Introduction

The Future Fund Board of Guardians (the Board) supported by the Future Fund Management Agency (the Agency), invests the assets of a number of special purpose public asset funds established by legislation. The Board and Agency are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) and required to comply with the Information Publication Scheme (IPS) requirements in the FOI Act. 

The IPS requires us to publish a broad range of information on our website and this plan explains how we will manage this process in respect of our information holdings. We have prepared this IPS plan in accordance with the IPS provisions of the FOI Act. 

Purpose

The purpose of this plan is to:

  • assist us in planning and administering our IPS entry
  • facilitate public consultation in relation to that entry
  • show what information we propose to publish, how and to whom the information will be published and how we will otherwise comply with the IPS requirements (s 8(1)).

Objectives

The objectives of this plan are to outline appropriate mechanisms and procedures to: 

  • manage our IPS entry
  • identify and publish all information required to be published (s 8(2))
  • identify and publish optional information to be published (s 8(4))
  • review on a regular basis that information published under the IPS is accurate, up to date and complete (s 8B) 
  • ensure that information published as part of our IPS entry is easily discoverable, understandable, machine-readable, re-useable and transformable 
  • ensure satisfactory compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0)
  • gather and, where appropriate, incorporate feedback on our IPS entry 

Administering our IPS entry 

Our Public Affairs and Strategic Relations function is responsible for managing our compliance with the IPS, with support from the following functions:

  • Legal 
  • Information Management 
  • Technology 

The Head of Public Affairs and Strategic Relations will manage review of the material published under the IPS with a view to ensuring it remains accurate, complete and up to date. 

The Chief Executive Officer and management team will be engaged as appropriate, along with other relevant internal stakeholders. 

Where significant new material is added to the website, efforts will be made to include a note to that effect on the home page. Visitors are also able to subscribe via the website to receive email updates from us. 

IPS information architecture 

Our IPS entry is published on our website (www.futurefund.gov.au) under the following headings:

Required information:

  • Our plan (s 8(2)(a)) 
  • Who we are (ss 8(s)(b) and 8(2)(d))
  • What we do (ss 8(2)(c) and 8(2)(j))
  • Our reports and responses to Parliament (ss 8(2)(e) and 8(2)(h))
  • Routinely requested information and disclosure log (ss 8(2)(g) and 11(c))
  • Contact us (s 8(2)(i))

We do not provide policy advice and have no associated consultation responsibilities, as such there is no information to disclose in this regard. 

Other information:

  • Our priorities and finances (s 8(4))
  • Our lists (s 8(4))
  • Our policies (s 8(4)) 

Accessibility under the organisation’s IPS

We will ensure that documents published online will meet the WCAG 2.0 requirements. As far as practicable, we will publish online information in HTML, MSWord and PDF format. When this is not possible, we will provide the information in another format on request. 

Information required to be published under the IPS 

We will publish documents required to be published under the IPS (s8(2)) on our website and links from the IPS page will give access to this information. 

Our plan 

The plan will be published on the IPS page on our website.

Who we are

This section will include a description of our statutory arrangements, details of those appointed to the Board and the process for appointments and an organisation chart. 

What we do

This section will outline the functions and decision-making powers of the organisation under the relevant legislation. 

Our reports and responses to Parliament 

This section will include our annual reports, as tabled in Parliament. 

Routinely requested information 

This section will include information in documents to which we routinely give access in response to FOI requests and information published under s 11C of the FOI Act. 

Contact us

This section will include the name, telephone number and an email address for a contact officer, who can be contacted about access to our information or documents under the FOI Act. We have established generic telephone numbers and email addresses for this purpose that will not change with staff movements.

Other information to be published under the IPS

Our priorities and finances 

This section will include information contained in our corporate plan and annual report that sets out our progress in pursuing the mandated investment objective and the priorities for the ongoing management of the assets of the public asset funds. The annual report will also include the audited financial statements and details of the pay, grading and procurement policies and arrangements. 

Our lists

This section will include material that is routinely provided to Parliament including: 

  • Senate order for production of indexed list of agency files (Harradine Report)
  • Senate Order on Entity Contracts (Murray Motion)
  • Expenditure on legal services
  • Privacy impact assessments under the Privacy (Australian Government Agencies - Governance) APP Code 2017 (Cth)

Our policies

This section will provide details of the policies established by the organisation in performing its functions and, in particular, the Statement of Investment Policies, that provide the framework for the operational governance and management of the funds invested by the Board and the policies that will be adhered to in doing so.

Optional information

We will also publish additional detail on the investment of the funds. The assessment of what additional information stakeholders seek or would like access to is based on a review of the practices of other similar investment institutions and the feedback received from the public. Material published will include: 

  • media statements which are released as required
  • quarterly updates on the portfolio, which are issued at the end of the month following each quarter (with the end of year update held over until completion of the audit process)
  • a list of external investment managers appointed by the Board, which is updated when the quarterly updates are released. 

These will items will also be identified on the IPS page on our website. 

Compliance review

We will review and revise this plan periodically to ensure we continue to comply with the IPS requirements in the FOI Act.

Feedback or questions about this plan can be provided via email to contact@futurefund.gov.au