Information Publication Scheme Agency Plan

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    Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) 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 Information Publication Scheme Agency Plan (Agency Plan) describes how Jobs and Skills Australia proposes to do this, as required by subsection 8(1) of the FOI Act. 

    Jobs and Skills Australia staff work with policy makers, influencers, educators and students in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector to provide clear advice to government on pricing and emerging skills needs. 

    This Agency Plan describes how Jobs and Skills Australia administers the Information Publication Scheme in respect of its information holdings: 

    • establishing and administering Jobs and Skills Australia's Information Publication Scheme entry 
    • Information Publication Scheme information architecture 
    • information required to be published under the Information Publication Scheme
    • other information to be published 
    • Information Publication Scheme compliance review. 

    Purpose

    The purpose of the Agency Plan is to: 

    • assist Jobs and Skills Australia in planning and administering its Information Publication Scheme (IPS) entry 
    • facilitate public consultation about that contribution 
    • comply with s 8(1) of the FOI Act by listing what information Jobs and Skills Australia proposes to publish, how and to whom the information will be published. 

    Objective

    The objective of this Agency Plan is to outline the mechanisms and procedures Jobs and Skills Australia has in place to: 

    • manage Jobs and Skills Australia's Information Publication Scheme (IPS) information holdings 
    • proactively identify and publish information required to be published (s 8(2) of the Freedom of Information Act) 
    • proactively identify and publish any other information to be published (s 8(4) of the FOI Act) 
    • regularly review information published under the IPS to ensure it is accurate, up to date and complete (s 8B) 
    • ensure that information published under the IPS is easily discoverable 
    • ensure satisfactory compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (Version  2) (WCAG 2.0) 
    • measure the success of Jobs and Skills Australia's IPS 
    • promote greater understanding of the objects of the FOI Act and encourage the pro-disclosure culture in accordance with government policy. 

    Establishing and administering the Information Publication Scheme

    The Privacy Champion, is the senior officer responsible for implementing and leading Jobs and Skills Australia’s compliance with the Information Publication Scheme (IPS). All Senior Executive Services (SES) officers assisting Jobs and Skills Australia are responsible for ensuring that the operational information relevant to their work is published on the IPS and kept accurate and up to date. 

    The IPS Coordinator is responsible for overall maintenance of the IPS. The IPS Coordinator will develop a guide to publishing information under the IPS for staff assisting Jobs and Skills Australia. The guide will: 

    • describe processes to be followed internally to ensure the accuracy, currency and completeness of published information
    • help staff to identify on an ongoing basis any required or optional information to be published under the IPS
    • describe the process for publishing information. 

    Jobs and Skills Australia provides training material to ensure awareness of agency staff about Freedom of Information (FOI), which includes a section on the IPS. 

    The IPS Coordinator will coordinate staff to review and update their material on the IPS annually. 

    Publication of material will be administered by the Communications team, who will provide website publication services for upload and maintenance of documents on the IPS, including this plan. 

    The IPS Coordinator will respond to requests for access to documents listed on the IPS that are not available for download. 

    Jobs and Skills Australia will update the IPS page of the website intermittently as further information that is required and permitted to be published under subsections 8(2), 8(4) and 8A(2) of the FOI Act is identified. 

    Information architecture

    Jobs and Skills Australia has developed a document library using a website which is WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliant. 

    In compliance with section 8 of the Privacy Act, the IPS entry is published on the Jobs and Skills Australia’s website under established headings: 

    • Jobs and Skills Australia’s Agency Plan 
    • who we are and details of Jobs and Skills Australia’s organisational structure 
    • Jobs and Skills Australia’s annual reports 
    • our priorities 
    • our finances 
    • details of current consultations being run by Jobs and Skills Australia including terms and conditions 
    • information Jobs and Skills Australia routinely provides to Parliament 
    • Jobs and Skills Australia’s Disclosure Log 
    • Jobs and Skills Australia’s operational information 
    • how you can contact us. 

    Visitors to the website can either browse or search the information in the publications library. An advanced search facility using filters, metadata and keywords enables visitors to search for documents. All information uploaded to the website has a dynamically generated ‘library card’ containing metadata and an abstract. Links to documents available for download are published on the library card.

    In certain circumstances it may be impractical to publish an existing document. In those circumstances, Jobs and Skills Australia will provide information about the document and instructions on how to request access to the document. Jobs and Skills Australia may charge a small fee for accessing such documents, but this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. 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). 

