- 32. AusGOAL (2010 - to date) • Encourage re-use of publicly funded information by: o Providing a policy framework and implementation programme to open publicly funded information o Assisting you to make appropriate licensing decisions that enable the re-use of that information by the wider community o Reducing legal risk by identifying and protecting personal and other confidential information in the licensing selection process o Assisting information re-users to understand its lawful reuse o Making information searchable and accessible • Supersedes Queensland Governments – “Government Information Licensing Framework” • All States and Territories in Australia have endorsed AusGOAL 32
- 33. AusGOAL: why it exists • ‘Need to know’ has been replaced by ‘need to share’ • Benefits the community socially and economically • Enhances democracy and democratic processes • Improving government service delivery • Reduces government waste • Reduces the cost of information management to government • Introduces efficiencies into administrative processes • Establishes more efficient information transfer relationships across jurisdictions, sectors and with the community • May risk cross-jurisdictional programmes and funding 33
- 34. New Commonwealth Government Policies • STEM • Innovation Plan • Open Government Partnership 34
- 35. STEM • Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics • The Federal Government has educational and innovation policy objectives of delivering world class STEM education. • In 2014, Australian Government’s Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda— $12m package • Australian Maths and Science Partnership Program — $16.4m 35
- 36. Innovation Plan • Australian Government’s Innovation plan recently released. • Embracing the digital age: ensuring the next generation of students have the skills needed for the workforce of the future is critical to ensuring Australia’s future prosperity and competitiveness on the international stage. • Digital Careers- industry/University initiative to promote ICT careers to primary and secondary school students 36
- 37. Open Government Partnership (OGP) • The Australian Government has committed to joining the OGP • On 17 November 2015 the Australian Government launched a public consultation to develop its first national action plan. 37
- 38. Benefits of OER Schools • Essential to manage copyright licence fees • Schools can do more with OER as not limited by copying/usage limits • Encourage the wide use of important resources 38
- 39. OER: The Way of the Future “In an era of limited resources, educators must figure out how to do more with fewer financial resources. One action that would improve school efficiency and financing is to have educational resources developed with taxpayer dollars be licensed under a creative commons license that would improve accessibility to instructional materials. Budget circumstances require schools to get more efficient, boost productivity, and make do with fewer financial resources. While this poses obvious problems for school districts, it also creates the possibility of making changes in business operations that are innovative and transformational.” 39
- 40. OER: The Way of the Future “Technology, in particular the internet, must be fully exploited. Schools, universities and vocational and training institutions must increase access to education via open educational resources." “New technologies…together with globalisation and the emergence of new education providers, are radically changing the way people learn and teach. Open access to education resources offers an unprecedented opportunity to enhance both excellence and equity in education.” 40
- 41. Getting OER Implementation back on track • All the Departments of Education have endorsed AusGOAL and have formally agreed to license their websites and publications under Creative Commons. • Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia , Victoria and the Australian Government Departments of Education have all licensed their websites under CC BY 4.0. • Northern Territory and ACT are close behind. 41
- 42. Getting OER Implementation back on track • The NCU, with help from AusGOAL, recently launched the OER Toolkit for Teachers, Curriculum and eLearning Developers on the Smartcopying website: http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/open- education/open-education-resources/open- educational-resources-(oer)-a-toolkit-for-teachers- curriculum-and-elearning-developers. • NCU National OER workshops to come!! Focus on curriculum and e learning developers at Departments of Education and non government school sector 42
- 43. Getting OER implementation back on track • New Open Education and Creative Commons sections on www.smartcopying.edu.au • OER Toolkit, updated information pack Creative Commons for Educators, template copyright/creative commons notices for websites and publications, CC Posters, videos on OER, International best practice • Template Creative Commons clauses for government funding and commissioning agreements • AusGOAL/CC workshops to Government Lawyers, internal e learning, curriculum developers, teachers etc • P2PU Copyright 4 Educators 43
- 44. Australian schools would like to see • the Commonwealth and State Governments requiring greater accountability in relation to existing OER policies, by openly supporting and encouraging the implementation of AusGOAL in Departments and Agencies, and ensuring that any appropriate publicly funded initiative/project/resource to openly licence the resources in accordance with the AusGOAL framework, making them widely and freely available. • the Commonwealth Government continue its global leadership role, by openly supporting and encouraging the use of OER (for example, developing an Australian version of #GoOpen) 44
- 45. More Information Delia Browne National Copyright Director delia.browne@det.nsw.edu.au +61 2 9561 8876 www.smartcopying.edu.au http://www.slideshare.net/nationalcopyrightunit 45 Licence URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode Please give attribution to: National Copyright Unit, Copyright Advisory Groups (Schools and TAFEs) 2015
