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Open and Shut 
Issues associated with Freedom of Information (FOI) and privacy legislation in Australia as well as privacy issues generally.
Post Frequency: 2.5/day Last Entry: November 20, 2009 at 00:25:00 Recent Entries: 844
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Parliamentarians interests officially online-soon-maybe
Posted on November 20, 2009The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Privileges and Members' Interests is warming to the idea of online publication of details of interests in the next parliament. In a report Publication of details of Members' Interests on the Australian Parliament House website released yesterday, the Committee suggests how this could be done efficiently while preserving the integrity of the data and protecting wide dissemination of signatures, thought to be one area of concern...
Automatic voter enrolment and related issues
Posted on November 19, 2009The NSW Government's move to legislate for automatic voter enrolment not only attracted the attention of those at the Australian Privacy Foundation's Big Brother Awards, but Stephen Murray in New Matilda, Ben Eltham and Miriam Lyons in the Sydney Morning Herald, William Bowe at The Poll Bludger and others have all added useful and sometimes differing perspectives...
Big Brother 2009
Posted on November 19, 2009If you haven't seen them, The Australian Privacy Foundation Big Brother Awards returned this month after a couple of years break. Now these results emerged from the combined wisdom of those who showed up at functions in Sydney and Canberra on the night...
Victorian FOI reform still a long way off
Posted on November 19, 2009Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu announced yesterday plans to overhaul Freedom of Information if elected at next year's state election, with more proactive disclosure, an FOI Commissioner to be appointed to oversight and lead on standards and to undertake what is now internal review, etc...
Boo, hiss....
Posted on November 18, 2009From the newsletter of Sydney's terrific Gleebooks, a note from from the historian and archivist Baiba Berzins:"The National Archives of Australia has announced that it will be closing its regional offices in Darwin (in 2010), Adelaide (2011) and Hobart (repository 2010 and reading room 2012)...
FOI and two Ombudsman
Posted on November 18, 2009Annual reports released recently by the Commonwealth and South Australian Ombudsman both include information about Freedom of Information matters. Review of FOI complaints is part of a broad range of Ombudsman responsibilities. However as the reports reveal, FOI looms larger in the workload in SA...
Bets all round in discovery and disclosure in Federal Court
Posted on November 17, 2009In this judgment of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia concerning Betfair there was no challenge to the decision, the subject of a recent post, by Justice Jagot rejecting claims by the State of NSW for public interest immunity over documents discovered by Racing NSW and Harness Racing NSW...
Tasmania FOI envy- in Michigan
Posted on November 17, 2009We all have all heard stories about large Freedom of Information bills, but thanks to Rick Snell for this report of a $7 million charge by the Michigan Department of State Police for an FOI application by the Mackinak Centre for Public Policy. Just in passing, the Tasmanian Right to Information Act to commence on 1 July 2010 is an Australian first: no provision for processing charges, only an application fee.
Statutory legal professional privilege
Posted on November 17, 2009A Queensland reader (thanks) has pointed out that the question of legal professional privilege for communication with NSW Parliamentary Counsel in the drafting of legislation-one of the issues in the Betfair/Sportsbet discovery litigation- wouldn't arise there because statutory legal professional privilege is conferred by Section 9A of the Legislative Standards Act:9A Application of legal professional privilege to office(1) This section applies to communications made in or for the performance of the office?s functions under section 7(a) to (i) or a function incidental to those functions...
The boundaries for policy advice
Posted on November 17, 2009The post "Marginal seat impacts not a matter for public service advice" earlier in the week turned into this letter published in the Sydney Morning Herald today. The problem is public servants assessing political benefits or detriments for the Government of decisions on big ticket expenditure-or anything else for that matter...
Documentary on whistleblowers
Posted on November 17, 2009"Law and Disorder" tonight on SBS television at 8.30 starts a three part documentary series exploring the dark world of the whistleblower in Australia. The first, on Andrew Wilkie and his disclosures about the intelligence concerning those weapons of mass destruction...
Minister Ludwig confident at Australian Privacy Awards 2009
Posted on November 16, 2009Dr Roger Clarke recipient of the Australian Privacy Medal 2009.Cabinet Secretary and Special Minister of State Senator Joe Ludwig spoke on "Confidence in a Digital Age"at the Australian Privacy Awards Dinner last week, primarily about three areas of the proposed privacy reforms that he says will contribute to confidence: the Openness Principle, one of several new Privacy Principles; meeting the challenge of new and emerging technologies; and strengthening the Office of the Privacy Commissioner...
NSW announces clean-up on donations, lobbyists
Posted on November 16, 2009NSW Premier Nathan Rees had a big weekend, winning on some important issues at the State ALP Conference and announcing an immediate ban on donations to the Labor Party by developers, a ban on the appointment of lobbyists to all public boards and committees, and guidelines to be developed by the Minister for Planning to govern meetings between public servants, lobbyists and other parties...
Marginal seat impacts not a matter for public service advice
Posted on November 15, 2009I have no idea about the merits or otherwise of a $450 million NSW Government investment in the Tillega dam in the Hunter Valley, now subject to a Legislative Council inquiry. But the Sydney Morning Herald report of disclosure of documents including a draft briefing note to the Minister from the principal policy officer in the Department of Water and Energy, confirm other anecdotal evidence that the distinction between policy and political advice in the NSW system is long gone...
More transparency for NSW government contractors
Posted on November 15, 2009The NSW Minister for Industrial Relations has announced a new website will publish information revealing the industrial practices of all government contractors from next year, as part of its revamped policy on procurement.?We want to make sure that the work practices of all government suppliers are fair and open to public scrutiny,? Mr Hatzistergos said...
Alice in Wonderland-not Julia Gillard- alive and well
Posted on November 11, 2009It's hard to believe the troubled reaction to proposals for publication of basic information about school performance.Deputy Prime Minister Gillard had a discussion with 150 school principals in Canberra this week . Here is what she told them. What is contemplated is that each school will have its own profile webpage that will contain a range of information about the school...
NSW Information Commissioner
Posted on November 11, 2009This answer by Attorney General Hatzistergos in response to a "Dorothy Dix" question in the NSW Legislative Council summarised the state of play on the establishment of the Office of Information Commissioner. "Early 2010" is still the position on a start date for the Government Information (Public Access) Act...
An offence to publish published information!!!
Posted on November 11, 2009Only in NSW: in a class of its own as a result of an unholy alliance between the Opposition and The Greens that makes it an offence for a newspaper or magazine to publish comparative information about school performance. The Sydney Morning Herald breaks this absurd law today by publishing information comparing three schools - drawn from annual reports - and asserts "Publish and be damned"...
Queensland shapes up for more reform
Posted on November 10, 2009The Queensland Government Response yesterday to the public consultation about integrity and accountability includes plans for a suite of reforms that again will see that state move ahead of the rest of the field. And promptly- deadlines for action are by the end of the year or mid 2010...
Publicly avaiailable information isn't always old hat
Posted on November 10, 2009A fuss in the UK about fast tracking immigration processing, apparently based on documents released after a Freedom of Information battle and posted in the disclosure log on an agency website seven months ago, but just discovered by the mainstream media and politicians, has given rise, somewhat unfairly to claims of "cover up...
Business on both sides of FOI battle
Posted on November 08, 2009Although decided under the now repealed Freedom of Information Act a recent decision by Assistant Queensland Information Commissioner Henry may highlight a situation that will arise more frequently under access laws that place greater weight on disclosure: one business exercising its right of access, a clash between an agency's assessment that release of requested information relating to business affairs of a third party will have no unfair or unreasonable effect, and the business concerned seeking to resist disclosure because of claimed adverse effects...
ABC lifts FOI game-50% refusal rate
Posted on November 08, 2009Regular readers will know of our interest in the Freedom of Information doings of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The Annual Report 2008-2009 recently tabled in Parliament includes this in Appendix 18:"The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (?FOI Act?) gives the public the right to access documents held by the ABC...
Yes, we should rethink everything
Posted on November 05, 2009Stephen Bartos of Allen Consulting, in The Canberra Times (Forget tinkering: we must rethink everything- no link available) on Tuesday writing about the advisory group on Reform of Australian Government Administration, and changes that should receive attention: "A world's best public service would be highly transparent, accessible and accountable...
Tasmanian Parliament hiding bold step under a bushel
Posted on November 04, 2009Although no-one is shouting it from rooftops, Tasmania is to be the first Australian jurisdiction to bring the Parliament within the scope of information access law as a result of a provision in the Right to Information Act that appears to make information concerning administration of the Parliament accessible under the Act ...
Mash-up could show lobbyists in new light
Posted on November 02, 2009Techo types had a great time in Canberra over the weekend at GovHack an opportunity to mash-up information made available through Data.Gov. Bella Counihan in The Age gives a rundown, including on the winner and a couple of other new twists to government information:"Lobby Clue turns the lobbyist register and the public tenders register into a visualisation or word cloud to link what clients were given government contracts...
"There should be a law against it"
Posted on November 02, 2009Paul Keating- photo James Alcock and SMHFormer Prime Minister Paul Keating's spray at News Limited over an incident involving his daughter at a celebrity event and claimed misreporting in this article in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday, saw him advocate changes to privacy law that go beyond the proposals for a privacy cause of action now on the table from the Australian and NSW law reform commissions ...
Tasmanian Parliament delivers RTI package
Posted on November 02, 2009The Tasmanian Right to Information Act, to replace the Freedom of Information Act, and the Personal Information Protection Amendment Act have now passed both Houses of Parliament, with a few mostly minor amendments. The RTI Act is to commence on 1 July 2010, allowing plenty of preparation time for the new era, and the PIPA Act (primarily transfering amendment of personal information records from Freedom of Information to the privacy act ) on a date to be proclaimed...
Senate Committee to open up Government claims of commercial in confidence
Posted on October 31, 2009An impasse was broken on Thursday over the Federal Government's legislation bill on telecommunications regulatory reform, previously stuck in the Senate as a result of the Government's refusal to comply with an order to produce documents and information on commercial-in-confidence grounds concerning the National Broadband Network...
Kessing and s70 of the Crimes Act
Posted on October 29, 2009Good to to see The Australian Legal Affairs extensive coverage today of new twists in the Allan Kessing case in articles by Chris Merritt. The headlines say it all:Kessing's conviction 'tainted';Whistleblower rolled by jugernaut; andA pardon for Kessing is not enough.
Auditor General calls for more transparency from Queensland GOCs
Posted on October 28, 2009The Queensland Auditor General in Report 7/2009 on Government Owned Corporations (GOCS) tabled in Parliament this week is critical of transparency levels. This from the Executive Summary:"My Auditor-General Report No. 2 for 2006, concluded that the average level of maturity of performance measurement and reporting systems at GOCs was higher than the average level of maturity in the budget sector...
Federal Court foray into public interest immunity
Posted on October 27, 2009An unusual intervention in civil proceedings between other parties by the State of NSW/ Attorney General saw Justice Jagot of the Federal Court of Australia give relatively rare consideration to claims of public interest immunity. The decision is of interest also in the context of the NSW Freedom of Information Act, and the Government Information (Public Access) Act to commence next year, and the requirement in both instances, similar to the test in this case, to balance public interest considerations for and against disclosure of deliberative documents...
Business sighs of relief as reference to ALRC slips below the radar
Posted on October 26, 2009Then Special Minister of State John Faulkner in March 2009, releasing the Freedom of Information Reform Exposure Draft, and speaking of the Government's broader agenda:"the Government will (later this year) provide the Australian Law Reform Commission with a reference to consider whether FOI should be extended to, or another disclosure regime provided for the private sector...
Breaking down the barriers to open government
Posted on October 26, 2009At the CeBIT Gov 2.0 Conference in Canberra last week Minister for Finance Lindsay Tanner spoke about the Gov 2.0 Task Force, and the current state of play.The Minister referred amongst other things to the need to encourage more use of Creative Commons to move on from the copyright limitation on reuse of much government information, and announced the winners of the Gov 2...
The Oz, human rights horror stories from the UK, and some exploded myths for good measure.
Posted on October 22, 2009UK DPP Keir Starmer QC- read on.Chris Merritt in The Australian today returns to a familiar theme for the paper- the horrors that await us if the Federal Government goes ahead with a Human Rights Charter . This time its about the perils particularly for those of religious belief, based on the views of a British barrister, Paul Diamond, heading our way to join, among others that font of wisdom on the subject, former NSW Premier Bob Carr, at a " public meeting on the dangers of a charter of rights" in Sydney next week...
NSW Ombudsman sees a glimmer, but big job ahead.
Posted on October 22, 2009The Annual Report of the NSW Ombudsman released yesterday has plenty to say about the public service, including a concern that "(t)oo many public servants think integrity is an old-fashioned, optional concept." The report on the Ombudsman's work on Freedom of Information starts at page 95...
Last minute rush on secrecy laws.
Posted on October 21, 2009Professor David Weisbrot told Senate Estimates (Legal and Constitutional 19 October at 25) the Australian Law Reform Commission has asked the Attorney General for six weeks extension, beyond the end of October, to submit the final report on the reference to review secrecy provisions in Commonwealth acts...
Battlelines for public interest immunity established again in Senate Estimates
Posted on October 21, 2009Senate Estimates committee hearings have been underway in Canberra since Monday, with the usual myriad micro Q and (mostly, and in a fashion) A about aspects of government administration.The chair of each committee has tabled at the commencement of hearings this text of the Senate resolution of 13 May 2009, now part of Senate Standing Orders, on public interest immunity claims, and the procedure to be followed in the event of refusal to answer...
Victorian FOI precedents support sticking to "confusion" line
Posted on October 19, 2009The framework for consideration of public interest issues regarding disclosure of deliberative documents under the Freedom of Information Act in Victoria continues to be constrained by precedents that sound out of line with the discussion of open government elsewhere, as evident in this decision by Deputy President Coghlan of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in Peter Ryan MP v Melbourne Water [2009] VCAT 2079...
The Law Report
Posted on October 19, 2009The Law Report program on Freedom of Information reforms on ABC Radio National is worth a listen ( but I would say that wouldn't I?).
Estimates questions and answers.
Posted on October 19, 2009With another round of Senate Estimates committee hearings underway in Canberra this week, the answers to questions taken on notice during hearings in May provide plenty for those interested in the fine detail the accountability system reveals. Something is there from just about every agency, The issues of possible interest to us were raised in the Finance and Public Administration Committee so didn't get far past those...
FOI on the airwaves tomorrow
Posted on October 18, 2009Radio National's The Law Report tomorrow at 8:30 am on 576 AM is about Freedom of Information and the current state of play. I did an interview for the program, so interested to see what makes the cut. If you miss the broadcast, it will be available here.
Ministers not so high on the hog
Posted on October 18, 2009I like this from Rex Jory in The Advertiser in Adelaide today (no link) following reports based on Freedom of Information disclosures about ministers' spending on entertainment. Although I'd part company with Jory's "so what" about Grange at taxpayers expense...
New chairs at the seat of power
Posted on October 18, 2009Michael Cooley Senior Adviser to the Cabinet Secretary and Special Minister of State, takes up the position of Senior Adviser - Governance and Probity in the Prime Minister?s office today. Now it's a good thing the PM has someone nearby with that title and another good thing it's someone like Cooley...
Tasmanian FOI replacement bill through lower house
Posted on October 16, 2009The Tasmanian House of Assembly passed the Right to Information Bill and related legislation yesterday. Some changes from the Draft are evident and interested to see any close analysis of the differences.The promise of greater proactive disclosure has been given more credibility by a provision requiring the Ombudsman to issue guidelines on all means of access and disclosure, including publication, informal and formal requests...
NSW court information problematic, so too reform measures.
Posted on October 16, 2009Over three years ago the NSW Government issued a discussion paper on proposed changes in the law regarding access to court information, and I for one had heard little since. So interesting to read in Court review shows nobody was listening by Susannah Moran in today's Legal Affairs in The Australian that a consultation draft Court Information Bill has been released for comment...
Federal FOI and privacy law changes
Posted on October 14, 2009If you are interested in more information than in the previous post about the interplay between the proposed new Federal privacy law and the Freedom of Information Act as it now stands, and might become in the light of the Government's FOI reform proposals, particularly access and correction issues, see the response and narrative regarding Recommendation 29 starting on page 64 of the First Stage Response pdf 805kbA related issue for policy makers, given recent Queensland and NSW access to government information laws that adopt the existing Federal Privacy Act definition of personal information, is this recommendation and response:"Recommendation 6?1 The Privacy Act should define ?personal information? as ?information or an opinion, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an identified or reasonably identifiable individual?...
Rewrite of privacy law for 21st century
Posted on October 14, 2009The Federal Government has announced its stage one response to the Australian Law Reform Commission's Report 108, For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice.In a speech to the International Association of Privacy Professionals in Melbourne, Special Minister of State Senator Joe Ludwig said the Government?s intention was to effectively rewrite the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 for the 21st Century...
NSWADT override discretion limited where legal privilege applies
Posted on October 13, 2009The background and complex detail of a five year battle (and numerous Tribunal and court decisions) arising from a Freedom of Information application for access to legal advice about responsibilities of the University Council provided to the University of NSW will only be of interest to those very serious about their NSW FOI...
Public money between us and the tax office, says Acting Premier
Posted on October 12, 2009Acting Premier Paul LucasIn a recent post we commended the Queensland Information Commissioner's submission on the Government's Green Paper on Integrity and Accountability, which included the suggestion that the push agenda of Right to Information reforms (transparency) should be applied to the expenditure of all public monies, including Ministerial and Parliamentary allowances unless it can be shown to be clearly contrary to the public interest...
More public access to information about child care centres catching
Posted on October 12, 2009This report for the Department of Community Services on NSW childcare centres wouldn't give parents great confidence in childrens' safety in the system, but a tick in any event for those who decided the report should be publicly available. The report made other recommendations but none about how more transparency might promote better compliance with the law and standards...
Hyperbole and the human rights debate
Posted on October 11, 2009The Sydney Morning Herald in its editorial was sceptical about actions recommended in the Brennan Report to protect human rights. But the Weekend Australian was in a class of its own slamming the report in two front page leads, this by Paul Kelly and another by Kelly and Chris Merritt...
Australians say human rights need better protection.
Posted on October 09, 2009The Brennan Committee report to the Federal Government on the National Human Rights Consultation makes 31 Recommendations, 16 concerning action to protect and promote human rights more effectively and 15 about a Human Rights Act for Australia and the preferred model- the "dialogue" model allowing for judicial opinion concerning incompatibility, but Parliament at the end of the day to prevail, along the lines of models currently operating at state level in the ACT and Victoria...
Best public service should lead on open government as well
Posted on October 07, 2009In the weeks since the Prime Minister set the Australian Public Service what he said was the "entirely reasonable and achievable" aspiration to be "the best public service anywhere in the world", an Advisory Group on Reform of Australian Government Administration has been appointed, chaired by PM&C Secretary Terry Moran to point the way...
Some sunshine in the Queensland childcare industry
Posted on October 06, 2009The Courier Mail following a series of stories highlighting unsuccessful freedom of information applications seeking to identify child care centres issued with compliance notices, is no doubt pleased to report today that Education Minister Geoff Wilson has introduced legislation into State Parliament allowing centres seriously or repeatedly breaching regulations to be named online from February 1 next year...
Taxi audit hailed down
Posted on October 06, 2009www.abc.net.auThe Sydney Morning Herald has been on the job for several weeks about the NSW taxi industry, and today reports on a 2007 audit released yesterday, after unsuccessful attempts to obtain it under the Freedom of Information Act, and the commencement of an Ombudsman investigation, at the Herald's behest, into the handling of the matter...
Public broadcasters and the right to know-about them
Posted on October 04, 2009In a recent post I commented on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's various views about it's current exclusion from the Freedom of Information Act "with respect to documents in relation to its program material" and whether this matched or should match the BBC's exclusion from the UK FOI Act "in respect of information held for purposes other than those of journalism, art or literature"...
"People,not laws block freedom of information"
Posted on October 04, 2009Matthew Moore in the Sydney Morning Herald gives the recent NSW Deputy Ombudsman's report on the Board of Studies a going over, citing it as providing a "standout example of what is wrong with freedom of information in NSW". The title as above, says it all, although the law does play a part...
NSW Information Commissioner hits the web
Posted on October 02, 2009Judge Ken Taylor AM RFD Acting NSW Information CommissionerThe Office of NSW Information Commissioner is up on the web as of today, with details of preparations for the commencement of the Government Information (Public Access) Act, to replace the Freedom of Information Act in early 2010...
Not much Gov 2.0 detail in Tasmania's RTI Exposure Draft
Posted on October 01, 2009Submissions closed today on the Tasmanian Exposure Draft Right to Information Bill 2009, to replace the Freedom of Information Act, and the Personal Information Protection Amendment Bill 2009. I didn't manage a submission, but make these couple of comments...
More disclosure might lead to less questions about public servant travel
Posted on October 01, 2009Damien Brown in The Mercury reports that questions in State Parliament in Hobart yesterday about travel expenses of Health Secretary David Roberts had the Minister and Deputy Premier Lara Giddings crying foul, suggesting professional public servants would be discouraged from relocating to Tasmania by "appalling" and "disgusting" questioning...
The Oz splashes out on whistleblower protection
Posted on October 01, 2009www.cpsu.orgChris Merritt in The Australian gives whistleblower protection a solid run today, at least those aspects regarding disclosure to the media: comparisons between the Dreyfus proposals before the Federal Government and US schemes, courtesy of a visiting academic; and comparisons between Federal proposals and what Merritt refers to as a report to the Queensland Government - I think this is a submission by Dr AJ Brown on the Green Paper on Integrity and Accountability which is yet to appear on the published submissions list...
Talking up RTI in Queensland
Posted on September 30, 2009Speeches this week by David Solomon and Queensland Information Commissioner Julie Kinross on separate occasions in Brisbane are both of interest. They cover some common and different ground, with Kinross providing record managers with some historical context for Freedom of Information reform, and explaining the broad scope of change underway as a result of the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI) across many parts of agencies that demand the attention and leadership from the executive level...
Transparency and school performance
Posted on September 28, 2009Associate Professor Tony Taylor of Monash University in Crikey today on why we need more accessible information about school performance, and three spot-on suggestions about what can be done to combat silly sensationalism from some champions of the right to know (you know who they are):"First, the authorities must publish reports that give accessible, clear and authentic information that paints a fair, a detailed and a broad picture, and Barry McGaw, the federal curriculum head honcho, has promised this...
Something's gotta give.
Posted on September 28, 2009In a comment on a post last week, an anonymous reader who claims to have worked in media relations in the Keating, Howard and Rudd governments said he had never witnessed anything in his professional life like the present government with its "paranoia and centralised control of media management...
Integity and accountability paper sparks ideas
Posted on September 28, 2009There were 114 submissions in response to the Queensland Green paper on Integrity and Accountability with many urging parliamentary reform, including for Australia's only unicameral state system, an upper house of parliament. (The 17500 word submission from the Clerk of the Parliament makes the news in the Courier Mail this morning)The Information Commissioner made some suggestions including specific transparency and accountability measures that would be applicable in other jurisdictions as well...
Queensland marks Right to Know Day
Posted on September 27, 2009Tomorrow 28 September is International Right to Know Day in some parts of the world, and usually passes largely unnoticed in this neck of the woods, so congratulations to the Queensland Information Commissioner for organising in the morning the first Solomon Right to Information breakfast featuring Dr Solomon, chair of the FOI Review panel that got things moving there, on the Right to Information Act " How we will know when we've succeeded...
"Interesting' Ombudsman report-a serious understatement.
Posted on September 24, 2009Following on from the previous post, and thanks to James King for the comment and lead, those seriously interested in Freedom of Information processes will find the NSW Ombudsman's 120 page report on the handling by the Office of the Board of Studies (OBOS) of FOI applications for HSC results and related documents, posted here not just interesting but instructive, and...
Queensland whistleblower reform
Posted on September 24, 2009Haven't seen Dr AJ Brown's report but Chris Merritt's story in The Australian about what's on the table in Queensland for reform of whistleblower protections sounds good and positive.
NSW Board of Studies fails FOI test
Posted on September 23, 2009The NSW Ombudsman's report of an investigation into the Board of Studies and scaled exam results sounds interesting, but given confidentiality limitations on the Ombudsman the report itself will only come into the public domain if the complainant or the Sydney Morning Herald posts the text somewhere...
Struggling with "communicative abundance" and "monitory democracy"?
Posted on September 23, 2009Professor Jonathon Keane of the University of Westminster, an Adelaide boy still at heart, has been in Australia speaking about his almost 1000 page book "The Life and Death of Democracy." If you haven't caught up with this- the text of an occassional address at the Senate a few weeks ago will give you the gist of what he is on about with "communicative abundance" and "monitory democracy...
Important privacy conference next month
Posted on September 22, 2009The International Association of Privacy Professionals Australia and New Zealand?s second annual conference ? Privacy Proofing Your Organisation- will be held in Melbourne on 14 October. Featured speaker is Mozelle Thompson, former US Federal Trade Commissioner, and corporate privacy advisor, on social media and privacy in the 21st century...
Defence Minister opens up
Posted on September 22, 2009Minister for Defence Senator Faulkner stepped in to overrule his department by releasing two paragraphs from the Executive Summary of a consultant's report on the Defence Budget Audit, and to post the Summary of the Budget Audit Report with two small deletions on the Defence website...
VCAT ruling on when a document is more than information
Posted on September 21, 2009www.win.org.ukAustralian Freedom of Information acts for the most part, are acts that provide a right of access to "documents", not information. The NSW Government Information (Public Access) Act to replace the FOI Act early in 2010 will be different, providing for access to information - more about that in a final comment...
The Tele on parents (or the Tele's) right to know.
Posted on September 21, 2009Sydney's Sunday Telegraph took aim yesterday at the NSW Government, asserting parents' right to know details of who is on the s-x offenders register and to access comparative information about school performance. I'm with them on the latter, and on information about how many names are on the register, as any claim that this can't be released for privacy reasons is more than a stretch...
Conclusive certificates... gone
Posted on September 16, 2009The Freedom of Information (Abolition of Conclusive Certificates and Other Measures) Bill passed the final stages in the House of Representatives yesterday, so congratulations to the Federal Government on delivery of Stage One of the promised reforms...
Tassie goes for Right to Information
Posted on September 16, 2009The Tasmanian Government has released the Exposure Draft of the proposed Right to Information Bill, which sounds close to the Queensland and NSW models. Deputy Premier and Attorney General Lara Giddings calls for feedback on the Bill which proposes to replace the current Freedom of Information Act ; mandates greater proactive release of information by Government; spells out the factors to be considered when applying the overarching public interest test; creates clear timelines for processing applications, if the information is not already available; and increases the powers of the Ombudsman for external review and monitoring...
FOI in Victoria- first the bad, then some good news.
Posted on September 16, 2009The Victorian Ombudsman in his Annual Report released yesterday (Chapter 2 pages 38-49) says complaints to his Office about Freedom of Information matters were up from 125 to 178; and reports on avoidable errors in processing requests, backlogs becoming increasingly common, and problems with the consultation process...
Perils of "Pauline", privacy, and old photos of someone
Posted on September 15, 2009Mark Day in The Australian yesterday gave Crikey a serve, and the comment thread provides a range of views. Day's final point was:"Crikey reported that it had taken upon itself to lodge an official complaint to the Australian Press Council about The Sunday Telegraph?s use of fake Pauline Hanson pictures last March...
AAT decision a primer on cases relevant to some exemptions.
Posted on September 15, 2009The decision of Senior Member Friedman in Maksimovic and Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions[2009] AATA 700 involved a number of Freedom of Information applications and many documents. The decision upheld all the agency exemption claims for documents that had not been released...
Conclusive certificates-still going..
Posted on September 14, 2009Edging closer-still not quite there. Debate on the Federal Freedom of Information (Removal of Conclusive Certificates and Other Measures) Bill 2008 got underway for half an hour in the House of Representatives last night, but was interrupted before the Bill passed...
Commissioner endorses right to know, before final decisions.
Posted on September 14, 2009In Re City of Subiaco and Subiaco Regional Development Authority [2009] WAICmr 23 the WA Information Commissioner strongly endorsed the public interest in the community being in a position to know what was going on, in matters of community significance, even though final decisions by the agency had not been taken...
Searchability an issue in shift to proactive publication
Posted on September 13, 2009Steven Bartos of The Allen Consulting Group writing in the Canberra Times on 1 September (no link available) on an issue raised here several times concerning the shift to proactive publication of government information: the need for agencies to organise and present their information so as to make it easily accessible in practice...
A little FOI and whistleblower history passes
Posted on September 11, 2009Malcolm Brown wrote of the funeral of journalist Basil Sweeney in the Sydney Morning Herald last week, noting his involvement in the Phillip Arantz story of 1971 when then Sergeant Arantz in charge of the NSW Police computer unit gave crime statistics to Sweeney showing crime clear-up rates were far lower than officially stated...
Calling all stations for an information commissioner
Posted on September 11, 2009Speaking of good people, the NSW Government is on the lookout for an Information Commissioner to act as the "independent champion"of the new open government regime established by the Government Information (Public Access) Act which will commence in early 2010...
Cloud cookoo still hanging over some in NSW Parliament
Posted on September 10, 2009It's been on again this week as the NSW Government had another go at getting rid of the absurd law that would ban print media in NSW from publishing what everyone seems to describe as "crude league 'tables" of school performance. Here is some background if you missed it...
Reform, openness, transparency- for parliamentarians
Posted on September 08, 2009The Australian National Audit Office Report Administration of Parliamentarians' Entitlements by the Department of Finance and Deregulation was tabled in Federal Parliament today (Steve Lewis of News had a couple of pre-release exclusives). Its not a happy tale of a cosy generally opaque system that has gone merrily along since the last comprehensive review (in 1971!!!!) with limited regard for the sort of standards we should expect, even when (make that particularly when) our politicians are on the receiving end of a swag of public money...
Action on entitlements by Labor, but Howard Government looked the other way
Posted on September 08, 2009Senator Eric Abetz, Liberal Tasmania, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.Plenty of media coverage today so I won't repeat the gory details of the parliamentarians' entitlements scheme and the way it has "worked" as revealed in the Auditor Generals' report released yesterday...
Private life of public figures.
Posted on September 07, 2009The resignation of NSW Health Minister and premier-plotter John Della Bosca last week after revelations of an affair with a woman half his age revived discussion of the line between public life and personal affairs.Lenore Taylor in The Australian thought publication was in the public interest, given some links between the affair and official duties, and the plans he shared with the lover about toppling the boss; some quoted in this report in The Age thought we had a right to know because of a breach of public trust but others disagreed; Adele Horin in the Sydney Morning Herald was at least pleased we are a little more adult about such things than the Americans but we may be on a slippery slide...
Gov 2.0 hits NSW
Posted on September 06, 2009Meanwhile in NSW, Gov 2.0 is a topic of conversation with this NSW Public Sphere event at Parliament House last Friday, the Government's Information@the centre website announcing work being done to develop a roadmap on how to manage information, an apps competition for ideas and use of NSW data, and that a catalogue of government data-sets will be publicly available soon...
Monty Python and a cabinet convention
Posted on September 03, 2009From The Advertiser:South Australian Premier Mike Rann has applied to access former Liberal government Cabinet documents about the state's 1995 United Water contract, under new FoI laws, which from next month will allow the release of Cabinet documents after 10 years...
Victoria FOI a mess, no sign of interest in clean-up either
Posted on September 03, 2009There is nothing to say about the sad state of Freedom of Information in Victoria that David Rood and Jonathon Dowling haven't said in Secret State in The Age today - except in the reform stakes, while mentioning Federal Government plans, they make no reference to how Queensland and NSW have already acted to turn FOI on its head with modern laws that better reflect the Information Age in which we live...
PM on APS- worldbeaters in the making
Posted on September 03, 2009Prime Minister Rudd's speech yesterday about the Australian Public Service and his priorities included what he referred to as the "entirely reasonable and achievable" aspiration to "make the APS the best public service anywhere in the world" involving "sweeping reform driven by a long-range blueprint for a world class, 21st century public service...
The public broadcaster and enthusiasm for FOI reform close to home
Posted on September 01, 2009ABC Managing Director Mark Scott at Australia's Right to Know Conference in March 2009, (with emphasis added)"Let me acknowledge that some critics have suggested that it is a bit rich for the ABC to talk about leadership in areas of public access to information, when we ourselves are protected from some scrutiny through judicial rulings and the operations of the FOI act...
Ten bucks says leaks helpful to government didn't start yesterday
Posted on August 31, 2009Principle is hard to find when Treasury advice supportive of the Government's position on the stimulus package mysteriously appears courtesy of a leak, while advice more generally must be guaranteed the confidentiality some such as PM&C Secretary Terry Moran says is essential for the proper working of government...
Business may have missed the boat on FOI reform
Posted on August 30, 2009The business community has been hard to spot in the debate in recent years about the need for improved transparency and accountability, in particular freedom of information reform. The Federal Government Exposure Draft Freedom of Information Reform Bill released in March drew over 40 submissions but only one identifiably from business, from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Submission 28 here)...
Gaps filling in lobbyist registration
Posted on August 30, 2009Tasmania a week or so ago- Victoria and South Australia in the last few days announce plans for registration. Neither of the recent additions go beyond the basics: a public register and code of conduct for third party lobbyists, and a ban on post-separation lobbying by a minister for 18 months in Victoria (12 months for lesser mortals) and two years in SA after leaving office...
