Ipswich in Spring 2020

NEW ERA OF OPENNESS AND ACCOUNTABILITY BEGINS IN IPSWICH

In a first for local government in Australia, Ipswich City Council has given ratepayers unprecedented access to the city’s finances with the launch of an online Transparency and Integrity Hub. More than six gigabytes, or thousands upon thousands of lines, of data has been published to the hub, providing the community with direct access to past and current financial information for council as well as council-controlled entities. The Ipswich Transparency and Integrity Hub can be accessed at Ipswich.qld.gov.au/open-ipswich . Other available data includes councillor expenses, how much money was spent on the city’s Smart City Program and procurement data for contracts over $200,000 (excl GST). Mayor Teresa Harding said the hub’s launch was an important moment for the City of Ipswich. “Never before in Australia has a local council opened up its books to the community to the extent we have with the Transparency and Integrity Hub, allowing ratepayers the greatest scrutiny over how their money is spent,” Mayor Harding said. “This is just the beginning and we will release a lot more data insights across

a range of subjects in the months ahead as well as move to having financial data on the hub updated in near real-time.” Information available on the Transparency and Integrity Hub at launch includes: council financial information for the past five financial years detailed income and expenditure data for current and past council- controlled entities for the past five financial years procurement data for all contracts valued $200,000 (exc GST) for the past five financial years detailed information about how money was spent on council’s Smart City Program councillor related expenses, allowances and reimbursements for the past five financial years. “Too much of what occurred under the previous council was shrouded in secrecy. The community has a right to know more about how its money was spent,” Mayor Harding said.

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