Editor's Notes
- NCU is a small specialist unit represents: Schools in Australia on copyright matters to the Council of Australia Government (COAG) Education Council. Reports to Federal, State and Territory Departments of Education, all Catholic Education Offices and the Independent Schools Council of Australia. NCU represents the almost 9,500 primary and secondary schools in Australia and their 3.5 million students and majority of State and Territory TAFE institutes. The NCU main tasks are: Negotiate and manage the collective statutory and voluntary licences with collecting societies on behalf of Schools and TAFE (current license fees are approximately $90 million per annum); Respond to copyright and other relevant law reform inquiries on behalf of School and TAFE sectors; Provide specialist copyright advice to Schools and TAFEs and their respective jurisdictions on copyright issues affecting schools and TAFE Implement Smartcopying practices to reduce copyright licensing fees, which includes, among other things: progressing OER in Australia maintaining the Smartcopying website www.smartcopying.edu.au and the National Copyright Unit Slideshare. Copyright 4 Educators www.p2pu.org Smartcopying website www.smartcopying.edu.au
- ALRC - background In February 2014 the Government released the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) report Copyright and the Digital Economy. The ALRC received 870 public and 139 confidential submissions and undertook 109 consultations with a full range of stakeholders. It’s conclusion at the end of this process was that the exceptions in the copyright act had not kept pace with changes in technology and practice, and are no longer fit for purpose. ALRC – Statutory licences In its final report on Copyright and the Digital Economy, the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has made some recommendations to retain, but simplify and make less prescriptive, the statutory licensing scheme. Whilst the ALRC has moved back from its earlier recommendation on repealing the statutory licensing scheme, it flags that if the fair use and new exceptions for government use are not introduced, there would be reason to revisit repealing the statutory licensing scheme. The ARLC also recommends a number of reforms to address specific criticisms of the statutory licensing scheme, including: clarification that the statutory licences do not apply where use of material falls within an exception to copyright - this will be particularly important if the ALRC’s recommendations to introduce a fair use exception or expand the existing fair dealing exceptions are accepted clarification that statutory licences do not apply where an alternative licence is negotiated – a clarification that is recommended as a check on the market power of collecting societies removal of requirement that governments must notify or pay equitable remuneration to a declared collecting society, so that governments have the option to deal directly with rights holders making statutory licences less prescriptive and more flexible - detailed provisions concerning the setting of equitable remuneration, remuneration notices, records notices, record keeping, sampling notices and survey requirements should be removed and terms should be agreed between the relevant parties, or by the Copyright Tribunal ALRC – Fair use The central recommendation was the introduction of a flexible ‘fair use’ exception to copyright. This recommendation is supported by schools, universities, cultural institutions, consumer organisation, libraries, tech companies and organisations assisting the blind and visually impaired. Currently any use that does not fall within one of the specific copyright exceptions infringes copyright, leading to problems such as: cultural institution being unable to digitise cultural heritage; tech companies unable index and cache onshore; and consumers with different rules for their home use of VHS tapes compared to DVDs. Fair use by comparison is a broad, flexible exception for copyright use that is based on the central question, ‘is this use fair’? To determine whether a use is fair, four factors are weighed: the purposes and character of the use; nature of the material; the amount used; and the effect on the market for/value of the material. The ALRC also proposed that 11 illustrative purposes should guide the courts as to uses that were more likely to be fair, such as education, reporting the news and disability access. The introduction of fair use would replace almost 30 existing technical exceptions, increasing the clarity and cohesion of Australia’s copyright law. It will be easier to comprehend, especially for lay people trying to work out the limits of exceptions available to them. The ALRC recommended fair use because it will assist in innovation, match consumer expectations, be more flexible and protect the market for artists and creators. The world’s largest exporter of cultural goods, the USA, has a fair use system, as do Singapore, Israel and South Korea. As the ALRC states, the effect of the reforms, including the introduction of fair use, will be that: “Australian copyright law can be applied to new technologies and new commercial and consumer practices, without constant recourse to legislative change. Fair use will promote innovation and enable a market-based response to the demands of the digital age. The reforms will enhance access to cultural material, without undermining incentives to create. The recommended exceptions are also intended to be more consistent with public standards of fairness.” We are hopeful that the change of government and the PC Review will lead to a renewed interest in the fair use debate in Australia. (read that as we’re pretty sure it’s got a pretty good chance now, as long as the PC review gives Turnbull an economic excuse).
