This is the print-friendly version of the following page:
http://aupsi.net/publications/reports.jsp
[Return to original version]
State of Play: PSI Reuse in Australia by Professor Anne Fitzgerald is now available on QUT ePrints and ePSI Platform, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence.
This report was published by European Public Sector Information (EPSI) Platform as part of a series of Topic Reports.
The abstract from the report states:
After having lagged in developing information policy frameworks during the decade up to the mid-2000s, recent developments have seen Australian governments (at federal, state and local levels) re-position themselves close to the leading edge of policy and practice on public sector information (PSI) access and reuse. Acceptance of the recommendations proposed by committees of inquiry into the issue, the reform of Freedom of Information (FOI) laws to support proactive release of PSI, the establishment of Information Commissioner Offices by federal and State governments, the widespread adoption of Creative Commons licensing of government copyright materials and use of web 2.0 technologies to distribute PSI, demonstrate that Australian governments increasingly grasp the social and economic importance of PSI. The Australian Government’s Declaration of Open Government (July 2010) reaffirms the federal government’s commitment to this course, pursuing “open government based on a culture of engagement, built on better access to and use of government held information, and sustained by the innovative use of technology.” While real progress has been made towards the implementation of broad-reaching information strategies, attention is now required to the further development of the policy framework, the principles governing information access and re-use and practical guidance tools. A notable feature of the Australian experience is the use of open content licences (primarily Creative Commons licences) on copyright-protected PSI, not only as an operational mechanism for managing government copyright but also as a driver of information policy. By releasing their materials under non-exclusive, open content licences, government agencies have adopted a policy position that, by default, PSI that is made available for access will also be able to be used and reused.
Open Access Policies, Practices and Licensing: A Review of the Literature in Australia and Selected Jurisdictions by Professor Anne Fitzgerald is a condensed compilation of the more extensive Policies and Principles on Access to and Reuse of Public Sector Information: Literature Review (see below). This condensed version covers all jurisdictions, and is available at QUT ePrints.
The 324-page publication sets out the findings of an extensive review of published materials dealing with policies, practices and legal issues relating to information access and reuse, with a particular focus on materials generated, held or funded by public sector bodies.
If you would like a free printed copy, please contact us.
Professor Anne Fitzgerald, with the assistance of the auPSI research team and others, is conducting a literature review of material relating to the governance and provision of access to public sector information (PSI).
The literature review, entitled Policies and Principles on Access to and Reuse of Public Sector Information is organised on a jurisdictional basis, commencing with Australia (chapter 1) and New Zealand (chapter 2). It also identifies materials produced by international organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the international Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) (chapter 3). Developments in key overseas jurisdictions are grouped on a regional basis: Europe, United Kingdom and Ireland (chapter 4); the United States of America (chapter 5), Canada (chapter 6) and Asia (chapter 7).
The following chapters are available online at QUT ePrints:
The objective of the literature review is to identify materials published in Australia and elsewhere dealing with policies, principles and practices relating to access to and reuse of public sector information. The literature review covers materials relating to public sector information generally and publicly funded research data and publications, as well as materials dealing specifically with spatial information.
Professor Anne Fitzgerald was commissioned by the Government 2.0 Taskforce to lead Project 4: Copyright Law and Intellectual Property. Project 4 investigated the application of copyright law to public sector information, and how the law might be managed to facilitate broader access to and use of PSI.
The 83-page project report is available on the Government 2.0 Taskforce website and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence.