Information Publication Scheme Plan

Contents

Housing Australia is the independent national housing agency, working with the private sector, community housing providers and all levels of Government to facilitate and deliver programs that help more Australians to access social and affordable housing or to buy a home. 

Housing Australia 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. The IPS requires agencies to publish a broad range of information on their website and authorises agencies to proactively publish other information. This IPS Plan describes how Housing Australia proposes to do this, as required by section 8(1) of the FOI Act.

The purpose of the Housing Australia IPS Plan is to show: 

  • what information Housing Australia publishes;
  • how the information is published; and
  • how Housing Australia otherwise complies with the IPS requirements under section 8(1) of 
    the FOI Act.

In this Plan information published or to be published by Housing Australia under the IPS is referred to as “IPS information holding”.   

Housing Australia’s objectives in relation to this Plan are to outline appropriate mechanisms and procedures to:

  • manage the IPS information holdings relevant to Housing Australia’s compliance with the 
    IPS;
  • proactively identify and publish all information legally required to be published, including this 
    Plan, in accordance with section 8(2) of the FOI Act;
  • proactively identify and where practicable publish optional information, in accordance with 
    section 8(4) of the FOI Act;
  • review on a regular basis and ensure that IPS information holdings are accurate up-to-date 
    and complete;
  • make arrangements so that information published under the IPS is easy to locate, 
    understandable, machine-readable and re-useable;
  • make arrangements so that the format of online content complies with Web Content 
    Accessibility Guidelines (Version 2); and
  • monitor and access Housing Australia’s compliance with the IPS and this Plan.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the principal officer of Housing Australia for the purposes of the FOI Act and accountable for Housing Australia’s compliance with the FOI Act. The Chief Operating Officer (COO) is responsible to the CEO for Housing Australia’s IPS compliance. The COO is supported by personnel in the Engagement and Communications team. 

If necessary, Housing Australia will list on the Housing Australia website any documents that are impracticable to publish online and provide details of how those documents can be accessed. Housing Australia may charge for access to a document which is in limited circumstances. Further information about charges, including how and what amounts Housing Australia may charge for processing a request is available on the What charges may apply?- external site page on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website.   

Housing Australia’s IPS information holdings is published on the Housing Australia website and will 
include the following headings:

  • Information required to be published under the IPS (section 8(2) of the FOI Act)
    • IPS Plan (section 8(2)(a)
    • Who we are (sections 8(2)(b) and 8(2)(d))
    • What we do (sections 8(2)(c) and 8(2)(j)) (including our programs, priorities, other 
      corporate planning, operational and strategic information including finances and lists)
    • Our reports and responses to Parliament (sections 8(2)(e) and 8(2)(h))
    • Routinely requested information and Freedom of Information disclosure log (sections 
      8(2)(g) and 11C)
    • Consultation arrangements (section 8(2)(f))
    • Contact us (section 8(2)(i))
    • Other (optional) information (section 8(4) of the FOI Act)

5.1 Accessibility of Information 

Housing Australia publishes IPS information holdings in English.

Housing Australia will ensure, to the extent possible, that all IPS documents available on the Housing Australia website conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0).

The majority of documents listed on the IPS section of the Housing Australia website will be available in HTML or where they remain a PDF download, be tagged to meet accessibility requirements. A small number of exceptions may apply to:

  • PDFs made of images of scanned documents
  • documents that have been superseded, but 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 possible documents covered by these exceptions will be published in two alternative 
    formats.

To ensure that Housing Australia’s IPS information holdings is easily discoverable, understandable 
and machine-readable, Housing Australia:

  • publishes an IPS ICON on the Housing Australia website which links to the IPS section of 
    the website
  • publishes an IPS entry point on the Housing Australia website
  • wherever possible, provides online content in a format that can be searched, copied and 
    transformed
  • provides a search function for its website

Housing Australia IPS information holdings is available on the ‘Access to Information’ page on the Housing Australia website. 

Information holdings Housing Australia publishes under the IPS appear under the headings below:

  • IPS Plan
    • Housing Australia’s IPS Plan, available in an accessible format.
  • Who we are
    • This will include:
      • information about Housing Australia’s organisational structure
      • information about Housing Australia’s Board
      • information about Housing Australia’s Executive Leadership Team
      • details of any appointments of agency officers
  • What we do
    • This will include:
      • information about Housing Australia’s establishment and purpose
      • information about Housing Australia’s activities and functions
      • corporate planning, operational and strategic information including for 
        example corporate plans, budget statements and other relevant information.
  • Our reports and responses to the Australian Parliament
    • Housing Australia’s annual reports and responses to Senate Orders and other 
      Parliamentary reporting obligations.
  • Routinely requested information and disclosure log
    • Housing Australia’s FOI disclosure log and other information in documents routinely accessed through FOI requests
  • Consultation arrangements
    • This will include information about how and to whom members of the public may submit comments about policy proposals for which Housing Australia are responsible. However, as Housing Australia is not a policy agency, it is unlikely that Housing Australia will be required to make arrangements regarding public consultation for policy proposals.
  • Contact us
    • Information on how members of the public may submit requests for access to 
      documents under the FOI Act.
  • Other information
    • How information Housing Australia considers appropriate to publish. 

The search function on the Housing Australia website can also be used to navigate to the information holdings and IPS Plan.  

In addition to information Housing Australia is required to publish, Housing Australia will consider and, where appropriate, publish other information that it holds, taking into account the objects of the FOI Act.

Housing Australia is committed to fulfilling the requirements and objectives of the IPS and will be proactive in considering other (optional) information it can publish under the IPS. This may include information on Housing Australia’s priorities, performance, policies and activities. Information published on the Housing Australia website is approved by the relevant Housing Australia executive.

Under section 9 of the FOI Act, Housing Australia is required to review the operation of the IPS:

  • as appropriate, from time to time;
  • in any case – within five years after the last time a review was completed.

Housing Australia will review this Plan every two years or more frequently if required, to ensure that it remains current. The COO is responsible for the oversight of the review of Housing Australia’s IPS Plan and IPS Information Holdings. Information Holdings are reviewed on a quarterly basis to confirm information remains accurate and update to date.