Federal Cabinet 101
Posted on August 28, 2009Verona Burgess in today's Australian Financial Review mentions the Federal Government Cabinet Handbook available on the web at PM&C, in the first Rudd Government edition. A little hard to find even on the only cabinet page so here it is -Cabinet Handbook (Sixth Edition)Those unfamiliar with the mysteries of cabinet and how it operates, as well as those who work in the system, will find this of (well some) interest...
SA "enhancing democracy" through special FOI exemption
Posted on August 27, 2009Quite a fuss in South Australia as a result of the Government adding a regulation to specially exempt from the Freedom of Information Act any documents concerning an investigation by former Auditor-General Ken MacPherson into claims of bullying and outside influence at Burnside Council, a hot issue there over the past year...
Privacy trumps on payments to ex MPs in the west
Posted on August 26, 2009From the West Australian:"The State Government has refused to release the names of 39 former MPs who racked up a total of $80,000 in travel on the public purse last financial year. The West Australian obtained the figure through Freedom of Information legislation but the Department of Premier and Cabinet decided not to release the names of the former politicians to protect their privacy...
WA Premier says charge changes needed to curb Opposition FOI appetite
Posted on August 26, 2009Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett cried foul in The Australian today about Opposition use of the Freedom of information Act for "frivolous and wasteful" fishing expeditions and threatened changes to the charging regime in response. But this line: "Mr Barnett said the state's FOI system was something for new special counsel to the state government, former director of public prosecutions Robert Cock QC, to consider...
A right to privacy in public, sometimes
Posted on August 24, 2009Mark Day in The Australian writes on two recent instances of media reporting on events that happened in public and puts the view:" no reasonable case can be made against the media?s right to film or report on events in public." But Day agrees that in the case concerning Channel Ten, its treatment of the person was "over the top, unnecessary, insensitive and unfair", shortcomings best addressed in Day's opinion by newsroom education rather than what he sees as an increased interest in tighter regulation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority(ACMA)...
Discussion underway about privacy cause of action
Posted on August 21, 2009Richard Ackland in the Sydney Morning Herald and the editorial in The Australian today comment on the NSW Law Reform Commission recommendation for a statutory cause of action for breach of privacy. Ackland is somewhat bemused about aspects of the report, but doesn't dismiss the recommendation and the earlier Australian Law Reform Commission proposal, suggesting these and other developments are powerful arguments in favour of an Australian rights charter or bill...
Frank advice remains confidential in Victoria
Posted on August 20, 2009Access to some advice documents under the Victorian Freedom of Information Act is being determined on grounds that disclosure would inhibit the provision of frank advice in future, an argument questioned or rejected elsewhere.In a recent Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision the effect of disclosure of some documents was found to be contrary to the public interest because of the nature of the information and the consequential impact on ongoing government interests; others because they related to the preparation of a cabinet submission...
MPs allowance exclusives
Posted on August 20, 2009Steve Lewis in an "exclusive" in today's Daily Telegraph ( but also in The Advertiser) adds a little more detail to his exclusive last week in the Herald Sun on the contents of a draft Auditor General's report on Federal MPs and the expenditure of allowances, including some spending on chocolates and children's fiction, and interesting big printing contracts for those printing allowances paid direct to members...
Complex questions about access to information about a child
Posted on August 19, 2009New access to government information laws in Queensland and NSW ( yet to commence) include provisions (slight differences in wording) that attach weight to the public interest in non-disclosure of information concerning a child where disclosure would not be in the child's best interests...
A spring in your step with eDiscovery software
Posted on August 19, 2009When it comes to the techo side of government information management, I can't contribute much, but note IBM has announced "new IBM eDiscovery software with advanced analytics features... to accelerate organizational agility in responding to litigation, regulatory, and freedom of information requests, while streamlining the integration of eDiscovery capabilities into comprehensive offerings...
NSWLRC calls for input on personal information issues
Posted on August 19, 2009Had some experience, on either side of the desk, regarding access applications for information under the NSW Freedom of Information Act, that raised issues about personal information of someone other than the applicant, and have a view about the law, policies and procedures that were applied in handling the matter? The NSW Law Reform Commission is interested in hearing from you on its blog, in connection with an additional reference from the Attorney General that forms part of its broader privacy law inquiry...
Tasmania shines a little light on the big end of town
Posted on August 17, 2009http://blogs.e-rockford.comTasmania is to join the crowd with a Lobbyists Register to regulate lobbyist contact with the Government from 1 September, as announced by Deputy Premier and Attorney General Lara Giddings. The Code of Conduct is similar to the Federal and other state schemes up and running: hired guns need to register with some exceptions; an on-line publicly available register of lobbyists and clients; ministers and public servants are not to meet unregistered lobbyists; and a failure by lobbyists to act in accordance with the code of conduct could result in loss of access altogether...
FOI scope question resolved after 13 years
Posted on August 17, 2009Years after Freedom of Information commenced around the country, questions still crop up about what bodies are or are not covered by legislation. The latest, a decision by Justice Cavanough of the Supreme Court of Victoria in Attorney - General for the State Of Victoria v Kay [2009] VSC 337 that the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal was not an agency for the purposes of the Victorian Freedom of Information Act, comes 13 years after VOCAT was established...
"People can do what they do with public information"
Posted on August 16, 2009Tell it to the NSW Greens and the state Opposition who voted to make it a crime to play around with published data on school performance to produce "crude and simplistic league tables" if published in a newspaper but not elsewhere. And to the NSW Law Reform Commission which says in the report on a privacy cause of action referred to in the previous post [5...
NSWLRC recommends privacy cause of action
Posted on August 14, 2009The NSW Law Reform Commission in a report released today ( but dated April) recommends the state adopt a civil action for breach of privacy, but only as part of national law reform, so privacy law would be uniform throughout Australia. The report clarifies when an individual should be able to claim compensation and places limitations on the action...
SA FOI change for 10 year old cabinet documents
Posted on August 14, 2009South Australian Premier Mike Rann has announced proposed changes that would remove the cabinet document Freedom of Information exemption for documents 10 years after they come into existence. Documents would only be exempt thereafter if another exemption applied...
Faulkner on transparency improvements at Defence
Posted on August 14, 2009He's on the case: some extracts from a speech, Governance and Defence, Some Early Impressions, by Minister for Defence Senator Faulkner yesterday that will do something to reassure those critical of the department over excessive secrecy:"I have always held the view that transparency is crucial to good governance...
Information access a whole -of - government change management challenge
Posted on August 13, 2009Those thinking about, interested, or involved in change associated with access to government information - now a broad church across the country - will find much of value in the report "Information Policy and E-Governance in the Australian Government"( pdf 185kb) by Dr Ian Reinecke for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet...
Conclusive certificates going, going almost gone
Posted on August 13, 2009The Senate passed the Freedom of Information (Removal of Conclusive Certificates and Other Measures) Bill yesterday, without amendment, so only the House of Representatives to go and that will be routine business.Senator Ludlam (Australian Greens-WA) moved several amendments but only the Greens and Senator Xenophon supported them, the Opposition siding with the Government...
Auditor General to shine some light on Parliament opacity
Posted on August 12, 2009Steve Lewis and Ben Pakham in this exclusive "MPs rorting millions in taxpayer-funded entitlements" in yesterday's Herald-Sun reported that a yet to be released Australian National Audit Office report has found widespread abuse of the printing allowance paid to members and senators, with the entitlement, contrary to guidelines, "being used for the main or only purpose of electioneering activities"...
NSW local councils still in the maze
Posted on August 11, 2009Local councils in NSW will from the commencement of the Government Information (Public Access) Act, early in 2010, be freed from some of the complexity associated with access to information issues, as Section 12 of the Local Government Act is to be rescinded, a different publishing requirement, a modified version of Section 12 (1), will be imposed under the new legislation, and applications for other information are to be dealt with in accordance with GIPA...
Victory for Liberal Party
Posted on August 10, 2009Seriously. But the main point of interest in reporting a partial win for the party in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on a Freedom of Information matter concerns legal professional privilege, and a ruling that the exemption in Section 42 of the Commonwealth Act did not apply to one of two documents in dispute because privilege had been waived by actions of the agency...
Queensland parliament rains on open access party
Posted on August 09, 2009Amid all that good Queensland news is this downer that the Clerk of the Parliament there has knocked back a request by Open Australia to allow republication of Hansard online which would enable them to add the search capabilities that have made their Federal effort a real winner...
Queensland Information Commissioner
Posted on August 07, 2009Still on matters Queensland, Julie Kinross who was appointed Information Commissioner last week has been acting in the job since April last year. Kinross has had 20 years public service experience, including Assistant Commissioner Health Care Complaints Commission, Commissioner for Fair Trading and Deputy Director-General, Department of Fair Trading and Wine Industry Development...
FOI reforms the real thing, even to Michael McKinnon
Posted on August 07, 2009After two days at different conferences in Canberra where Freedom of Information was a lively topic, a few reflections.David Solomon and Michael McKinnon in addressing the National Administrative Law Forum on the topic "FOI reform or political window dressing?" both agreed its serious and far beyond window dressing thus far in all the jurisdictions that are on the move...
Treasury's public management practices
Posted on August 05, 2009The Grech affair isn't over by any means, and continues to throw up a wide range of issues, with plenty of uncertainty still surrounding the future of key players. Of course at the heart of this when it all started was whether the Prime Minister and/or the Treasurer had arranged for special treatment for a mate...
Canberra
Posted on August 04, 2009I'm in Canberra at conferences on Wednesday and Thursday this week, so probably not much new here until Friday.
SA bridges safe-from disclosure that is.
Posted on August 02, 2009Outback SA bridge- bluegumpictures.com.auSouth Australian Ombudsman Richard Bingham, after investigating a complaint concerning a decision by the Department of Transport to refuse a Freedom of Information application for information about the state of SA bridges, said the claim that disclosure might assist terrorists and endanger lives showed an interpretation of the FOI law that was "irrational, absurd and ridiculous"...
Einfeld FOI documents reveal familiar pattern
Posted on August 02, 2009smh.com.auFormer Justice Marcus Einfeld didn't argue in court recently against the motion he was not a fit and proper person and that he should be struck off the Roll of Barristers. But he had tried unsuccessfully in Freedom of Information Administrative Appeals Tribunal proceedings he had initiated, to prevent disclosure of correspondence, now 20 years old, between him as President of the Human Rights Commission and then Attorney General Lionel Bowen about travel and expenses for him and his former wife...
ALP back in town, quiet time expected
Posted on July 30, 2009National Library of AustraliaThe Australian Labor Party National Conference - the first since the election of the Rudd Government in 2007 - gets underway in Sydney today.It's expected to be a sedate affair, as is the way of these things when the party is in office...
E-health big picture thinking-action to follow?
Posted on July 29, 2009The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission Report on the future of the health system was released earlier in the week. The discussion of e-health is in Chapter 5 of the Report.Generally positive reactions to the reform proposals overall, and although the Government has some runs on the board and plans to continue to move ahead on a number of fronts, disappointment about what is seen as more talk, not enough action on another big high priority...
Government 2.0 Issues Paper raises familiar and new questions
Posted on July 28, 2009The Government 2.0 Taskforce Issues Paper raises many important matters concerning transparency and open government including several questions familiar to readers here:How can we build a culture within government which favours the disclosure of public sector information? What government information should be more freely available and what might be made of it? What are the major obstacles to fostering a culture of online engagement within government and how can they be tackled?I'm sure the chair Nicholas Gruen and member David Solomon and their colleagues don't need reminding that the Freedom of Information history and experiences of the last thirty years, and the reams that have been written about why the law has fallen short of delivering its great promise can provide plenty of insights into the first and last questions...
Australian Parliament among weakest in the world
Posted on July 27, 2009The long-time Clerk of the Senate Harry Evans, on the verge of retirement, reflected on the operation of our institution of representative democracy in Canberra on Friday in this address Time, Chance and Parliament Lessons from Forty Years.The mainstream media doesn't find it interesting, with the Canberra Times the only paper reporting the speech...
Legal hands on deck for NSW open government "revolution"
Posted on July 27, 2009Matthew Moore in the Sydney Morning Herald calls on the NSW Premier to take back responsibility for the new Government Information (Public Access) Act from the Attorney General to ensure the backing from the top that will be necessary if culture change on transparency is to go anywhere in the state...
Lobbyists and anti-corruption in the news
Posted on July 26, 2009As The Australian Public Sector Ati-Corruption Conference opens in Brisbane, influence peddlers are under the spotlight in Queensland also following the Nuttall case, with the Premier looking for ways to ban or ensure public disclosure of success fees and this call for further lobbying reforms...
Public servants play a key role in determining public interest
Posted on July 23, 2009I like Andrew Podger's well stated wisdom in Public servants serve the public interest,period for Crikey: "What (Shergold and Moran) advocates of confidentiality and allowing the political process to determine the public interest leave out is the direct responsibility of public servants to act in the public interest in the implementation of policies and in due process more generally, including with regard to the provision of information to the public...
NSW steps backwards as others step forward
Posted on July 23, 2009Matthew Moore in the Sydney Morning Herald picks up the point that the shift of responsibilities to the Attorney General for the implementation of the new NSW access to government information act is a change from 20 years of practice in the state where the Premier has been the minister with authority concerning the Freedom of Information Act...
Conference circuit hits Canberra
Posted on July 23, 2009Two conferences, fortuitously or otherwise on successive days in Canberra, worth consideration.Public Affairs in the Nation's Capital, the annual Walkley Foundation gig examining media issues affecting the public sector, will include two sessions titled "Breaking down barriers: Freedom of Information and disclosure...
Hat tip to Defence
Posted on July 22, 2009Further to the comment last week that a real sign of change in the transparency equation would be a shift in attitude in Defence and Treasury, hat tip to Air Chief Marshall Houston for this announcement yesterday "..when a civilian casualty incident is confirmed or when a credible allegation is substantiated, Defence will issue a public statement...
Transparency for parliament needs consideration
Posted on July 22, 2009Good on Labor Member for Franklin in the Tasmanian Parliament Daniel Hulme for raising for consideration whether the state's Freedom of Information Act now under review should be extended to cover the parliament itself. Of course it should in Tassie and elsewhere, despite the fact that most parliamentarians seem to show no interest...
Record-keeping weaknesses limit accountability
Posted on July 21, 2009The reference in the post yesterday to former PM&C Secretary Dr Peter Shergold alluding to the fact that the prospect of disclosure would lead to advice to ministers not being given in written form highlights a shortcoming in the legislative framework within which the Australian Public Service operates: the absence of a general legal obligation to ensure that full and accurate records are created in the conduct of government activities, and to document and retain records of decisions...
Lawyers back in the driving seat on access to information in NSW
Posted on July 21, 2009The new face of government in NSW on access to information-Attorney General John Hatzistergos.The NSW Government, having done well with generally good reforms in the yet to commence Government Information (Public Access) Act has now dampened hopes ( well at least mine) by giving the Attorney General responsibility for this and related acts...
That culture change challenge
Posted on July 20, 2009Crikey today gives prominence to a speech last week by Secretary of Prime Minister and Cabinet Terry Moran in which he endorsed remarks by his predecessor Dr Peter Shergold about the role of the public service concerning policy advice "The public service, Dr Shergold said, provides ministers, that is the executive government, with frank, fearless and robust policy advice???and it does so in a confidential manner...
Only a glimpse of Victorian food hygiene standards
Posted on July 19, 2009Mark Russell in The Sunday Age reports "The veil of secrecy protecting Melbourne's restaurants and cafes caught dishing up contaminated food will be lifted next year. The State Government expects a "name and shame" food hygiene website to be up and running by July 1...
Premature call on the death of secrecy?
Posted on July 17, 2009Bernard Keane in Crikey today hails the release of a "truckload of documents" by the Department of Immigration for providing a glimpse of the yet to be legislated new era of open government in Canberra. The Department deserves congratulations for "getting with it" but I'd hold judgment for a moment or two about how widely the message has travelled, and how it has been received...
E-health on the move, with lively privacy debate to follow.
Posted on July 15, 2009www.dietclipart.com. Not Federal Health Minister Nicola RoxonOur wonderful system of federation adds a layer of complexity to an already complex problem when it comes to getting the balance right between access to health information, now in digital form, for those that need it for efficient and effective service to those in need, and the appropriate protection of privacy of the individual concerned...
Information Commissioner challenges
Posted on July 15, 2009As NSW goes about setting up the Office of Information Commissioner and finding someone to fill the job, the Acting Information Commissioner in Queensland comes to grips with new legislative responsibilities, the new West Australian Information Commissioner Sven Bluemell settles in, and the Federal Government continues to mull over legislation to establish its Office of Information Commissioner, a timely reminder from the UK that more than good intentions are needed to make this kind of set up work:"Long delays by the Information Commissioner?s Office (ICO) in investigating freedom of information complaints are undermining the effectiveness of the FOI Act, according to a new report by the Campaign for Freedom of Information...
