Agency plan

The Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) is an agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) and is required to comply with the Information Publication Scheme (IPS) requirements. This agency plan describes how ORIC does this, as required by s. 8(1) of the FOI Act.

ORIC delivers registration, regulation and related services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act). The CATSI Act sets out how to register Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations and how they should be run.

The CATSI Act also sets out ORIC’s functions (s. 658-1), the services ORIC provides and the powers ORIC has to enforce the law. See Part 16-3 of the CATSI Act.

ORIC has to deliver these services in a way that takes account of the special needs, requirements and risks of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations within the context of Australian and international best practice on sound corporate governance. Ultimately, the aim is to build the independence and capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, groups and corporations.

The agency plan describes how ORIC implements and administers the IPS in respect of its own information holdings, by addressing the following:

  • establishing and administering ORIC’s contribution
  • information architecture
  • information required to be published
  • other information to be published (optional information)
  • accessibility to information published
  • compliance review
  • better practice initiatives including promoting community engagement.

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

Purpose

This agency plan: 

  • shows what information ORIC publishes (referred to as the IPS information holdings) 
  • outlines how and to whom the information is published 
  • shows how ORIC will otherwise comply with the IPS requirements (s. 8(1)). 

Note: in this plan, information to be published by ORIC under the IPS is referred to as ORIC's IPS information holdings, or as ORIC’s IPS documents when referring to individual documents.

Objectives

ORIC's objectives are to outline appropriate mechanisms and procedures to:

  • manage ORIC's IPS information holdings
  • proactively identify and publish all information required to be published (s. 8(2)), including this plan
  • proactively identify and publish any optional information to be published (s. 8(4))
  • review and ensure on a regular basis that information published under the IPS is accurate, up to date and complete (s. 8B)
  • ensure, as far as practicable, that information published under the IPS is easily discoverable, understandable, machine-readable, re-useable and transformable
  • measure the success of ORIC's IPS contribution
  • adopt, as far as practicable, best practice initiatives in implementing and administering ORIC's contribution to the IPS.

Administering ORIC's IPS

The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) and ORIC (which is within NIAA) have a comprehensive information management framework that applies to ORIC's IPS information holdings. This framework comprises records management plans and policies.
The ORIC General Counsel and the Manager, Education and Communications are designated within ORIC as the officers responsible for leading ORIC's compliance with the IPS.

Each section of ORIC is responsible for day-to-day tasks associated with complying with the IPS - for example, ensuring up to date operational information is made available to publish.

As part of managing the ongoing administration of ORIC's IPS information holdings, the Education and Communications section has guidelines for web publishing that will apply to the publication of ORIC's IPS information holdings.

The Education and Communications section will ensure that, as far as practicable, the IPS web page:

  • makes ORIC’s IPS documents as easily discoverable, understandable and machine-readable as possible
  • invites members of the public to contact the FOI contact officer with comments on ORIC's IPS information holdings, particularly where documents are found not to be discoverable, understandable or machine-readable.

For each ORIC IPS document that is not available in an accessible format on ORIC's website, a contact point is listed and a person may request access to the document through the contact point.

ORIC may charge a person for accessing any ORIC IPS document that is impracticable to publish online:

  • at the lowest reasonable cost
  • to reimburse specific reproduction costs or other specific incidental costs (s. 8D(4)).

Access charges for documents are available in the Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 1982.

The ORIC website identifies any ORIC IPS documents that are impracticable to publish online.

The website states that a person seeking access to any of these documents may contact the relevant ORIC officer to arrange access.

IPS information architecture

ORIC's IPS information holdings that are available on its website will include documents of the following categories/types:

  • Agency plan (ss. 8(2)(a) of the FOI Act)
  • Who we are (ss. 8(2)(b) and 8(2)(d) of the FOI Act)
  • What we do (ss. 8(2)(c) and 8(2)(j) of the FOI Act)
  • Our reports and responses to Parliament (ss. 8(2)(e) and 8(2)(h) of the FOI Act)
  • Routinely requested information and disclosure log (ss. 8(2)(g) and 11C of the FOI Act)
  • Consultation arrangements (s. 8(2)(f) of the FOI Act)
  • Other information (s. 8(4) of the FOI Act)
  • Contact us (s. 8(2)(i) of the FOI Act).

To ensure that ORIC's IPS information holdings (and individual ORIC IPS documents) are easily discoverable, understandable and machine-readable, ORIC will:

  • publish an IPS icon on the homepage of its website, which will link 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 an alert service to notify subscribers of new publications under the IPS or other developments in relation to ORIC's contribution to the IPS
  • establish links to this agency plan at Australian Government directory website
  • respond to community feedback about whether the IPS information holdings (and individual IPS documents) are easily discoverable, understandable and machine-readable.

ORIC makes its IPS documents available on the IPS section of the website.

ORIC, so far as possible, makes its IPS information holdings available for reuse on open licensing terms.

Information required to be published under the IPS

ORIC publishes documents required to be published under the IPS (s. 8(2)) in the IPS section of the NIAA website or provides a link from the IPS section to the associated document.

In addition to the agency plan, ORIC publishes these documents or links to these documents under the following headings.

Who we are

  • This includes an organisation chart and information about statutory appointments where applicable.
  • For statutory appointees, ORIC publishes the name of the person appointed, the length or term of appointment, the position to which the person is appointed (and particulars of the position) and the provision of the Act under which the person is appointed.

What we do

  • This outlines the functions, areas of responsibility and decision making powers of ORIC.
  • ORIC also publishes rules, guidelines, practices and precedents relating to these functions and powers and responsibilities. 

Routinely requested information

This includes information:

  • in documents to which ORIC routinely gives access in response to FOI requests. ORIC will clearly identify these documents in its disclosure log, published under s 11C of the FOI Act - this requires agencies to publish information contained in documents to which the agency has provided access under the FOI Act.
  • held by ORIC that is routinely provided to the Parliament in response to requests and orders from the Parliament.

Consultation

This includes information about how and to whom a comment may be submitted by members of the public, where ORIC undertakes public consultation on a specific policy proposal.

Contact us

This includes the name, telephone number and an email address for a contact officer, who can be contacted about access to ORIC 's information or documents under the FOI Act.  

Contact details are provided for access to specific IPS documents listed on the ORIC website.

Optional information published under the IPS

ORIC publishes on the IPS section of ORIC’s website other information that it holds (in addition to the information published under s. 8(2)), taking into account the objects of the FOI Act (s. 8(4)).

ORIC will publish these documents in accordance with the timeframe set out in Attachment B.

Optional information will be published as it becomes available.

Accessibility under the IPS

The NIAA will publish any new ORIC IPS documents as soon as practicable.

ORIC will ensure that, wherever practicable, all information newly published on ORIC website conforms with WCAG 2.1 to AA standard.

IPS compliance review

ORIC will review and revise this agency plan at least annually, which will coincide with ORIC 's annual planning process.

ORIC will review the operation of its IPS from time to time and at least every five years, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner about IPS compliance review (better practice guidance material to assist agencies to comply with the IPS — to be published in the Information Commissioner's regulatory capacity).

The majority of documents listed on the IPS section of ORIC 's website will be converted into HTML to meet accessibility compliance.

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 practicable, documents covered by these exceptions will be published in alternative formats.

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