Introduction

AUSTRAC has prepared this Information Publication Scheme (IPS) plan in accordance with section 8(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

Purpose

The purpose of this plan is to:

• comply with section 8(1) of the FOI Act
• assist AUSTRAC to establish and regularly review our IPS.

Objectives

The objectives of this plan are to outline how AUSTRAC will:

• manage our IPS information holdings
• proactively identify and publish required information under our IPS
• proactively identify and publish optional information under our IPS
• review our IPS to ensure that the information published remains accurate, current and complete
• achieve satisfactory conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1
• work towards ensuring that information published under the IPS is discoverable, understandable, machine-readable, re-useable and transformable
• measure the success of the agency's IPS and identify opportunities to improve the functioning of the IPS in the future.

Implementing the Information Publication Scheme

Establishing AUSTRAC's IPS

To identify IPS information we:

• conducted an audit of information currently on the agency's website to identify existing IPS documents and identify any gaps
• coordinated efforts across the agency to identify additional IPS documents held by the agency, but which were not published on the AUSTRAC website
• coordinated efforts across the agency to identify 'operational information' publishable under the IPS
• developed a disclosure log for information released in response to FOI requests
• contributed to a concurrent project to review website content to ensure website materials developed by business areas are accurate, up-to-date and complete
• created a new web page to bring together all IPS documents in one location
• ensured all identified IPS information was published on the AUSTRAC website by 1 May 2011.

We will monitor and update our FOI disclosure log as necessary to ensure that responses to FOI requests are published in the disclosure log within 10 working days of the responses being made public (except for information that is otherwise exempt from being published under the FOI Act).

We will monitor our responses to FOI requests to identify information to which we 'routinely give access' under the FOI Act, and publish this routinely. This will include information in documents to which we routinely give access in response to FOI requests.

IPS information architecture

Our Information Publication Scheme page includes IPS information and links to other sections of our website that hold information captured under the IPS.

We recognise that, due to technical constraints, not all documents published on our website under the IPS will be available in an accessible format immediately. Other documents not provided in accessible formats include PDFs made of images of scanned documents and documents that are out of date but provided for historical reference.

Where a document is not yet available in an accessible format, it will be made available in an accessible format on request. We will try to meet all reasonable requests for documents to be provided in hardcopy (or alternative) formats in a timely manner.

All AUSTRAC publications intended for public use are published on our public website. In addition, we provide copies of the AUSTRAC annual report to the Commonwealth Library Deposit and Free Issue Scheme, and all reports published under the AUSTRAC typologies and case studies reports series are captured by the National Library of Australia's Pandora program.

Information required to be published

We will publish all information required under section 8(2) of the FOI Act. This required information includes this agency plan, as well as a range of information under the following broad sections:

• about AUSTRAC (who we are and what we do)
• our reports and responses to Parliament
• information routinely requested under the FOI Act, and the agency's FOI request 'disclosure log'
• the arrangements we have in place for public consultation
• contact details for the agency's FOI contact officer.

AUSTRAC will consider publishing optional information as it arises.

Administering and reviewing the agency IPS

We will periodically review our IPS to identify information that must be published. Business units will be required to monitor whether new materials should be published on our IPS, and the IPS will be included in our regular internal reporting framework.

We will monitor and update our FOI disclosure log as necessary to ensure our responses to FOI requests are published within 10 working days of the responses being made public (except for information that is otherwise exempt from being published under the FOI Act).

Review

We will take a number of factors into account when measuring the success of our IPS and when evaluating steps to improve its effectiveness. These include:

• the level of external web traffic to individual IPS pages on the AUSTRAC website
• feedback from the public about the agency's IPS, submitted via our dedicated INFO_ACCESS@austrac.gov.au email address.

AUSTRAC will review and revise this plan annually and this activity will be incorporated into our annual planning cycle.

Comments and feedback about our IPS and IPS plan can be sent to AUSTRAC either by post or email to:

Freedom of Information Officer

AUSTRAC

PO Box K534

Haymarket NSW 1240

Phone: 02 6120 2631

Fax: 02 6120 2601

Email: INFO_ACCESS@austrac.gov.au