First signs of new Queensland
Posted on July 14, 2009The Queensland Right to Information Act came into force on 1 July 2009, replacing the Freedom of Information Act, so it's still very early days, but already some visible developments. The Premier's Statement of Right to Information Principles includes a clear, strong message that the government will conduct itself "in the most open and transparent way possible": "The processes of government should operate on a presumption of disclosure with a clear regard for the public interest in accessing government information...
Back in touch.
Posted on July 13, 2009I'm in Darwin catching up, courtesy of internet access, on developments of a week spent in very remote locations. For me, items of particular interest include:James Massola in The Canberra Times, brought together the key elements of the open government reforms now moving on a number of fronts in Canberra, and included a well deserved wrap for what the four volunteers behind Open Australia have managed to do with parliamentary information...
Federal Privacy Commissioner extended 12 months
Posted on July 04, 2009Federal Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis has had her appointment extended for a year. In the announcement Special Minister of State Ludwig said she would assist in the transition to new arrangements including the establishment of the office of the Information Commissioner, expected to be operating from early 2010...
Queensland RTI in effect
Posted on July 02, 2009Now I wonder whether you read in the media anywhere-I didn't -that it appears from this home page that the Queensland Right to Information Act came into effect yesterday.
Warning do not enter: danger to democracy
Posted on July 02, 2009Found a web connection way out here and see News Ltd CEO John Hartigan at the National Press Club yesterday gave an interesting, spirited and optimistic speech about the future of journalism for those prepared to make the very big adjustment to changing times and public tastes, and how News plans to thrive in this environment...
No sympathy required.
Posted on June 30, 2009I'm travelling in far northern Western Australia and the Northern Territory until 14 July so you will understand that things germane to the usual preoccupations here have assumed a lesser priority. I'll check in occassionally- perhaps and as opporunities arise- but it may be slim pickings for the next two weeks...
Lobbyists register one year on
Posted on June 29, 2009This discussion on Radio National's the National Interest suggests two prominent lobbyists think the registration scheme, now a year on, has had little or no impact on their operations. Robin Banks of the Public Interest Advocacy Center points out that registration, in the absence of regular reporting on contacts, and a scheme that doesn't extend to those who represent themselves, or to the lobbying of members of parliament, fails to deliver the transparency we should expect concerning influence peddling.
MPs and opaque arrangements about expenditure of public money
Posted on June 29, 2009The NSW Remuneration Tribunal last week issued the 2009 Annual Report and Determination of Additional Entitlements for Members of the Parliament of NSW. I'm all in favour of paying parliamentarians properly as recommended by an independent body but we badly need more sunshine about what goes here, despite the Tribunal's commendation of some recent initiatives to improve accountability...
Secrecy on emergency readiness hinders not helps preparedness
Posted on June 29, 2009From ABC onlineDr Anthony Bergin the Director of Research Programs at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and David Templeman the former director-general of Emergency Management Australia on excessive and damaging secrecy about national preparedness for large scale emergencies: "Terrorists already know where our soft spots exist...
Media organisations clash over FOI reform
Posted on June 28, 2009Mark Day in The Australian reports on a power struggle within the Australian Press Council partly prompted by a clash over the APC's role and the belief by publishers that it was straying from its mission: "that increasing resources were being spent on annual state-of-the-media reports and developing policy on issues such as privacy, freedom of information and government secrecy...
Gov 2.0 in the news
Posted on June 28, 2009The Gov.2.0 initiative, about disclosure of useful government information of potential benefit to the community, is running - Minister Lindsay Tanner is blogging away strongly about what he says the Federal Government is on about, which sounds great but has provoked a string of mostly sceptical comment; in the US state information officials are going to work with the White House to develop national standards on disclosure of government data but here is a view that being too open may be problematic; the UK Opposion Leader is talking about "letting data free" if he wins the next election; and the Victorian Parliament Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee reported last week on Improving Access to Victorian Public Sector Information and Data...
What to make of leak week?
Posted on June 25, 2009There are currently over 300 media reports on Google Search about leaks and alleged leakers arising from events of the past week in Canberra and the mystery surrounding Treasury official Godwin Grech.However The Sydney Morning Herald editorial is right to express a note of concern if the investigation of a forged email "signalled a new crackdown on information flows from the public service and a return to the climate of intimidation enforced under the Howard government...
Portrait of a busy man
Posted on June 25, 2009courier mail.com.auCongratulations to Queensland Freedom of Information review chair David Solomon, who following his appointment earlier in the week to the Federal Government's Government 2.0 Taskforce has been appointed Queensland Integrity Commissioner to give ethical advice to politicians and senior public servants on how to avoid conflicts of interest.
Alice in Wonderland: Alice wants to know about school.
Posted on June 25, 2009The NSW Parliament yesterday also finalised the Education Amendment (Publication of School Results) Bill with an amendment forced on the Government by The Greens and the Opposition in the Upper House and accepted by the Assembly (Hansard page 4).Although it accepted the amendment with teeth gritted, I'm struggling to understand the Government's position on league tables, plain, simplistic or crude, or why those who pushed this think there should be restriction on media treatment of publicly available information...
NSW Government Information Act now law waiting for commencement
Posted on June 25, 2009The NSW Legislative Assembly yesterday accepted the minor amendments to the Government Information (Public Access) Bill passed by the Legislative Council, so the new law is done and dusted, save for a commencement date. The Act as passed by Parliament is the Bill as introduced with the amendments referred to in this Hansard extract of Assembly debate:Consideration of the Legislative Council amendments...
Federal MPs travel details on-line.
Posted on June 25, 2009Special Minister of State Joe Ludwig yesterday tabled in Federal Parliament the six monthly reports on travel and related expenses paid by the Department of Finance and Deregulation for members of parliament and former members, and overseas study travel reports submitted by members...
NSW Government Information Bill debate in all the gory detail.
Posted on June 24, 2009Just on the off-chance that you have a little time on your hands or an overwhelming thirst for the detail, I've put together here the various extracts from Hansard of debate in both Houses of NSW Parliament on the Government Information (Public Access) Bill and related legislation...
NSW Government Information Bill passed by both Houses
Posted on June 24, 2009The NSW Government Information (Public Access) Bill passed the Assembly on Tuesday and the Legislative Council around 12.30 this morning . The Greens' Lee Rhiannon moved 26 amendments in the Council. All but two related amendments failed as the Opposition sided with the Government on the Bill as introduced, claiming they didn't have sufficient time to consider them properly...
Court rules re-litigation of FOI exemption claim an abuse of process
Posted on June 24, 2009A recent NSW Supreme Court decision (Howell v O'Brien) to dismiss a defamation action brought against the in-house solicitor for Macquarie University involved a number of Freedom of Information aspects including a decision to not allow re-litigation of earlier Tribunal and Court findings that documents were exempt under the NSW Freedom of Information Act...
Norfolk Island "back from the brink?"
Posted on June 23, 2009It was no doubt of interest to the 1800 who live out there in the Pacific when the then Minister for Home Affairs announced in May a package of governance and accountability reforms for the Australian external territory of Norfolk Island. According to Island News the Minister last year had said the Territory was on the brink of becoming a failed state...
Tasmania moving forward on reform inititiatives
Posted on June 23, 2009The Tasmanian Attorney General says "strong progress had been made on the review of Tasmania?s Freedom of Information and Public Interest Disclosures laws." Tassie is opting for "Right to Information", following the Queensland lead, as the title of the FOI rewrite, due to go to Cabinet shortly...
Government 2.0: from words to some action.
Posted on June 22, 2009The joint ministerial announcement today by Ministers Tanner and Ludwig was the establishment of a Government 2.0 Taskforce (with instant website) to provide advice and assistance to the Government as it moves further into the brave new information world...
Full Court of Federal Court turns pages back to FOI 101
Posted on June 22, 2009The right to your day in court is a central element of our legal system that must be preserved. But the patience of those involved must be sorely tested in cases, such as Luck v University of Southern Queensland involving a frequent litigant, including on Commonwealth Freedom of Information matters...
"The wisdom of the crowd"
Posted on June 22, 2009When ministers start talking this way, we are moving in the right direction. But I can imagine head-scratching in some public service circles.
Cheney interview off limits-too good comic material.
Posted on June 22, 2009At least no-one here has justified a Freedom of Information knock-back, on the basis of what the Chasers could do with it. According to AP:"(US) Justice Department lawyers told the judge that future presidents and vice presidents may not cooperate with criminal investigations if they know what they say could become available to their political opponents and late-night comics who would ridicule them...
NSW acts on disclosure of school performance information
Posted on June 21, 2009I'll leave it to the experts to make what they can of the NSW move ( presumably in line with what is happening in all states and territories) to legislate for the publication of information about school performance. Here is what Education Minister Verity Firth had to say in Parliament last week, making it sound like a big step forward, then claiming NSW has been publishing this sort of stuff for years; in any event amending legislation to permit disclosure of performance information to a national body and subsequent publication by others; and still retaining in the Freedom of Information Act for the time being, and in the proposed Government Information Act, an exemption to protect some information of this kind, and a provision that excludes information relating to relevant functions of the Department and the universities in processing this informtion from the legislation entirely...
Transparency for government borrowings-why didn't the Government think of that?
Posted on June 19, 2009That's the only question for a government that keeps talking about the importance of transparency. Bernard Keane writing for crikey.com:"Joe Hockey?s successful amendment to the Guarantee of State and Territory Borrowing Appropriation Bill 2009 yesterday to establish a Public Register of Government Borrowings is good policy, the fact that some investors have warned that it will reduce demand for government bonds proves it...
"Bloggers to have greater say in legislative debate"
Posted on June 18, 2009Well, it's an encouraging headline, and, ahem, some of us would like to think so. Minister for Finance Lindsay Tanner dubbed here "the unofficial minister for blogging", and newly appointed Special Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary Senator Joe Ludwig are to announce "an exciting new initiative" at the Government 2...
Everything fine and dandy in NSW parliament
Posted on June 18, 2009When asked in the Legislative Council yesterday about why the NSW Parliament would not be subject to the Government Information (Public Access) Bill the Attorney General John Hazistergos said it was a silly question and that the President of the Legislative Council and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly had explained the reasons for the decision...
Open Australia gets a wrap
Posted on June 17, 2009Congratulations to the Open Australia gang- cracking a story in the mainstream media about their great voluntary, free service of immeasurable value in keeping track of developments in Federal Parliament. Rated as "a rival parliamentary record" although it in effect depends on Hansard, but adds great value through repackaging and adding search capabilities...
NSW GI law to replace Freedom of Information
Posted on June 17, 2009The NSW Government has published on the Department of Premier and Cabinet website most of the 57 submissions received on the (now to be titled) Government Information (Public Access) Bill, together with the (mostly reasonable) Government response to submissions, and has introduced the legislation into State Parliament today, apparently with the intention it will pass through all stages immediately...
Hat tip to those involved in NSW GI Bill
Posted on June 17, 2009The NSW Government Information (Public Access) Bill and related legislation only got to initial reading stage in the Legislative Assembly yesterday, with the Premier Nathan Rees (copy of the statement here) outlining the key features and government policy that underpins the changes...
Much needed reforms proposed for secrecy laws
Posted on June 17, 2009The Australian Law Reform Commission Discussion Paper on secrecy provisions in federal laws was released today with 65 proposals for change. ALRC President David Weisbrot said the proposals involve major changes to the treatment of secrecy in statutes, currently "507 secrecy provisions scattered across 175 pieces of legislation, including 358 distinct secrecy offences carrying a wide variety of criminal penalties...
Government 2.0 discussion opens up
Posted on June 16, 2009Open government and what it should mean in the digital age has had a kick along in the UK, with the Government's appointment of internet founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee to advise on how to make government information more open and accessible. Read all about it on the UK Cabinet Office Blog (now there's an idea)...
Papers catch up from lavish quarters in HK
Posted on June 14, 2009Just a couple of things from a quick browse of the papers at home.Peter van Onselen writing in The Weekend Australian thinks the arrival of Senator Joe Ludwig as Special Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary signals it's game up for much of Senator Faulkner's integrity in government agenda...
New surrounds, familiar themes
Posted on June 11, 2009I'm in Hong Kong for a few days,but there is no escape: according to today's paper 77% of respondents to a Democratic Party survey said they wanted the government to enact new freedom of information legislation; 55 % thought press freedom in Hong Kong had deteriorated in the past two years; 54% believed the media had exercised self-censorship.
FOI sword sheathed
Posted on June 11, 2009Telstra under former boss Sol Trujillo sure knew how to wage war- 55 Freedom of Information applications in one month last year!! Acording to Business Spectator, Telstra sought documents it hoped would show the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) had been involved in setting up the G9 consortium seeking to compete with Telstra in discussions with the Government about the building of a fibre-based national broadband network...
Ministers and staffers our biggest transparency challenges
Posted on June 10, 2009Andrew Podger is one of our best and most experienced in terms of the way government works , so his comments about transparency-that the biggest cultural change is necessary at the ministerial and ministerial staff level-are apposite. See the third video here at 7...
Food hygiene coming out of the cupboard
Posted on June 10, 2009A reader-Fitzroyalty, a blog on matters of local interest in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy - is doing battle, with some success with the local council over access to food hygiene inspection reports. Another blog, Lifehacker, gives an overview of available information on such things around the country, but I wouldn't make much of any "come-clean" (sorry) performance other than NSW-WA and SA are only publishing in a convenient form, conviction information already in the public domain...
Claims about "advice to Government" don't wash with Harry
Posted on June 09, 2009Harry Evans Sydney Morning HeraldThe Clerk of the Senate Harry Evans has given a preliminary report to Senator Cormann (Liberal WA) on the compliance of witnesses over two weeks of Senate Estimates hearings with a Senate Order passed on 13 May on the Senator's motion, relating to public interest immunity claims in the course of witness response to questions...
Ludwig steps up to reform challenge
Posted on June 08, 2009Welcome Senator Joe Ludwig, the newly appointed Special Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary who hopefully will keep things moving on Labor's governance reforms including Freedom of Information and privacy.Senator Ludwig has some familiarity with the issues having been Shadow Attorney General prior to the 2007 election...
"Disclosure to the world" not an automatic presumption in NSW
Posted on June 08, 2009The NSW Administrative Decisions Appeal Panel has taken another look at whether "disclosure to the world" should be the default position in considering whether release of documents containing information about the personal affairs of someone other than the applicant under the NSW Freedom of Information Act was unreasonable...
Submission on NSW Open Government Information Bill
Posted on June 08, 2009My submission on the NSW Open Government Information Public Consultation Draft may be of interest. The comment at the time that it is close to a gold star effort still stands. The drafters have set a new standard for plain-English.There are many positive features but of course, room for improvement- about 12 pages worth by mine.
Faulkner to the front line at Defence.
Posted on June 05, 2009Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary Senator John Faulkner has been appointed Minister for Defence, so the open government, accountability and integrity causes lose a good steward, at least from direct carriage of the reform agenda. Defence on the other hand will need to get ready for a shift in gears...
No names of recalcitrant parliamentarians with signature block
Posted on June 04, 2009On another aspect of accountability, Finance officials told the Senate Finance and Public Administration Estimates hearing last Thursday (28/5/2009) that most senators and members of parliament have been certifying that Department of Finance expenditure for payments made on their behalf were properly incurred...
Transparency should be something more than "tabled in Parliament"
Posted on June 04, 2009The Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee Estimates hearings last Thursday (28/5/2009) for the Department of Finance and Deregulation involved questions concerning the Ministerial and Parliamentary Services Branch of the Department- with $390 million including $45 million in entitlements for parliamentarians under scrutiny...
Defence shelters detail
Posted on June 04, 2009The resignation of Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon for failure to fully adhere to the Ministerial Code of Conduct serves to highlight the importance of those interminable Estimates hearings. As The Age points out the end came-following months of scrutiny and adjustments to his declaration of interests- because of inaccuracies revealed in questioning Defence officials yesterday about "undertakings that the minister made publicly in March about his role in the lobbying activities of his brother...
There goes the neighbourhood.
Posted on June 03, 2009http://farm1.static.flickr.comThe US government mistakenly posted on the web (since removed) a 266-page report, marked ?highly confidential,? that details hundreds of nuclear sites and programs, as reported in the New York Times. Makes Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith by comparison, a paragon in handling sensitive documents...
Queensland's Bligh first into the new era
Posted on June 03, 2009The Queensland Parliament passed the Government's Right to Information and (Public Sector) Information Privacy bills on Tuesday, both supported by the Opposition. The only amendments approved to the bills as introduced were the Government's technical amendments...
Business community pads up for open government era
Posted on June 02, 2009In a submission (28) to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry raises concerns about, and opposition to, proposed changes to the business affairs exemption in the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act, and questions the necessity of a planned reference to the Australian Law Reform Commission regarding possible extension of FOI to the private sector...
Opening the books
Posted on June 02, 2009Julie Novak in "Shine a light on government spending" in today's Canberra Times illustrates with some international comparisons what information about public finances we should expect from governments, and the benefits:"There is much for Australian governments to do to open the books on their activities across the board than just printing budget papers and creating websites for portions of total expenditure...