    The website also has an online feedback form to encourage public comment on any aspect of the website or the information published on it. To ensure that Jobs and Skills Australia’s IPS entry (and individual IPS documents) are easily discoverable, Jobs and Skills Australia has published a link to the IPS on the homepage. 

    The copyright for all information on the website is under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Australia unless otherwise specified. 

    Information required to be published

    In accordance with subsection 8(2) of the FOI Act, Jobs and Skills Australia publishes the following information: 

    • Jobs and Skills Australia’s Agency Plan (this document) as required under paragraph 8(2)(a) of the FOI Act 
    • details of Jobs and Skills Australia’s organisational structure [add link] and its functions and powers, including its decision making powers and other powers affecting members of the public 
    • details of the appointment of the Commissioner and Acting Commissioner under the Jobs and Skills Australia Act 2022 
    • information in documents to which Jobs and Skills Australia routinely gives access in response to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests (FOI Disclosure Log) under Part III of the FOI Act except:
      • personal information about any individual the publishing of which would be unreasonable 
      • information about the business, commercial, financial or professional affairs of any person the publishing of which would be unreasonable 
      • other information of a kind determined by the Information Commissioner the publishing of which would be unreasonable 
    • Jobs and Skills Australia’s annual reports 
    • details of current consultations being run by Jobs and Skills Australia for members of the public to comment, including how, and to whom those comments may be made 
    • Jobs and Skills Australia’s operational information – that is, information held by Jobs and Skills Australia or the purpose of performing or exercising the Acting Commissioner's functions or powers in making decisions or recommendations affecting members of the public or a particular person or entity, or classes of persons or entities (for example, rules, guidelines, practices and precedents relating to those decisions and recommendations) 
    • the contact details of an officer who can be contacted about access to information and documents held by Jobs and Skills Australia. Jobs and Skills Australia’s website provides information about how to contact Jobs and Skills Australia by telephone and by email. 

    How and to whom the information will be published

    How 

    Information will be published on the Jobs and Skills Australia’s website. In accordance with the requirements of subsection 8D(3) of the FOI Act, the information will be published by: 

    • making it available for downloading from the website (where practicable to do so); or 
    • publishing on the website a link to another website from which the information can be downloaded; or 
    • publishing on the website other details of how the information may be obtained. 

    Wherever possible Jobs and Skills Australia will provide online content in a format that can be searched, copied and transformed. 

    To whom 

    The required information will be published to members of the public generally and, where Jobs and Skills Australia considers it appropriate to do so, to particular classes of persons or entities. 

    Other information to be published under the IPS

    Where appropriate Jobs and Skills Australia will also publish other information that it holds (in addition to the information published under subsection 8(2)), taking into account the objects of the Freedom Of Information (FOI) Act. Other information could include subject specific reports, data, policy documents and factsheets. 

    Individual policy areas will identify what other information is to be published under the Information Publication Scheme (IPS).  

    A register of other documents published by Jobs and Skills Australia (the Document Library) is also available. 

    IPS compliance review

    Jobs and Skills Australia will review and revise this Agency Plan annually. 

    Jobs and Skills Australia will also conduct a review in conjunction with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at least every five years, in accordance with Part 13 of the guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner. 

    Jobs and Skills Australia will adopt the following criteria for measuring its performance: 

    • Agency plan: has Jobs and Skills Australia published a comprehensive plan for its IPS compliance? 
    • Governance and administration: does Jobs and Skills Australia have appropriate mechanisms in place to meet its Information Publication Scheme (IPS) obligations, including a sound information management framework? 
    • IPS document holdings: has Jobs and Skills Australia reviewed its document holdings to decide what information must be published under s 8(2) of the FOI Act, and information that can be published under s 8(4) of the FOI Act?  Is the Jobs and Skills Australia's IPS entry accurate, up-to-date and complete? 
    • IPS information architecture: does Jobs and Skills Australia 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 Jobs and Skills Australia have appropriate processes, systems and resources in place to monitor and review its IPS compliance and make necessary improvements to its IPS implementation? 

    How Jobs and Skills Australia proposes to otherwise comply with the requirements of Part II of the FOI Act

    Jobs and Skills Australia intends to comply with the other requirements of Part II of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act as follows: 

    • Jobs and Skills Australia will ensure it has regard to all relevant guidelines issued by the Information Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act; 
    • Jobs and Skills Australia will cooperate with the regular reviews of Jobs and Skills Australia’s handling of the IPS which will be carried out by the Information Commissioner; and in performing a function or exercising a power under Part II of the FOI Act, Jobs and Skills Australia will also have regard to the objects of the FOI Act as set out in sections 3 and 3A. 
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