- NCU, Universities Australia, Copyright Agency and Screenrights reached agreement on the form of a simplified and streamlined statutory licence (in the form approved by AEEYSOC in August) which all four stakeholders have asked the Commonwealth Government to implement. NCU considers that this model, which is based on the model that was recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) in its Copyright and the Digital Economy Report, would greatly benefit schools. It would not change the scope of the existing statutory licences (ie schools would be able to undertake the same kinds of copying as are currently permitted), but it would remove complex and technical provisions that have for many years imposed unnecessary regulatory costs on schools and which were found by the ALRC to be completely unsuited to the digital environment. It also has the potential to lead to a reduction in the amount that schools are paying under the statutory licences. This model was provided to the Commonwealth Government to demonstrate how the objectives could be achieved but it should be noted that the parliamentary drafting could look very different.
- The Productivity Commission has been asked by the Commonwealth Government to conduct a public inquiry into Australia’s intellectual property system, including copyright. In early October, the Productivity Commission released an Issues Paper (http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/intellectual-property), and is seeking input on questions that include the role that fair dealing and/or fair use can play in striking a better copyright balance, whether copyright remains “fit for purpose”, and whether changes are needed to reduce the compliance and administrative costs associated with intellectual property rules. This review is very important and key to achieving the copyright law reform being sought by the education sector. NCU’s recommendations in the submission will be similar to the recommendations put forth for the ALRC review. AEEYSOC approved all of NCU’s submissions to the ALRC throughout 2012 and 2013. The Productivity Commission has been directed to have regard to the ALRC’s recommendations in its Copyright and the Digital Economy report. As previously reported to AEEYSOC, these recommendations include not only the enactment of a fair use exception, but also orphan works reform in the form of an amendment to the Copyright Act to limit the remedies available for infringement where a user has conducted a diligent search for the copyright holder. The framework that the Productivity Commission is adopting will provide another forum for NCU/CAG to advocate for these important copyright reforms. Submissions in response to the Issues Paper are due by 30 November 2015. The Commission is required to provide a draft report by March 2016 and a final report by August 2016. NCU is currently drafting a submission to the Issues Paper. A summary of the approach is as follows: An introduction, highlighting the importance of STEM subjects and setting out the educational copying framework; An explanation that the existing copyright exceptions are not fit for purpose in a digital environment; Debunking common myths and misperceptions about fair use; A demonstration and explanation that the educational copying regime is economically inefficient; An explanation of the ‘Haines’ issue (ie that schools in Australian are not able to copy on behalf of their students under the existing copyright exceptions); Give evidence of the economic inefficiencies currently occurring in the copyright regime and how these may be fixed, as well as demonstrating the school sector’s economic contribution and highlighting the benefits of fair use/a flexible exception.