More disclosure might break "gotcha " reporting
Posted on June 02, 2009Markus Mannheim Editor of the Canberra Times Public Service Informant supplement in this month's edition (no link available) says the "gotcha" element in media reporting on government is the result of overmanaged media relations and excessive secrecy:"Only disclosure can end this cycle...
NSW OGI submissions due today.
Posted on June 02, 2009If you have views about the Consultation Draft of the NSW Open Government Information Bill, a reminder submissions close today, not 15 June as originally mentioned on an earlier post here. I'm still scrambling but will get something off by the end of the day.
Government grants set for a little more rigour from July
Posted on June 01, 2009New rules are scheduled for Commonwealth grants from 1 July 2009, including-this is new?- an obligation on ministers and officials to record why a particular grant is an efficient and effective use of public money. Would be interesting to know the level of compliance with the other new requirement since 1 January to publish details of grants on each agency website- but no-one asked in Estimates last week...
Senate questions for Operation Sunlight and budget transparency
Posted on June 01, 2009Senate Estimates (Finance and Public Administration 27/5/2009 at 88-89) examination of the Department of Finance and Deregulation last week saw questions asked about Operation Sunlight. Nothing new, or startling but here is an edited version.Senator CAMERON?...
NSW Ombudsman pushes child models' treatment into the open
Posted on June 01, 2009Julie GaleThe following is a media release from Kids Free 2B Kids - distributed by AAP MediaNet. The basis of the exemption claim by the NSW Office of the Children's Guardian which held this up for a year is not specified, nor details of what has now been released after the intervention of the Ombudsman...
Secrecy and transparency in the news
Posted on May 31, 2009Food inspections report- but no details of which councils inspect, or don'tThe NSW Food Authority published a report on the first six months of inspections of food premises under the partnership agreement with local councils. However the report has omitted the names of councils that have undertaken inspections and related details from each council area -"Public left guessing about food check details"-Sydney Morning Herald...
Some lessons on engaging the public and moving on open government
Posted on May 28, 2009You might recall I didn't think much of the process that led to the Federal Government's Freedom of Information Reform Exposure Draft- 130 pages of amendments to legislation- plonking onto the table in March. The Draft is now being reconsidered in the light of (41 non-confidential) submissions from the public...
Malcolm Turnbull: Brits should learn about allowances from us
Posted on May 27, 2009I'm sure it's never a slow day out there in Oppositionland, but Malcolm Turnbull also today sent this response to my article in New Matilda:Peter,I read your piece and cannot agree. The allowances to Australian politicians are very transparent and independently determined...
Access to advice: Senator Cormann responds
Posted on May 27, 2009The following note from Senator Cormann regarding his exchanges with Minister Faulkner on Monday in Senate Estimates is worth a bit more space than the Comments section allows.Dear Peter,Thank you for your interest in the recent exchange between Senator Faulkner and myself during Senate Estimates...
"Critics of FOI join me" as Faulkner nails colours to the mast
Posted on May 27, 2009There were further references to Freedom of Information in the hearing of Budget estimates of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet referred to in the last post. Mostly political point-scoring about things that had nothing to do with the Department such as this decision in March about the National Broadband Network tender...
New oversight model attracts a modicum of interest
Posted on May 27, 2009And yes,a few questions were raised during those 23 hours of hearings about the Government's Freedom of Information Reform proposals, when the Office of the Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis stepped up to the plate on Tuesday.(Finance and Public Administration 26/05/2009 at 38-45)Senator Ronaldson (Liberal Victoria) seems to have a bee in his bonnet about 'conflict of interest" and security of data in the proposed Information Commission office, matters that don't appear to have led to problems elsewhere when FOI and privacy oversight have been placed in a single agency...
Small postage stamps of the world unite!!
Posted on May 27, 2009Senate Estimates hearings for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and other agencies in the portfolio dragged on for another nine hours ( with breaks) on Tuesday. (Finance and Public Administration 26/05/2009).Bloggers everywhere are reeling in the light of Minister Faulkner's admission[68]:"What I know about blog sites could be written on the back of an extremely small postage stamp...
Zero interest in Senate Estimates in transparency concerns about Parliament
Posted on May 26, 2009The Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee ( 25/05/2009) laboured through 14 hours of questions and answers on Monday concerning Budget allocations and associated matters for the Parliament, Governor General's Office and Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet...
Access to advice a lively issue in Estimates
Posted on May 26, 2009Special Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary John Faulkner has been through the Senate Estimates Committee processes interminably over the years, and probably knows more about the subject than anyone other than soon to retire Clerk Harry Evans. In the Finance and Public Administration Committee (25/5/2009) Budget Estimates for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet on Monday however he came in for close questioning from WA Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann ( a drop-in on the session, who brought with him on appointment to the Senate in 2007 experience as an adviser to a WA Premier and to the former Federal Minister for Justice and Customs), about the circumstances in which ministers or public servants can refuse to provide information in response to questions...
Costello and a handy slice of the advice cake
Posted on May 25, 2009Former Treasurer Peter Costello had a "let them eat cake" attitude to Freedom of Information while in office, pronouncing in this speech in November 2005 on the dark dangers posed by those using the Act to seek access to documents relating to policy development...
FOI battle over University of NSW medical fraud investigation
Posted on May 25, 2009There is no new law in the decision of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal in Chen v University of NSW (No 2) [2009] NSWADT 99, but it is a reminder of the wide meaning of some words used in FOI exemptions. In this case the issue was the exemption for documents which would disclose "matter relating to a protected disclosure"-Clause 20(1)(d) of Schedule 1 of the NSW Freedom of Information Act...
NSW OGI BIll steps into digital age
Posted on May 24, 2009Those interested in the detail of the NSW Open Government Information Consultation Draft will find the E-Brief prepared by Dr Gareth Griffith of the NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service of interest.One point that seems to have been missed in media comment and in Griffith's excellent paper is the significant shift from the emphasis in the Freedom of Information Act on access to "documents," to a new obligation under the OGI Bill to publish and provide access to "information...
Blanket exclusions and exemptions rarely justified
Posted on May 24, 2009Exclusions of some government agencies entirely or in respect of certain functions from freedom of information laws, and exemptions for classes of documents with no requirement to find harm from disclosure or to consider public interest factors, leave a significant hole in the principles of open, transparent and accountable government that underpin the law...
Continuous disclosure a private sector concept for some NSW agency CEOs
Posted on May 24, 2009The NSW Auditor General last week reported on a review of Corporate Governance Arrangements in Large Government Agencies and Universities based on the 17 measures used as reference points for ASX listed companies.The review covered 50 agencies and the 10 universities...
South Australia FOI concerns not unique
Posted on May 21, 2009South Australia has been one of the blanks (with Victoria and Western Australia) on the Australian map of the Freedom of Information reform movement of the last couple of years. Still nothing from the Government but last week former minister, now Family First member of the Legislative Council Robert Brokenshire introduced the Freedom of Information (Victimisation and Interference) Amendment Bill (Hansard LC 13 May)...
Movement at the station on transparency and accountability for parliamentarians
Posted on May 21, 2009As to MPs allowances and expenses, today's headlines say it all. Here is a sample:The Australian: "Call for more transparency in electorate payments"ABC Online: " Rudd open to MP allowance reform" and "MPs employing family "bad form": Abbott"SMH:"We have to make allowances, but guidelines could be clearer" and "Perks and lurks or tools of the trade" and "Full list of federal MPs entitlements"Almost an anniversary- the first post on this blog about the need for reform in this area was on 24 May 2006...
Obama standard sounds pretty good from here
Posted on May 21, 2009President Obama's speech at the National Archives in Washington covered a wide range of issues concerning intelligence, values, and national security including this: Now, let me touch on a second set of issues that relate to security and transparency...
Federal FOI Reform submissions.
Posted on May 20, 2009The 39 non-confidential submissions on the Federal Freedom of Information Reform bills-perhaps some still to come- have now been posted. Plenty of grist I'm sure- just not the chance to read yet.
NSW aims to dispel perceptions about overseas travel
Posted on May 20, 2009NSW Premier Nathan Rees yesterday issued an instruction to ministers concerning disclosure on the web of details including the purpose and cost of overseas travel. This follows recent on-the front-foot disclosures of costs of trips recently undertaken by him and separately by Finance Minister Joe Tripodi The Premier said "Overseas travel is undertaken by Ministers to attract investment, trade and business opportunities to the State, to learn from the policies and processes of other Governments, and to forge relationships with export markets...
Australian media find an MPs story in our own backyard after all
Posted on May 20, 2009Australian MPs allowances-not just the UK debacle- make news today with various calls for increased accountability and transparency. My two cents worth for several years has been that the administration of parliament-including the payment of public moneys to parliamentarians-should be subject to the same standards as any other government agency...
Those MPs allowances again-or still
Posted on May 19, 2009Maybe more than you ever wanted to know you didn't know about the subject-this is also published today on New Matilda.com
Queensland legislation roll-out
Posted on May 19, 2009The Queensland Government yesterday introduced a raft of legislation into Parliament on accountability and transparency related matters- Right to Information Bill, Information Privacy Bill , Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill, Parliament of Queensland Amendment Bill and Auditor General Financial Accountability Bill...
The learning is for us, not them
Posted on May 19, 2009The UK MP allowances expose rolls on (now 3500 articles listed on Google News) with Prime Minister Gordon Brown stating any Labour member who defied the rules won't be running in the next election, and scalps on the rise, the latest the Speaker of the House of Commons...
Joe Hockey may be all heart, but...
Posted on May 18, 2009Peter Hartcher in Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald wrote about Shadow Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey buying a $2500 dinner for 10 at a charity auction, speculating whether it came from his pocket or courtesy of his recently increased electoral allowance...
Queensland RTI set for Parliament this week
Posted on May 18, 2009Queensland's Right to Information Bill, to replace the Freedom of Information Act, and the Privacy Bill are to be introduced into Parliament this week, according to the Brisbane Times. No details so far about what changes if any as a result of issues raised during the consultation phase...
Federal FOI reform submission
Posted on May 17, 2009Submissions in response to the Exposure drafts of the Federal Freedom of Information Reform Amendment Bill and associated legislation closed on Friday. My submission acnowledged the very positive proposed shift in the direction of a pro-disclosure bias in the publication scheme and in the right to access, through powerful statements of the objects of the Act and the linked list of public interest factors in favour of disclosure throgh the publication scheme and in the additrional right of access...
Shield law over the easy hurdle- now for the high jump
Posted on May 15, 2009The Evidence Amendment (Journalists' Privilege) Bill was the subject of very good debate as it went through the House of Representatives in Canberra yesterday, without amendment. Speeches from both sides of the House were on subject and well-informed...
Oops moment for Australia's diplomacy
Posted on May 15, 2009Foreign Minister Stephen Smith-pictured here sometime before the day in question- inadvertently tabled in Parliament on Wednesday a document summarising the current situation in Australia's negotiations with over 80 countries on various matters. The front page of the document included a note in bold saying the "sections of this schedule dealing with bilateral negotiations should not be tabled in any parliament or any committee of a parliament, or otherwise placed on the public record," but the Minister's spokeswoman states the document was not classified...
Differences over shield laws- that's just in the Committee
Posted on May 13, 2009The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee reported yesterday (Budget day-how to get noticed) with the four Labor senators supporting the Government's proposal on a shield law for journalists but with the addition of words that would make it mandatory for a judge to take into consideration the public interest in disclosure of a protected confidence and/or protected identity information...
A story of sorts about MPs payments in our own backyard
Posted on May 13, 2009The Australian media continue today to lap up the UK MPs expense story- in addition to the Fairfax papers, the ABC is onto it with this lead: "The British Parliament is facing one of the biggest crises in its history after a week of politically-devastating revelations about MPs' expenses claims...
Budget papers score some criticisms
Posted on May 13, 2009www.businesspectator.com.auThe gurus on economics and government finances seem to be too flat out to date to do much in the way of a close assessment of the Federal Budget papers against the Government's own standards of transparency and accountability outlined in the Operation Sunlight policy...
Raising your privacy awareness
Posted on May 12, 2009A couple of things from Privacy Awareness Week last week- what you missed it?Former High Court Justice Michael Kirby, and a major figure in the development of thinking about information privacy in the eighties in his capacity at the time as President of the Australian Law Reform Commission, spoke at an event organised by the Federal Privacy Commissioner...
Government shows the money for Information Commissioner's Office
Posted on May 12, 2009The planned Office of the Information Commissioner-scheduled to come into operation with effect from 1 January 2010, after the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Reform legislation is passed by Parliament, makes it into this year's Commonwealth budget announced tonight...
The Budget : read all about it
Posted on May 12, 2009Maybe more than you ever wanted to know about the Commonwealth Government Budget in today's news. I'll be interested to see if someone with more knowledge of these things provides an assessment of the budget papers, given the Government's commitment to Operation Sunshine ...
UK snout stories interesting, but...
Posted on May 12, 2009The Australian media are finding plenty to say, as in "MPs on nose for snouts in trough" by Paola Totaro in Fairfax papers today, about rorts revealed in the UK. Few if any seem to be making the point that in many respects we just don't know how Australian counterparts spend much of the taxpayers' money that comes their way.
More than awareness needed for this privacy problem
Posted on May 12, 2009Things aren't good in the small and medium size business sector in Australia and New Zealand when it comes to protection of personal information. A survey by Symantec shows security breaches - where information has been subject to unauthorised access, often where the data is lost, stolen, or hacked- had occurred in more than half the businesses surveyed...
Press Council reform takes a hair-cut in tough times
Posted on May 11, 2009Buried away at the back of the Government's response to the Report of the 2020 Summit in a list of "Ideas others may progress", this from the Governance Group:"? Improve accountability of the media (Press Council). The media should be accountable to the public, including radio, television and media on the internet...
What about Australian MPs' allowances and expenses?
Posted on May 11, 2009The UK MPs' expenses issue- 1626 articles listed in a Google news search this morning-continues to be big news there. Heather Brooke and her "Your Right to Know" blog deserve the credit for pushing against the odds for four years for transparency and accountability from parliamentarians for allowance and expense reimbursements...
Corporate ID theft and government contract disclosures
Posted on May 10, 2009With developments here moving in the direction, or already there, of routine on-line publication of information about government contracts, this report in the Chicago Tribune about a scam in which perpetrators stole the identities of companies listed as contractors to the state Auditor, then managed to have $2million deposited into false bank accounts, is of interest...
Anything more than stomachs rumbling in Adelaide?
Posted on May 10, 2009www.electricpig.co.ukSome rumblings in South Australia, at the instigation of the Ombudsman, at council refusals to disclose information on "public interest" grounds sought under the Freedom of Information Act about breaches of food hygiene standards...
Who knows what parliamentarians do with our money?
Posted on May 10, 2009The three jurisdictions in Australia moving now on Freedom of Information reforms have shown no interest in extending the scope of legislation to parliament.The Federal and NSW governments haven't bothered to explain publicly why they rejected recommendations to this effect from the Australian Law Reform Commission and the NSW Ombudsman respectively...
Only a small round table required for Federal FOI Reform discussion
Posted on May 08, 2009The public forum on the Federal Government's Freedom of Information Reform package in Canberra yesterday was a useful chat about some of the issues arising and the detail of elements of the draft legislation. But not much in the way of improved understanding about why some of the 1995 recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission -for example,extension of the act to the parliament, reducing time for processing from the long established 30 days to 14 days, fees to be based on documents released - have not been acted upon...
Federal public servants urged to get on board for openness and transparency
Posted on May 06, 2009Special Minister of State Faulkner did get that letter off last week to Federal Government public service bosses, and he did urge them to get on board with Government policy on access to information now, not to just sit there awaiting new Freedom of Information legislation:"These reforms, although important, will not deliver the openness and transparency so essential to accountability and to a robust democracy, unless FOI decision-makers embrace the disposition towards disclosure which informs the FOI Act reforms...
Detail of NSW FOI reforms
Posted on May 06, 2009The Premier's media release is here and NSW Freedom of Information Reform package here. Submissions close 15 June. If you take a look, really hope you come back here and leave a comment, question or observation. Allcomers welcome.
Google Public Data shows governments a potential trick or two
Posted on May 06, 2009If governments haven't got it regarding the potential power of technology to utilise their information for public purposes in readily accessible formats, it's Google to the rescue with the launch in the US last week of Google Public Data. Here is the Washington Post take...
Canberra bound as we speak
Posted on May 06, 2009I'm off to Canberra this morning to attend the public forum later today at PM&C on the Federal Government's Freedom of Information Reform proposals. I may not get a chance to add anything here until Friday afternoon. In the meantime your thoughts, or questions are welcome.
