Innovating Fiscal Transparency Through Open Government Partnerships: A Comparative Study of Local Governments in Australia and Germany

Abstract

Fiscal transparency is a core pillar of open government, yet its implementation at the local level remains uneven. This study investigates how the Open Government Partnership (OGP) contributes to fiscal transparency as a form of public sector innovation through a comparative analysis of local governments in Australia and Germany. Drawing on the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Framework (2016), the study evaluates 49 transparency and accountability criteria across four cases: the City of Melbourne, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the City of Osnabrück, and the City of Delmenhorst. Document analysis, complemented by semi-structured interviews with public officials, is used to assess the pattern of fiscal transparency practices. The findings show a consistent cross-case pattern: transparency is strongest in regulated domains such as procurement and external audit, while discretionary areas, including performance reporting, fiscal risk disclosure, and citizen-oriented access to information, display substantial variation. ACT demonstrates comparatively advanced, user-oriented transparency, whereas Melbourne shows targeted compliance alongside notable gaps; the German cases align in compliance-driven areas but exhibit more limited discretionary openness. The study develops a PEFA-guided checklist for assessing local government fiscal transparency and offers a mechanism-focused explanation of how global open government principles are translated into local administrative practice.