- Digital Education Revolution (http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/DigitalEducationRevolution) The Digital Education Revolution is a suite of initiatives, including: the National Secondary Schools Computer Fund, which is helping schools provide new computers and other ICT equipment for students in Years 9 to 12, as well as providing the necessary infrastructure to support the installation and maintenance of the additional ICT. A 1:1 computer to student ratio is being achieved nationally in Australian schools for Years 9 to 12 for the start of the 2012 school year. the $31.4 million Supporting the Australian Curriculum Online (SACOL) program that will significantly enhance the pool of national, state and territory digital curriculum resources to support all teachers in implementing the Australian Curriculum. It includes a focus on filling resource gaps identified for English, mathematics, science and history and providing extra resources to help teachers to teach geography, languages and the arts. Funding will also provide support for teachers developing flexible learning approaches and integrating resources into the classroom. the $16.3 million Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Innovation Fund which is supporting four projects that together will assist teachers and school leaders to embrace technology and encourage teachers to creatively and effectively integrate the use of ICT into the classroom. the National Schools Interoperability Program which was established by the Australian Education, Early Childhood and Youth Senior Officials Committee to provide it with technical advice and support for national initiatives. the Australian Curriculum Connect Project which is supporting implementation of the Australian Curriculum by enabling the use, sharing and discovery of digital resources aligned with the new curriculum.
- Australian Governments Open Access and Licensing Framework: AusGOAL To comply with AusGOAL, the least restrictive Creative Commons licence must be applied unless circumstances prevent it. This is the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. AusGOAL encourages re-use of publicly funded information by: • providing a policy framework to open publicly funded information; • assisting Governments to make appropriate licensing decisions that enable the re-use of publicly funded information by the wider community; • reducing legal risk by identifying and protecting personal and other confidential information in the licensing selection process; • assisting information re-users to understand the terms of lawful re-use; and • making information searchable and accessible.
- STEM The Federal Government has educational and innovation policy objectives of delivering world class STEM education. Examples of national / Australian Government initiatives in ICT / STEM / Digital literacy Australian Government’s Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda— $12m package announced Oct 2014 https://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/publication/increasing-focus-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem-and-innovation-schools https://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/restoring-focus-stem-schools-initiative $7.4 million to develop and implement Mathematics by inquiry $3.5 million towards introduction to computer coding across the curriculum $0.5 million towards establishing a P-TECH styled education facility $0.6 million to extend national science and mathematics summer schools to include more girls, disadvantaged and Indigenous school students, including those from regional and remote areas. Australian Maths and Science Partnership Program — $16.4m further announced in July 2014 to improve student engagement in maths and science courses at university and schools, through innovative partnerships between universities, schools, and other relevant organisations.” https://www.education.gov.au/australian-maths-and-science-partnerships-programme-amspp Innovation Plan New Government’s Innovation plan recently released. Embracing the digital age: ensuring the next generation of students have the skills needed for the workforce of the future is critical to ensuring Australia’s future prosperity and competitiveness on the international stage. Digital Careers — http://digitalcareers.edu.au/about/ — a joint industry-university initiative to raise awareness and interest in ICT careers, focusing on primary and secondary school students, parents, teachers & school-based career advisors OGP http://www.records.com.au/blog/australia-commits-to-joining-the-open-government-partnership/ The Australian Government has committed to joining the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a voluntary, global initiative that promotes transparency, empowers citizens, fights corruption, and harnesses new technologies to strengthen governance. On 17 November 2015 the Australian Government launched a public consultation to develop its first national action plan. The first information session will be held on December 15th.