A couple of candidates for improved transparency in NSW
Posted on May 06, 2009www.grantsready.comThe publication of information about school performance and government grants in NSW, which both featured in news reports critical of the current transparency arrangements yesterday, are examples of the sort of thing the public should expect to be different with a government now moving in the direction of best practice access to government information...
Premier Rees tables Freedom of Information reform proposals
Posted on May 05, 2009NSW Premier Nathan Rees has released to the media today the draft Open Government Information Bill and other documents related to replacement of the Freedom of Information Act.They are not on the web as yet, but the text of the Premier's media release dated tomorrow is as follows, I'll have something to say when I see the detail...
NSW FOI reforms- close to gold star
Posted on May 05, 2009The draft bills and other documents concerning the proposed NSW Open Government Information Act will be available online later today.The three media reports on the proposed changes this morning are here.There is a lot of fine print to be read closely but my initial reading indicates a lot to like in this reform package...
E-Health back on the agenda- privacy issues to follow
Posted on May 04, 2009www.epha.orgThe National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) has released a paper which outlines the case for person-controlled electronic health records for every Australian by 2012.The Commission says an electronic health record is arguably the single most important enabler of truly person-centred care...
World Press Freedom Day just another day in Canberra
Posted on May 03, 2009World Press Freedom Day yesterday served as a reminder that fortunately we don't face here the enormous challenges that journalists face in some parts of the world to stay alive and stay out of jail. UNESCO awarded its 2009 press freedom prize posthumously to Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunga for his work as a newspaper editor...
Warming journalists' hearts- now that's a challenge
Posted on May 03, 2009http://blogs.abc.net.auParticularly that of veteran journalist Laurie Oakes, political editor of the Nine Network. But he told the MEAA Press Freedom dinner on Friday that John Faulkner had done it in announcing the planned Freedom of Information reforms, even though other developments or non-developments leave Oakes somewhat chilled to the bone...
Genuine privacy fears from FOI reform- or something else?
Posted on May 01, 2009The headline "Privacy fears over FOI law reform" to Chris Merritt's article in today's Australian seems ironic given that the paper has, in the "Your right to know " campaign, urged Freedom of Information reform, and been dead against the idea of a statutory cause of action for breach of privacy, proposed as one aspect of reform of privacy laws...
FOI reforms a red flag for business?
Posted on April 30, 2009www.creditcards.comIn a recent post I mentioned significant aspects of Minister Faulkner's Federal Freedom of Information reform package regarding private sector or business information -changes to the business affairs exemption and planned referral to the ALRC of the issue of private sector disclosures- and that so far, the Government has not invested time or energy in explaining why they are necessary and warranted...
NSWLRC throws an oar in on FOI reform
Posted on April 29, 2009This is from a post in early February, generally welcoming the NSW Ombudsman review report on the Freedom of Information Act:"The Premier has responded in a media release with a general commitment to greater transparency, to Cabinet consideration of the report's 88 recommendations, and to introducing the new Open Government Information Bill in "the upcoming session of parliament...
Googling government information
Posted on April 28, 2009http://weblogs.newsday.comWith the Queensland, Federal and NSW governments all moving in the direction of greater pro-active disclosure of information on the web, as part of Freedom of information reforms, one question that arises is whether we can find important information relevant to our interests, now and once the new era is underway, using publicly available search engines such as Google?Search engine results are essentially statistical...
Shine a little light on politicians use of public money
Posted on April 28, 2009This letter in today's Sydney Morning Herald under the heading "Show us the money" in response to yesterday's editorial, will sound familiar to those who read the post here on the same subject on Monday."I agree we should accept the umpire's reasonable assessment that an increase in electoral allowance is justified ("Let's be honest about MPs' pay", April 28)...
No sign of transparency for MPs allowance spending
Posted on April 27, 2009A fuss of sorts today over a Remuneration Tribunal Determination to increase the electoral allowance for Federal senators and members of the House of Representatives by $4700, the first increase for years. Guardians of the public purse such as Senator Bob Brown threaten disallowance when the matter comes before the Senate...
Goodbye to 2020 and all that
Posted on April 26, 2009A couple of final thoughts on the 2020 Summit before all that enthusiasm and thousands of ideas disappear completely beneath the sand.David McLennan in the Canberra Times (seriously) and Bruce Chapman in The Australian (amusingly) both highlight the problem of an over-ambitious plan to get 1000 people together for less than two days, with a blue sky agenda, in a process ultimately over engineered in the search for consensus...
Federal agency privacy concerns.
Posted on April 23, 2009If you weren't relaxed and comfortable after reading last week that doctors "will be forced to hand over patient medical files to Medicare to prove they have performed the services they have claimed, in a move the Government says will save taxpayers about $148 million over four years," you won't feel any better, and maybe a bit worse, after seeing the front page story in today's Australian Financial Review,"ATO lashed over privacy breaches"( no link available), summarised in Business Spectator...
RSS subscribers.
Posted on April 23, 2009If you keep up to date with postings on this blog with an RSS feed, just a note to say that the settings have been altered to provide from now on the full text, rather than the first few lines.
Open slather
Posted on April 23, 2009Thought an experiment might be worth a try - an invitation to anyone to post a comment, opinion or observation, or raise an issue of interest or concern about any matters of likely interest to others who come here. Brevity (I know, not necessarily my best suit, but some of this stuff is complicated) and civility are the only rules...
Shield laws set for lively debate.
Posted on April 23, 2009Attorney General Senator Robert McClelland.Some heavy going still ahead on the issue of proposed changes to shield laws for journalists, an important aspect of the discussion we are having about free speech, the right to know and the role of the media...
Mayor of Gosford flunks accountability 101
Posted on April 22, 2009On ABC 7.30 Report last night, Matt Peacock interviewed the Mayor of Gosford about $40 million in write-downs on Council's investments in collateralised debt obligations. A local business group has asked the Council questions as to exactly what funds have been invested in what schemes...
2020 vision suffers from near-sightedness
Posted on April 22, 2009Reaction to the Government's response to the Final Report on last year's 2020 Summit seems to be somewhere between "underwhelmed" and "disappointed" as illustrated in these articles in Fairfax papers and The Australian, the Oz editorial and Mike Steketee's comments...
Government round-table on FOI Reform bills.
Posted on April 21, 2009The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet will host a forum for interested persons to discuss the exposure draft Freedom of Information reform bills in Canberra on Thursday 7 May, from 2.30-4.30. To attend email foiconsultation@pmc.gov.au or telephone Maia Ablett on 6271 5245 by 5 May 2009...
APSAC cleaning up corruption in Brisbane
Posted on April 21, 2009The program has been finalised for the second Australian Public Sector Anti-Corruption Conference- APSAC, sponsored by the three state commissions- to be held in Brisbane in July 2009. The four days will feature top figures in this and related fields from Australia and overseas and cover contemporary anti-corruption trends and strategies, including sessions on the media and exposing corruption,
NSW Supreme Court on "disclosure to the world"
Posted on April 21, 2009Justice Smart in the NSW Supreme Court in Gene Simring v Commissioner of Police, NSW Police[2009] NSWSC 270 considered the applicability of the Victorian Court of Appeal decision (in Marke) that disclosure to a Freedom of Information applicant was not necessarily disclosure to the world at large, and that an applicant's purpose in seeking access can be relevant when making an assessment under
Lobbyist registration schemes not quite all the same
Posted on April 20, 2009http://blogs.e-rockford.comThe three Australian lobbyist registration schemes are essentially the same- hired guns need to register with some exceptions; an on-line publicly available register of lobbyists and clients; ministers and public servants are not to meet unregistered lobbyists; and a failure by lobbyists to act in accordance with the code of conduct could result in loss of access
Premier Rees: "the taxpayers of NSW are entitled to know what I do day-to-day "
Posted on April 19, 2009NSW Premier Nathan Rees has moved some way since the days of his predecessor, who following in the steps of the media meister who went before him, Bob Carr, wouldn't even put media releases on the web."Leave no footprints" was the mantra of those times...
Remember 2020?
Posted on April 18, 2009Michelle Grattan seems to have been on the receiving end of a good leak in reporting about the Government's response to ideas put forward at last year's 2020 Summit- to be revealed in detail next week, long after the original commitment to respond by the end of last year...
What's in a name?
Posted on April 16, 2009A lot depends on the context, as two recent NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal Freedom of Information cases involving NSW Police illustrate.Details of a victim/witness named in a report of an incident, as you would expect are likely to be unavailable unless there are special and unusual circumstances...
Fairly "radical" initiatives regarding private sector disclosure.
Posted on April 15, 2009http://stephenyears.com/blog/"Radical transparency" according to an entry on Wikipedia is "a management approach in which (ideally) all decision making is carried out publicly." You can see why the "radical" tag fits. Last month Daniel Roth in Wired ran it up as part of the solution to the current crisis in financial regulation around the world (and in other sectors as well), a theme picked up
New NSWADT cost powers get first workout.
Posted on April 15, 2009In January in "Long lost review sort of surfaces, four years late" I commented on the statutory review report on the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal Act tabled with so little fanfare in Parliament years late by the Attorney General that the President of the Tribunal appeared to not notice; that the review was then (and still) yet to be published on the Attorney General's website, so few
Secrecy unveiled at Spy Museum.
Posted on April 14, 2009What a nice invitation from Washington?s Spy Museum in the mail today:Dear Peter,We?d be delighted to have you as our guest at the Spy Museum?s upcoming event about freedom of information and government secrecy. The event is taking place tomorrow, Tuesday April 14, at 6:30 pm at the International Spy Museum, 800 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20004...
Not much sizzle yet, to open government sausage.
Posted on April 14, 2009I wonder if thinkers in government here about how to enhance transparency in the Google age are keeping up with action elsewhere to give practical effect to ideas such as developments referred to by Nick Troiano in Realizing Transparency 2.0 Through Social Media ...
Credit grade for Faulkner.
Posted on April 14, 2009You might be interested in this assessment of the Federal Freedom of Information Reform proposals by Ken Parish,writing for Club Troppo. Ken gives the package a credit grade, and thinks I have been a little unfair. I'll leave it to you, dear reader.Ken Parish is a Darwin-based lawyer and former Labor member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly...
Government by the people,for the people,and accountable..to Parliament.
Posted on April 13, 2009A significant aspect of the Victorian Court of Appeal decision in the Osland case (apart from apparently putting an end to Mrs Osland's legal attempts to find out more about the decision to refuse her petition for mercy) was the Court's finding that the Freedom of Information Act does not bring anything new to, or enlarge, traditional notions of ministerial accountability...
Clean but unofficial version of proposed Federal FOI act
Posted on April 07, 2009John Fitzgerald is a lawyer with over 20 years experience in Administrative Law. He is currently writing a text on Freedom of Information in Australia. John has done a service with a "cut and paste" of the current Freedom of Information Act and the proposed changes, additions and deletions to produce a clean version of the entire FOI act as it would look if the proposals go forward...
Osland bid for advice on pardon fails in Victorian Court of Appeal.
Posted on April 07, 2009The Victorian Court of Appeal in a unanimous joint decision has ruled in the Osland case that the Civil and Administrative Tribunal had been wrong in finding that the public interest required the grant of access to legal opinions provided to the Attorney General in connection with the decision to refuse her petition for mercy following conviction for murder of her husband...
The state of FOI:a phrase, a sentence or about 240 words.
Posted on April 06, 2009I know that editors and journalists have to be short and sharp, but in an otherwise fair comment about the state of the game and particularly the wider impact of lies to journalists in today's Australian, the reference to "Freedom of Information laws that barely function" is too harsh...
Transparency still a struggle despite the law.
Posted on April 06, 2009www.imagingstation.com.auIt's not clear from this report about a broader local council issue whether the Sydney Morning Herald was or wasn't sidetracked by the response from Burwood Council chief architect Albert Becerra: "When asked for access to his pecuniary interest declaration, Mr Becerra said the Herald would have to submit a freedom-of-information request...
Sir Humphrey lives- surely not?
Posted on April 05, 2009The late Nigel Hawthorne aka Sir Humphrey.NSW Premier Nathan Rees and some of his close advisers might be a bit young to remember the famous BBC "Yes Minister " series. His comment last week that the Ombudsman's FOI Review Report is "currently under active consideration by my Government" for some of us, and without justification, we hope , prompted a memory of Sir Humphrey, the quintessential
ACT on the FOI reform bandwagon
Posted on April 05, 2009The Australian Capital Territory is the latest to join the Australian Freedom of Information review rush following a decision last week by the Legislative Assembly to ask the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety to conduct an inquiry into the 1989 Act...
FOI for Boffins (Mark 2)-warning:not for the faint-hearted
Posted on April 02, 2009www.oxfordentrepreneurs.co.ukYou could write a book on the subject- a few will- but given the complexity involved in working through the Exposure Draft of the Federal Government's Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Bill, for my own purposes and perhaps of assistance to you, the following is a summary of some of the more significant aspects of what would change and stay the same...
Not guilty, your honour.
Posted on April 02, 2009www.bushtelegraph.files.wordpress.comIn the NSW Legislative Council yesterday we had the following about non-ministerial involvement in Freedom of Information decision- making:The Hon Greg Pearce: My question is directed to the Minister for Primary Industries, Minister for Energy, Minister for Mineral Resources, and Minister for State Development...
From potholes to a big hole.
Posted on April 02, 2009That NSW Ombudsman report sounds more fascinating by the day, with this from Simon Benson in today's Daily Telegraph that the report includes information that the RTA engaged a company connected with its former minister and former chief executive to deal with some of the ensuing mess that arose concerning the investigation of the handling of a Freedom of Information application for documents
Tasmania also sees the need to start again.
Posted on April 01, 2009In contrast to the Federal Government's approach to reform in suggesting modifications to the 27 year old Freedom of Information Act, and putting out 130 pages of amendments for public comment,Tasmania today followed the lead of Queensland, and the NSW Ombudsman, with Attorney General Lara Giddings proposing that the existing complex and confusing Freedom of Information Act be scrapped and
Transparency part of the answer to lifting performance in the hospital system
Posted on April 01, 2009From the NSW Government's response to the Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into Acute Care Services in NSW Public Hospitals( Garling) on Tuesday."A Bureau of Health Information will be created to support transparency in health data and allow greater local control of information analysis...
Something bigger than a pothole.
Posted on April 01, 2009A Daily Telegraph Freedom of Information application to the Roads and Traffic Authority for documents about potholes, and a subsequent investigation by the Ombudsman into interference from the then minister's office has taken another turn as reported today, with new information about steps taken to try to keep the Ombudsman at bay with big bucks paid to a top Sydney law firm...
Surveillance questions in Victoria raise issues for us all.
Posted on March 31, 2009The Victorian Law Reform Commission has released a Discussion Paper on Surveillance in Public Places. Chairperson of the commission, Neil Rees, said ?surveillance affects all Victorians whether we are shopping, catching public transport, driving on major roads, or attending a sporting event?...
Some analysis of the FOI reform package.
Posted on March 31, 2009Minister Faulkner's Freedom of Information reform package is draft legislation to give effect to Labor's election commitments. ( Memory jogger- pre-election policy.pdf ).The commitment apart from words about the end of excessive secrecy, change in culture across government, and promotion of greater opennness and transparency, was to implement "key findings" of the
Turning the switch to transparency.
Posted on March 29, 2009You may or may not agree with Henry Ergas of Concept Economics in The Australian that the Government is on the road to disaster with half-baked populism involving long term costs. But his list of closed decision-making processes in the economic policy area is a reminder of from where we start with the new proposed object in the draft Freedom of Information Bill of promoting "Australia's
MPs so-called free trips under the spotlight.
Posted on March 29, 2009Senator Nick Xenophon Independent South Australia.Heightened interest in what members of parliament get up to and what they do and do not tell us, with the Sydney Morning Herald revealing that many benefit from free travel without disclosing who pays, and similar reports elsewhere...
Privacy and the media-occassional mistakes or something more?
Posted on March 27, 2009John Hartigan of News Ltd and Australia's Right to Know acknowledged during his opening comments (speech) at the Free Speech Conference, "the media does make mistakes, as some of our newspapers realised last week ... and more mistakes will happen", but blamed this on human frailty-something we all know about- rather than malice or arrogant disregard...
Pro-active publication of information a good move, but we could lift the game.
Posted on March 26, 2009The Government's Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Bill 2009 - PDF will among many other things, impose an obligation on each Federal government agency to develop a plan, and to pro-actively publish on the web a range of information about what it does and how it does it, plus information that is relied upon in making decisions that affect members of the public...
Minister's mistake raises broader issue of parliament and transparency.
Posted on March 26, 2009Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon is in the spotlight now over his failure to declare on the Register of Interests that two trips to China years ago were paid for by a long-time friend and well-connected Chinese born Australian businesswoman/property developer who has made substantial donations to the ALP...
Responses to FOI proposals.
Posted on March 25, 2009Some citizens speak:From letters in The Australian:Faulkner, freedom fighter: Three cheers for John Faulkner, a rare politician with the guts and integrity to put the interests of the whole community ahead of the interests of his party with the drafting of the new freedom of information laws...
FOI for Boffins
Posted on March 25, 2009I mentioned recently that a journalist had asked me where to find FOI for Dummies but if such a publication exists it won't be much help in coming to grips with the fine print of the Government's proposed reforms contained in the Exposure Draft Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Bill 2009...
Australia's Right to Know
Posted on March 24, 2009I'm just back from Australia's Right to Know Free Speech Conference and would say that the day was a highly positive discussion of many issues of interest and concern around the topic. (The speakers' papers should be here but not when I looked.)With one notable exception: the discussion about the media and privacy was pathetic, largely because the issue was framed by News Ltd's lawyer Richard
The morning after.
Posted on March 24, 2009Those reptiles of the press were busy after yesterday's Free Speech conference as you will see through the links in this Google News search. Most are generally positive about the Freedom of Information proposals but cautious and conscious of the task ahead and what is involved, not just in FOI, to turn the secrecy ship around...
There should be no quibbles about this right to know , but there are.
Posted on March 23, 2009Not a Melbourne photo as far as I know.The quaint idea that compliance with safety standards at particular premises in the handling of food for public consumption is a matter of interest only to the food safety inspector and the business concerned is still alive and well in most places around the country...
Other voices on confusion in the media about the public interest.
Posted on March 23, 2009From ABC Radio PM, before the weekend apologies:Professor of Journalism at UTS, Wendy Bacon:I mean, what could possibly - let's assume the photographs were the photographs of the person they're meant to be - what would be the public interest in publishing photos of someone undressed, you know, many years before?I can't see in this case there's a public interest argument...
All happening in Sydney on Tuesday.
Posted on March 23, 2009Australia's Right to Know Free Speech Conference on Tuesday 24 March- if you won't be there check the program details. If something- the whole thing- grabs you and you have Foxtel or Austar tune in to live coverage on Channel 607.Otherwise, access the live stream here...
ABC ranges over media low and high.
Posted on March 23, 2009Jonathon Holmes on Media Watch on ABC television last night had a go at the full story behind the publication of the Telegraph photos and the weekend apology, describing the whole episode as "one of the most spectacular examples of lousy journalism we've seen in Australia for quite a while...
News really sorry the photos weren't Pauline, but that was all.
Posted on March 22, 2009"Pauline Hanson: I've said all week I'd be the first person to apologise to you if it were proven the pictures we published last weekend were not of you. I am now convinced we have the proof they were presented to us as part of an elaborate con. So Pauline, I'm sorry...
The inside story on the " publish' decision.
Posted on March 19, 2009The detail of some of this may be way beyond your level of interest but Chris Merritt Legal Affairs Editor of The Australian today in" When public interest and privacy collide in Pauline Hanson nude photo case" provides a platform for Daily Telegraph Editor Neil Breen to tell us about the decision-making process to publish, what steps were taken to check the legitimacy of the photos and why he
The right to know AND the right to privacy.
Posted on March 18, 2009There are few journalists or media executives in Australia with anything like the 'right to know " credentials of Jack Waterford, earned over 30 odd years with the Canberra Times, a pioneer in the effective use of Freedom of Information law in investigative journalism, and these days Editor-at- Large...
"Stick to FOI reform, Rudd urged"
Posted on March 18, 2009Missed this in The Australian on Monday- but yes, it's what I and others have been saying for a l....o...o...n..g time now. We will be all ears at the Australia's Right to Know Conference in Sydney next Tuesday when Minister Faulkner unveils the Government's second phase Freedom of Information reforms...
Queensland election: the meaning of silence?
Posted on March 18, 2009Queenslanders vote on Saturday- millions of words and thousands of photo opportunities over the last four weeks. But I can't find a word, issue or concern about openness, transparency and accountability on the ALP or LNP campaign websites. (Weren't the activities of lobbyists an issue for example just before the election was called?) Meanwhile the draft Right to Information Bill...
Clayton Utz calls it straight on privacy and some in the media
Posted on March 17, 2009Whoever wrote "The right to know..what?" for Clayton Utz law firm knows a thing or two, and not just about the laws on privacy. A couple of extracts:"One sees more items in the media in defence of "the public's right to know" than items expressing concern about intrusions into the private lives of individuals...
Another hard to beat exemption.
Posted on March 17, 2009It's also hard to beat an exemption claim that release of information would harm international relations when a foreign government says this will result- as was the case this week when Minister Wong revealed Japan had told the Government this would follow any disclosure of additional footage of Japanese whaling activities in the Southern Ocean...
Disappointed applicant but hard to toss this professional reasoning.
Posted on March 17, 2009A brief comment on a Freedom of Information knock-back in the news over the last few days.The Department for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy refused Tech Wired access to the Panel of Experts Report on the National Broadband Network, primarily on grounds that the document was prepared for submission to cabinet, and in addition that it satisfied the internal working document
The Australian resumes war on a cause of action against privacy
Posted on March 16, 2009Can't disagree with the headline "Democracy demands an informed public" in the Weekend Australian. But that doesn't go for some of the content in the opinion piece by John Hartigan- News Limited Chairman and CEO, and the lead figure of Australia's Right to Know - particularly points he makes about privacy and the media in arguing against the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC 108) proposal
Someone's old photos and the right to privacy
Posted on March 16, 2009ABC TV's Media Watch last night also looked at the "Hanson' photos and media standards regarding privacy. This from the transcript was particularly telling:"So what was the public interest in publishing these photos?We asked Helen McCabe that question yesterday...
Media FOI moves.
Posted on March 15, 2009No " What they Won't Tell You" column by Matthew Moore (left) in Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald for the second week in a row- perhaps an unfortunate casualty of his appointment as Urban Affairs Editor in addition to his FOI Editor job. The weekly column has been a must read since inception three years ago and has provided a unique angle on what goes in FOI land...
Shades of Bleak House in NSW ADT
Posted on March 12, 2009Some NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal cases roll on and on, provoking memories of Jarndyce in Dickens' Bleak House where the case outlived everyone who knew anything about it.Take this recent privacy decision by the Appeal Panel in a case by an unnamed applicant (WL) against Randwick City Council...
Sunshine Week sets a shining example.
Posted on March 12, 2009Next week 15-21 March is Sunshine Week in the US- a media initiated annual national campaign designed to heighten public awareness of the importance of open government.This year one feature will be a report on surveys of the information states make available on the web, undertaken in association with the American Society of Newspaper Editors' Freedom of Information Committee, the National
House of Reps speakers on Whistleblower Report
Posted on March 12, 2009In case you were looking for a bit more about the Dreyfus Report on whisleblower protection these comments from speakers in the House of representatives following the tabling the previous day are of interest.I didn't know that Melissa Parke, Member for Fremantle who provided some useful context, worked with the UN in Kosovo, Gaza, Beirut, Cyprus, and New York, and brings with her from there,
Federal Opposition shows contempt for transparency and accountability
Posted on March 11, 2009I can't add anything more or say it better than Bernard Keane writing in Crikey today, so here are most of his comments about an important vote in the Senate that didn't get much attention in the major media:"...yesterday probably witnessed the low point in political accountability in this Parliamentary term...
Business-as usual- in Western Australia.
Posted on March 11, 2009Six months in office, the Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett on Tuesday in a statement to Parliament outlined the Government's plans for the year ahead. It's a full agenda of issues and challenges. While "Government Accountability" made it into the headline there is nothing much in the speech on the subject although full marks for establishing the Public Service Commission"to restore and
Sunset and sunrise for Victorian FOI regulation.
Posted on March 11, 2009That report in The Age earlier in the week about community health centres to be excluded from the Victorian Freedom of Information Act was based on the proposed rewrite of the Freedom of Information Regulation 1998 which sunsets in April 2009. (Thanks to a Queensland reader for the lead!!!)The draft regulation lists organisations prescribed as agencies for the purposes of the Act and office
Union access and workers privacy-serious issue or storm in a teacup?
Posted on March 10, 2009Interesting that one of the hot issues in the Senate over the Government's industrial relations legislation to replace Workcover is the union right to enter the workplace and to access records of non-members and members alike in certain circumstances...
Senate Committee says yes to no conclusive certificates.
Posted on March 10, 2009The Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee reported yesterday on the Federal Government's legislation to abolish conclusive certificates from the Freedom of Information Act and recommended...."that the Senate pass the bill."That's it, apart from some additional comments from the three Opposition Senators (who supported the Bill in any event) that in reality conclusive certificates
Victorian dabble with FOI change.
Posted on March 08, 2009According to this article in the Sunday Age some changes afoot in Victoria to remove community health centres and other organisations that rely on government funding from the Freedom of Information Act. The article is short on the source and the detail, so not sure of the fine print...
Some parliamentarians give accountability the flick-no names, no pack drill.
Posted on March 01, 2009Whistleblowers protection.
Posted on February 25, 2009The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has released its report on whistleblowers protection- the report and a podcast of the media conference today are here. Positive responses to the spirit and comprehensive nature of the proposed scheme, to be under the wing of the Ombudsman, which Dr AJ Brown of Griffith University and the Whistle While They Work
What chance for John and Mary citizen?
Posted on February 25, 2009From "They don't follow orders.." in the Sydney Morning Herald, some comfort for those who have been sorely tested when trying to get information from Defence- they are not alone: "The row (in Federal Parliament yesterday) surfaced after special forces soldiers returning from Afghanistan found themselves subject to debt recovery action by the Defence Department following overpayment of allowances
Three and a half weeks before the promised land for Queensland.
Posted on February 23, 2009After all that positive talk from Premier Bligh since her first day in office, Queenslanders will have to endure another election- replete with promises of what will follow success at the polls- before the much-heralded new era of more open government gets closer to reality...
Exemption arguments dry up on the steps of the Tribunal.
Posted on February 23, 2009Since July last year I have been representing the Sydney Morning Herald in two appeals to the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal against decisions by the NSW Police to refuse access under the Freedom of Information Act to the names of licensed premises and other details of incidents recorded in a data-base developed as part of the Alcohol Linking Program...
Media well-informed about Ombudsman investigation of their complaints.
Posted on February 19, 2009Bruce Barbour, OmbudsmanThe NSW Ombudsman operates under tight legislative constraints in saying anything publicly about the investigation of a particular complaint other than in a report to Parliament, but the Office keeps the complainant, who is under no such constraints, informed of developments, and when the complainant is a journalist or media organisation, well...
Sydney Free Speech Conference in March.
Posted on February 19, 2009This is the media release about the March conference.Australia?s Right to Know announced today it would host a national televised conference on the state of Australia?s freedom of speech.The event, in Sydney on Tuesday 24th March, will bring together academics, lawyers, journalists, public servants, politicians and the public to examine Australia?s free speech problems and discuss the best
"Open Government" but a tough task to track consultants
Posted on February 19, 2009Tom Dusevic and the Australian Financial Review ( subscription only) did a great job in analysis in the Wednesday 18 February edition after digging out details of the $514 million in consultancies let by the Rudd Government in its first year in office...
The case for secrecy.... sometimes.
Posted on February 18, 2009Professor Noah Feldman writing in the New York Times Magazine last week (In Defence of Secrecy) wasn't defending the excessive government secrecy of the recent past, or arguing against greater transparency in financial markets. He was talking about getting the balance right- something the US and Australia both need to further address...
FOI dilemna over disclosure to the world at large
Posted on February 18, 2009www.worldvoicecenter.com.I was involved in a panel discussion in Sydney yesterday about the extent to which the motive, intent or identity of a Freedom of Information applicant is an irrelevant consideration in a decision to release a document, and whether there should be an automatic assumption that release of documents to the applicant is in effect "disclosure to the world at large...
FOI issues continue to surface in Haneef controversy.
Posted on February 17, 2009Missed this decision last month by the Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal in another Haneef Freedom of Information appeal- this time against a decision by the Australian Federal Police to refuse access to some documents concerning the investigation that led to his detention and cancellation of his visa in 2007...
Digital no go for FOI at Digital Economy Department.
Posted on February 16, 2009Further to the post last week on on-line FOI applications, and Queensland's example of Smart Service, here's a little tale of frustration from an applicant seeking to pay an application fee to the Commonwealth Department for Broadband, Communications and...
Consistency issues in NSW ADT decisions.
Posted on February 16, 2009So much for the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal Appeal Panel view (not only in the decision mentioned here last week but also in another [at 37]) that the Tribunal has no "override discretion" when it comes to restricted documents - those found to be exempt as cabinet documents or concerning law enforcement and public safety: Judicial Member Montgomery in this decision [73-74] delivered two
Queensland follows the lead on lobbyist register.
Posted on February 16, 2009Queensland Premier Anna Bligh last week fell in line with developments elsewhere around the country to announce in a statement to Parliament on 12 February the introduction of a lobbyist register.[It's a little messy in the original so the text of the statement in cleaner form follows at the end of this post...
Don't keep quiet about secrecy laws.
Posted on February 16, 2009Just a reminder, if you have something to say about Australia's secrecy laws, the Australian Law Reform Commission at Talking Secrecy is very interested to hear from you.
Conference calls.
Posted on February 15, 2009After a long period of little happening around the country on the conference front, suddenly two announced in the last few days.An ad in The Weekend Australian gave some details of Australia's Right to Know Freedom of Speech Conference in Sydney on 24 March, featuring Minister Faulkner, John Hartigan of News Ltd, and others including a Q&A with Tony Jones...
ACT FOI changes.
Posted on February 15, 2009Thanks to Ray Polglaze of the ACT who did some checking on what happened last week in the ACT Assembly and confirmed as follows.The legislation as passed abolishes conclusive certificates in relation to documents affecting relations between the Commonwealth and States, executive (cabinet) documents and internal working documents but retains certificates for documents claimed exempt on national
Gloomy outlook, not just for your superannuation.
Posted on February 15, 2009You can listen to Rick Snell on 2ser's Razor's Edge discussing the state of NSW and Federal Freedom of Information reforms, welcoming the NSW Ombudsman's report, noting the less than fulsome immediate endorsement of Premier Rees and ending on the gloomy note that there must be doubt whether the Rudd Government will get the job done and dusted in this term in office...
Senate Committee short hearing for FOI Bill.
Posted on February 15, 2009The Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee took just over an hour last Thursday for the hearing on the Freedom of Information (Removal of Conclusive Certificates and Other Measures) Bill 2008. Nothing much new or startling in the transcript of testimony as Michael McKinnon, Rick Snell, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, and the Australian Press Council spoke to their
Why a journalist's lot is not a happy one- and why it matters.
Posted on February 14, 2009John Hartigan chairman and CEO of News Ltd in "Suffocating in Secrecy" in yesterday's Weekend Australian outlined why our freedoms are not as robust as they should be, and spells out particular concerns about the state of Freedom of Information and whistleblowers protection laws...
We're Three!
Posted on February 12, 2009A small milestone-we've been banging away on this blog for three years this month. 1260 posts later thanks to readers out there for the encouragement( take a bow). Most of you are from Australia of course but 12% from the US and significant numbers from the UK, Canada, and NZ and a regular stream from just about everywhere around the globe...
ACT Assembly scuttles some Government FOI proposals.
Posted on February 12, 2009According to these Canberra Times and ABC reports, The Greens and the Opposition Liberal Party combined with success to force some changes to the Government's Freedom of Information Bill in the ACT Assembly.The reports are a bit skinny on the detail, but conclusive certificates seem to have gone completely and some proposed new exemptions appear to have been rejected...
Public broadcasters all struggle with split personality.
Posted on February 12, 2009In November we commented about the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's almost perfect record last year in refusing Freedom of Information applications, perhaps aided by a very generous court decision a few years ago which endorsed a broad interpretation of the exclusion that applies to the ABC "with respect to documents in relation to its program material...
Where else but Queensland.
Posted on February 12, 2009Online Freedom of Information applications have been possible in Victoria for some time (at least to the 10 Government Departments and Victoria Police). In Queensland the Government's Smart Service website now shows the way with a more comprehensive online application service...
External review should encompass full merits review and discretion to disclose.
Posted on February 11, 2009Whether an external Freedom of Information review body should have power to require release of an otherwise exempt document- either on public interest or other grounds- is one of those important policy matters that can spark plenty of debate. It's an issue several submitters are running up to the Senate Public Administration and Finance Committee in Canberra this afternoon...
Opaque law making at Privacy NSW.
Posted on February 10, 2009I've been rabbiting on for years about the complex and confusing nature of NSW privacy legislation with its many gaps and loopholes in the hope that- in the fullness of time as they say- something will be done (eventually) about it. In the meantime ...
Freedom of Information Conclusive Certificates for Senate Committee hearing this week.
Posted on February 09, 2009The Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee has a half day scheduled this Thursday for a hearing on the abolition of conclusive certificates bill. The line-up of witnesses is here (PDF 7KB). The hearing was bumped from last Thursday as a result of the Senate's close interest in the Government's plans to spend $42 billion...
UNESCO World Press Freedom Conference in Brisbane in 2010.