- STEM The Federal Government has educational and innovation policy objectives of delivering world class STEM education. Examples of national / Australian Government initiatives in ICT / STEM / Digital literacy Australian Government’s Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda— $12m package announced Oct 2014 https://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/publication/increasing-focus-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem-and-innovation-schools https://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/restoring-focus-stem-schools-initiative $7.4 million to develop and implement Mathematics by inquiry $3.5 million towards introduction to computer coding across the curriculum $0.5 million towards establishing a P-TECH styled education facility $0.6 million to extend national science and mathematics summer schools to include more girls, disadvantaged and Indigenous school students, including those from regional and remote areas. Australian Maths and Science Partnership Program — $16.4m further announced in July 2014 to improve student engagement in maths and science courses at university and schools, through innovative partnerships between universities, schools, and other relevant organisations.” https://www.education.gov.au/australian-maths-and-science-partnerships-programme-amspp
- Innovation Plan The Government’s Innovation plan recently released. Embracing the digital age: ensuring the next generation of students have the skills needed for the workforce of the future is critical to ensuring Australia’s future prosperity and competitiveness on the international stage. Digital Careers — http://digitalcareers.edu.au/about/ — a joint industry-university initiative to raise awareness and interest in ICT careers, focusing on primary and secondary school students, parents, teachers & school-based career advisors
- OGP http://www.records.com.au/blog/australia-commits-to-joining-the-open-government-partnership/ The Australian Government has committed to joining the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a voluntary, global initiative that promotes transparency, empowers citizens, fights corruption, and harnesses new technologies to strengthen governance. OGP was launched in 2011 to provide an international platform for domestic reformers committed to making their governments more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens. Since then, OGP has grown from 8 countries to the 69 participating countries. In all of these countries, government and civil society are working together to develop and implement ambitious open government reforms. On 17 November 2015 the Australian Government launched a public consultation to develop its first national action plan. The first information session will be held on December 15th. The National Action Plan will be finalised by the end of June 2016. An exciting new avenue for establishing and expanding national commitments to open education has emerged through the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral initiative that aims to secure commitments from governments to make their governance more open, accountable and responsive to citizens. Background The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multilateral initiative and was launched in September 2011 by the United States President, Barack Obama, and the Brazilian President, Dilma Roussef. The OPG was founded by eight countries – Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. The eight founding OGP countries have been joined by a further 61 countries bringing the total to 69 participating countries. The OGP aims to secure commitments from governments to promote transparency, increase civic participation, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to make government more open, effective, and accountable. The OGP also fosters new ways for citizens and governments to working together to solve common problems. In the spirit of multi-stakeholder collaboration, the OGP is overseen by a steering committee of governments and civil society organisations. OGP member countries endorse Open Government Declarations and publish national OGP action plans with specific open government reform commitments. The OGP agenda is broad and extends to disclosure of interests, public ethics, anti-corruption, service delivery, budgetary efficiency, public safety and corporate accountability. Further details are available on the OGP website, www.opengovpartnership.org. Australia’s Open Government Efforts to Date: http://ogpau.govspace.gov.au/background/ Please note: this content is currently in draft. please add your comments and feedback in the comments below. OPEN REPORTING, BUDGETS AND PARLIAMENTARY PROCESSES Australia has a long history of public sector and parliamentary open reporting. All government entities are required to produce and publicly publish their annual reports, budgets, contracts and a variety of other reporting requirements for the purposes of oversight and transparency. The recent independent Review of Whole-of-Government Internal Regulation gives a good outline of public sector reporting in the Australian Government. From a Parliamentary perspective, Australia has also had a good track record, with a high level of transparency and reporting across all Parliamentary Business including federal budgets, bills and legislation, transcripts from all Parliamentary business, tabled documents, the work of Parliamentary Committees and much more. AUSTRALIA’S ORIGINAL DECLARATION OF OPEN GOVERNMENT In 2009, the Gov 2.0 Taskforce was established to advise the Government on the structural barriers and enabling policies for greater information disclosure, digital innovation and online engagement. This included the division of responsibilities for, and overall coordination of, these issues within government. A Declaration of Open Government was launched in 2010 (Archived). In response, the Government made the Declaration of Open Government and accepted in full the recommendations in the Ahead of the Game: Blueprint for Reform of Australian Government Administration report, both of which promoted greater participation in Australia’s democracy, policy and legislative reform, commitments to open government practices, and greater release of public sector information. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION & PRIVACY REFORMS The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) was established in 2010 under the new Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010. Over the course of the next four years the Freedom of Information Act 1982 was updated making it easier to request information and seek review of FOI decisions. Parliament enacted reforms with the passage of the Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Act 2010 (Cth) and the Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010 (AIC Act). The Information Publication Scheme was (IPS) which implemented directing agencies to take proactive steps to release standard government information in a consistent way reflecting the pro-disclosure goals of the FOI Act. In 2014 the Australian Privacy Principles (APP) were added to Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 1988. The APPs regulate the handling of personal information by Australian government and some private sector organisations. PLATFORMS FOR DATA RELEASE Data.gov.au was established in 2010 to enable the centralisation and distribution of open data and access to government data APIs. The website was allocated resourcing to initiate whole of government direction and curation of data. In 2012, data.gov.au was allocated resources to strengthen its role as an essential element in Australia’s open government strategy. The number of datasets available on the website has grown from 500 to over 7,000, and is now working in alignment with state and territory and local governments via the Cross Jurisdictional Open Data Working Group to improve open data offerings nationwide. ADOPTION OF CREATIVE COMMONS In order to accommodate greater access to government information and bring consistency in licensing arrangements, the public service adapted Creative Commons Attribution 3.0. The adaption of the license enabled all government content with the exception of Commonwealth Coat of Arms and unless specifically stated elsewhere. Details in the AGD Statement of Intellectual Property Principles for Australian Government. NATIONAL COMMISSION OF AUDIT The National Commission of Audit’s (2014) focus on improving the management of public resources has enabled progressive whole of government changes in a short time. The government has been proactive in addressing the recommendations within the 2014/15 budget and in immediate organisational changes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public resource management. As part of the structural reforms following the Audit, we have seen amalgamations of key government functions including the creation of the Data Policy Branch within the Department of Communications. This branch is now positioned to provide overall data policy direction on whole of government initiatives including the development and implementation of the Australian Government Open Data policy. The Audit also recommended further centralisation, sharing, and reuse of government resources with a focus on gaining from the opportunities innovation in technology can provide. CHANGES IN CULTURE Open government practices and advances have a dramatic impact on the federal and state and territory public services. The Australian Public Service is learning to value the contribution which more transparent, interactive, and open government practices can offer. It is benefiting from being a workforce which is looking for improvements based on our public needs – not just to solve problems when they arise, it is engaging with the public partnerships to actively encourage private enterprise to provide public services, and it is leveraging the skills and knowledge of the public to improve how it manages its services, manages its data, implements new processes. These changes in culture have been supported by a number of reports in recent years:
- In a paper released in conjunction with a panel discussion, the Brookings Institution identifies promising policy ideas to encourage entrepreneurship and innovative growth in the technology industry. (http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/35290)
- The European Commission opened a public consultation from mid August to mid November 2015 on "Opening up Education” http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/consult/open_en.htm. The resulting Rethinking Education strategy was announced on 20 November: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-1233_en.htm . And one of the points made is: "Technology, in particular the internet, must be fully exploited. Schools, universities and vocational and training institutions must increase access to education via open educational resources."
- One of the key objectives of NCU and CAG is to monitor and develop smartcopying strategies to manage and where possible reduce national copyright licensing fees. In the Smartcopying Report, one of the ways this was outlined to be done was for the education sector to use Creative Commons licensed resources. As such the NCU works to encourage schools and students to use Creative Commons resources as well as encouraging creators of educational content to make their materials available under Creative Commons wherever possible for the benefit of Australian schools and students. In August 2014 AEEYSOC recognised the importance of OER and Creative Commons licences by approving all Departments of Education license their websites and publications to comply with the Australian Governments Open Access and Licensing Framework (AusGOAL) and reflect best practices for open education resources and open access. Increasing the amount of content that is AusGOAL compliant will not only allow greater access to material, but it will also save substantial funds due to eliminating the duplication of work, allowing the remixing and sharing of material, and reducing licensing costs. Recently the NCU, with help from AusGOAL, launched the OER Toolkit for Teachers, Curriculum and eLearning Developers on the Smartcopying website: http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/open-education/open-education-resources/open-educational-resources-(oer)-a-toolkit-for-teachers-curriculum-and-elearning-developers. The NCU has received fantastic feedback from schools in Australia as well as Creative Commons affiliates internationally. As approved at the 13 June 2014 AEEYSOC meeting (TelePresence), NCU has been working with all the Departments of Education to license their websites and publications under Creative Commons. Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria and the Australian Government Departments of Education have all licensed their websites and publications under CC BY 4.0. NCU understands that Northern Territory, ACT and are still progressing the licensing of their websites under CC BY 4.0.