Posted on February 09, 2009In a first for Australia and the Pacific, the University of Queensland, home of Australia's oldest school of journalism, has won the right to host UNESCO's global World Press Freedom Day conference and Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize-giving ceremony in Brisbane on 3 May 2010...
Get it off your chest about secrecy laws.
Posted on February 09, 2009Got something you would like to say about Australia's secrecy laws, how they impact on you as a Commonwealth public servant in the workplace or what you think of them generally? The Australian Law Reform Commission from later this week wants to hear from you and will be running a national two day phone-in and an online discussion forum as part of its commitment to engaging in widespread
Some questions arising from Federal Annual FOI Report.
Posted on February 09, 2009A few other points and queries arising from the Federal Freedom of Information Annual Report 2007-2008 in addition to those made in The Australian last week: that requests were down (25%), delays were up (proportion of applications taking more than three months to process doubled), and the number of instances where documents were released in full fell from 80...
Not happy Kevin or John, but Anna and Nathan are moving in the right direction.
Posted on February 08, 2009Sean Parnell, The Australian. The Feds, Victoria, Queensland and NSW all received a mention in dispatches about Freedom of Information reform over the weekend. Sean Parnell in The Australian: "In reality, the Prime Minister is no different to his predecessor on this important accountability and transparency ( Freedom of Information) legislation...
The twin crises an opportunity if players aren't distracted
Posted on February 05, 2009Who is this? Is he The MAN on Freedom of Information in NSW? Last para for answers, sort of. Anonymous in a comment on the NSW Review post yesterday is a bit too prematurely pessimistic: "Rees is too busy pretending to do something about the so-called ?Global Financial Crisis? and watching out for his own back to worry about Freedom of Information...
Bouquets and brickbats.
Posted on February 04, 2009Congratulations to OpenAustralia for putting up on-line the Register of Interests return for each Senator- a laborious task of scanning the paper documents and providing a link to the return on each Senator's page.It's something of an indication of where we are that many of the returns consist of scrawly handwriting- nothing too 21st century here...
Rudd Government's first not the best year for FOI applicants.
Posted on February 04, 2009Haven't read the Federal Government's Annual Report 2007-2008 on the operation of the Freedom of Information Act released yesterday but The Australian says requests were down (25%), delays were up (proportion of applications taking more than three months to process doubled), and the number of instances where documents were released in full fell from 80...
Premier Rees takes the ball- now to run with it.
Posted on February 04, 2009In the report on his review of the Freedom of Information Act released today, NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour has given Premier Nathan Rees a plan on what should be done in order to deliver on the Premier's commitment last October to change the secrecy culture in government and to turn the "broken" FOI Act on its head...
Fiscal stimulus AND transparency both needed.
Posted on February 03, 2009spinningmoney.blogspot.com There are a whole raft of transparency and accountability issues that need to be examined as soon as anyone can catch their breath in trying to respond to the economic and financial markets crises. One element of all this is who gets what from the government, for what purpose and what they do with the taxpayers money...
Pork sale details hard to find
Posted on February 02, 2009Not only were yesterday's political donations disclosures so long after the event as to be laughable, but the gory detail of large contributions to oil the wheels of democracy by foreign casino operators, developers, unions, ethanol manufacturers, clubs and others reported in today's press still don't add up, according to Malcolm Knox: "Attempts to make the political donations process more
" For gorsake stop laughing: this is serious."
Posted on February 01, 2009This famous old Australian cartoon by Stan Cross came to mind today as The Australian Electoral Commission released information about disclosures of donations to candidates and political parties relating to the election....on 24 November 2007... 16 months after we voted...
More submissions to Senate Committee on FOI certificates
Posted on January 29, 2009Senator Helen Polley, ALP- Tasmania, Chair Senate Committee Public Administration and Finance. Submissions to the Senate Committee on the inquiry concerning the bill to abolish conclusive certificates jumped from four to eight this week with Rick Snell, Michael McKinnon, Moira Paterson and me all rising, if somewhat late, to the occasion...
Public Service Medal for delivering greater transparency.
Posted on January 29, 2009Verona Burgess in today's Financial Review shows she did a better job than me in scanning the Australia Day Honours list, to find the award of the Public Service Medal to Jennie Granger, Second Commissioner Australian Taxation Office (pictured here), " for delivering greater transparency and openness to the ATO's activities...
UK Committee recommends 15 instead of 30 years for automatic disclosure
Posted on January 29, 2009Paul Dacre, editor Daily Mail. The Dacre Committee report on the UK 30 year rule was released this week, and as predicted in The Independent, recommended automatic release of government records after 15 years, and a phasing in of the new rule by releasing an additional year's records each year till catch-up is achieved...
Rough public service justice.
Posted on January 29, 2009Almost no media reporting of this decision just prior to Christmas by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal dismissing an appeal by Allan Kessing against his conviction for breaching Section 70 of the Crimes Act in disclosing government information without authorisation...
Serious need to know more
Posted on January 28, 2009I guess you would expect some important Freedom of Information applications to follow when you open up vaults tightly locked for years and full of dark secrets. Writing in the Kyiv Post Jed Sunden's interest in the Holodomor (the death by starvation of between two and 10 million Ukrainians during a famine in the 1930s that Soviet authorities denied through the 1980's) led him to the FOI Act, and
UK and Australia cabinet documents in stark comparison.
Posted on January 27, 2009The contrast with Australia is marked- for all the preciousness here about the need for cabinet documents to be virtually inaccessible for 30 years, the UK Information Tribunal has upheld a decision by the Information Commissioner that cabinet minutes of the decision to commit troops to the war in Iraq, particularly the legal advice from the Attorney General, were not exempt and should be
Faulkner, maybe a gong in a year's time?
Posted on January 26, 2009John White Rippa Collection No gongs this year in the Australia Day Honours for Freedom of Information and privacy advocates or practitioners (although nice to see Julian Burnside and Marion Le recognised for their advocacy of important causes) but Ross Fitzgerald in The Australian today paints a picture of Minister Faulkner's long and somewhat lonely battle for Federal FOI and electoral reform
NSW Lobbyist Register generally in line with Australian precedents but that's about it.
Posted on January 25, 2009This editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald is right in welcoming the NSW Government's Register of Lobbyists and in pointing out a major weakness: that it only applies to those who for a fee represent the interests of others, not those who seek to influence government on their own behalf...
'Follow Obama's lead on transparency, PM told"
Posted on January 22, 2009Information Commissioner Robert Marleau So says a headline in the Toronto Globe and Mail, not any of our locals, I'm afraid. And it's not any old Peter, Paul or Mary speaking, it's the Canadian Information Commissioner, Robert Marleau. Although none appear to have bobbed up publicly in the last day or so, you hope that our own watchdogs and policy heavyweights are telling Federal, state and
New and old Russia.
Posted on January 21, 2009Not inspired by Obama, but good news nevertheless from today's Moscow Times: "The State Duma on Wednesday is to consider in a third and final reading a bill spelling out citizens' right to gain access to government documents and outlining punishments for officials who do not comply...
Getting the 'we're different" message" out there.
Posted on January 21, 2009Kevin Rudd, Nathan Rees, Anna Bligh, David Bartlett, Jon Stanhope, Colin Barnett, even John Brumby- Australian government leaders all- came to office with, or thereafter embraced plans over the last 18 months or so, to do something to promote greater openness and transparency, in particular to change the way Freedom of Information laws work in practice...
Brown averts showdown on FOI
Posted on January 21, 2009The UK Government has backed off-for the moment at least- on the move to put MPs expenses and allowances outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, after FOI campaigners shifted into top gear, and Opposition support for the initiative evaporated...
Restore trust by doing business in the light of day.
Posted on January 20, 2009He carries the hopes of people everywhere keen to see the US return to a position as a force for good.. and people of goodwill everywhere wish him well. A great speech by a great wordsmith and incredible orator who was inspiring and inclusive, if just a touch "preachy" in style here and there for this Australian audience of one...
Senate Committee not deluged by submissions on FOI
Posted on January 19, 2009Only four submissions have been received to date (the deadline was 7 January) by the Senate Committee on Public Finance and Administration in connection with its examination of the Freedom of Information (Removal of Conclusive Certificates and Other Measures) Bill 2008...
MPs and our money still an issue.
Posted on January 19, 2009B..i..i..i..g fuss in the UK over this move to take MPs expense and allowance payments outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, even though the intention is that information about expenditure by each, broken down by sub-heading, will be published in a report by the houses of parliament each year...
Public affairs junkies' cups runneth over.
Posted on January 19, 2009www.futureofthebook.org A-Span has now become A-Pac- Australia's Public Affairs Channel- and is up and running from today at Channel 607 on Foxtel and Austar, or your digital set (in Sydney at least), and (soon) on-line here. But wait.. there's more...
NSW ADT to decide whether an agent helps or hinders a client
Posted on January 18, 2009One unheralded change in the operation of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal that came into force on 1 January as a result of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal Amendment Act 2008 No 77 is that the Tribunal now has powers (Schedule 1 Clause 20) to disallow an application by a a non-lawyer to represent a party in proceedings...
Smart lawyering can't undo the facts about privacy complaint after the event.
Posted on January 15, 2009Two recent decisions by the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal involving local councils have both confirmed that a complaint about an alleged breach of privacy received by an agency outside the six month deadline, but acted upon, at least in a preliminary fashion, cannot later be claimed to have been invalid because it was a late application...
State of the print media 2008
Posted on January 15, 2009The Australian Press Council has published the 2008 edition of State of the News Print Media which summarises developments in a wide range of relevant fields over the last 12 months. Its assessment is that the trend of several years of erosion of free speech has now been arrested to some degree...
Long lost review sort of surfaces, four years late.
Posted on January 15, 2009You have to hand it to the NSW Attorney General and his Department when it comes to leaving few footprints in the exercise of some statutory responsibilities. Alerted by a comment in the Administrative Decisions Tribunal Annual Report 2007-2008, that the Government was expected to finally publish and act in spring 2008 on a review of the Tribunal's Act mandated for 2004, the following emerged
Tester for NSW Premier's commitment to end culture of secrecy
Posted on January 13, 2009NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal MLC The Daily Telegraph today reports that the NSW Ombudsman has brought to the attention of the Premier and the Independent Commission Against Corruption issues arising from an investigation into handling of a Freedom of Information application by the Roads and Traffic Authority, said to involve a former staffer of the then Minister for Roads, now Treasurer Eric
A reasonable period of cabinet secrecy.
Posted on January 12, 2009Just on that 30 year rule which keeps Federal cabinet documents out of the public domain for longer than good governance requires, The Independent speculated over the weekend that the UK inquiry into the situation there is likely to result in a recommendation that it be reduced to 15 years...
Not all smiles at NSW ADT
Posted on January 09, 2009NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos MLC In his overview of the first decade of operations of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal, in the Tribunal's Annual Report 2007-2008, President Judge O'Connor, in wonderfully polite annual report language, highlighted for the Attorney General a few causes of concern: The apparent absence of policy and principle for what administrative decisions in
Tasmanian FOI issues identified?
Posted on January 08, 2009The Tasmanian review of the Freedom of Information Act proceeds, with the publication of the Issues Identification Forum Report on the Forum organised by the Department of Justice Review Team in Hobart on 10 December. David Solomon and Rick Snell both spoke to participants, who then discussed the good, bad and indifferent aspects of the current regime...
30 years on some documents still too sensitive for the public domain.
Posted on January 07, 2009Malcolm Fraser Prime Minister 1975-1983 The annual release by National Archives of 30 year old Federal cabinet documents on 1 January led to quite a bit of media coverage of the big decisions of 1978, but two questions: is the 30 year rule still justified and are there reasonable grounds for still withholding some documents or parts of documents from public disclosure even after that time? The
What bad news did governments successfully bury over the holiday season?
Posted on January 06, 2009Sure to be quite a bit according to this editorial in the Canberra Times which obseved that this is a great time to get bad news and dodgy reports out there when no-one is listening. Such as the independent report into the Haneef affair: "Three days before Christmas a 350-page report was dropped to the media, a hasty press conference called immediately afterwards giving no one time to read the
Too many old secrets in SA.
Posted on January 05, 2009South Australia has been mentioned here before as one state that has shown little interest in change to promote more transparency in government. In this editorial The Sunday Mail suggests that the Government's claim that cabinet documents are released after 20 years in SA is not supported by its experience in trying to access some records...
WA report on first 100 days
Posted on January 05, 2009WA Premier Colin Barnett has reported on what has been done to deliver on commitments made in his plan for the first 100 days in office, including this on accountability, and the very modest promises on Freedom of Information: "Release all information into the Varanus Island Gas Explosion Mines and Petroleum Minister released the final report into the Varanus Island offshore gas pipeline
A-Span on our doorstep but 2020 Summit response now in the New Year.
Posted on January 04, 2009Co-chairs of the 2020 Governance group John Hartigan and Maxine McKew I thought maybe my memory was playing tricks, but no, the Prime Minister had committed in this media release on 31 May to a response to the Final Report of the 2020 Summit, held last April, by the end of 2008...
As you'll see, slowly getting back into gear here.
Posted on January 04, 2009The silly season, as usual lived up to its name. The following has been doing the rounds on the blogosphere for years, and the claim it resulted from a Freedom of Information application may or may not be true, but it's a good one to kick off the new year...
Ho, ho, ho and happy holidays.
Posted on December 22, 2008I had all sorts of things worth saying this week, but alas the moments passed, and Australia is off on holidays, so....... Best wishes to all readers, thanks to those who have provided feedback, news and comment, and good luck to all- yes, including Sarah and particularly Rudolph and his friends- for 2009...
ACT FOI reform two-step.
Posted on December 18, 2008The new ACT Legislative Assembly sat for three days last week, the first substantive sittings since the election that resulted in the return of the ALP Stanhope Government, formed only through the support of The Greens who hold the balance of power.Three days produced two Freedom of Information Amendment bills-one from the Liberals Vicki Dunne, the other on behalf of the Government from Attorney
Mostly good cheer from Minister Tanner.
Posted on December 18, 2008Some end-of-year cheer from Minister for Finance Lindsay Tanner who has announced a series of reforms to improve transparency in the budget process and in financial management generally, following a review of the Government's Operation Sunlight project by former Australian Democrats Senator Andrew Murray...
Accountability suffers if records are a shambles
Posted on December 17, 2008The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption has released the eighth and final report on its inquiry into Railcorp, commenting that the investigation had exposed an "extraordinary extent of public sector corruption. Corrupt employees appeared to be confident that they would not be caught or if they were, that not much would happen to them...
Some holiday reading on electoral reform
Posted on December 17, 2008Cabinet Secretary and Special Minister of State, Senator Faulkner has released the Electoral Reform Green Paper for public comment- submissions invited by 23 February and the Government will also ask the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters to consider the issues raised...
Fishing expedition turns up bill for $200,000 and some fishy business
Posted on December 15, 2008There is nothing wrong with using the Freedom of Information laws for a fishing expedition but it can turn out to be an expensive business. The Australian reported at the weekend on an application for all documents held by the Department of Defence about Mamdouh Habib and his rendition from the time he was arrested in Pakistan in 2001 until now: "The Defence Department came back with a
Que is the word on publication of hospital waiting times.
Posted on December 15, 2008"Que?"-Manuel in Fawlty Towers From"Longer wait for elective surgery" in today's Sydney Morning Herald: "The Minister for Health, John Della Bosca, said: "Elective surgery waiting times have decreased substantially, with 91 per cent of patients treated within the recommended time frame of either 30, 90 or 365 days, up 4 per cent on the previous quarter...
The power of the "FOI exclusive"
Posted on December 15, 2008It's not all bad news,however. Peter Meakin director of news and current affairs at Seven Network in yesterday's Australian, on how Freedom of Information can help to build a reputation in the news business: "To establish a reputation in this business you have to rock the boat occasionally...
Fisse case shows "business as usual" in Canberra.
Posted on December 15, 2008A couple of other comments on what to make of the Fisse case and on how the Freedom of Information Act is travelling in delivering those worthy objectives of increased accountability and improved democracy through access to information to inform debate on issues, and assist to better understand government processes...
Federal Court enables Treasury to maintain its reputation as a closed shop.
Posted on December 12, 2008Professor Brent Fisse, one of Australia's experts on competition law, is a determined fellow but his attempts to use the Freedom of Information Act to find out what the Government's public service experts thought and recommended four years ago about criminal penalties for serious cartel conduct have come to nought...
Solomon in Tassie
Posted on December 10, 2008The Tasmanian Government is looking to David Solomon to help identify issues with stakeholders and will use his Queensland report as the starting point for review of the Freedom of Information Act .
Privacy and the DNA of the innocent.
Posted on December 10, 2008The police practice in England and Wales of keeping indefinitely a database of fingerprints and DNA, including information on persons acquitted of any crime, has fallen foul of the European Charter of Rights on privacy grounds, with the European Court finding last week that Britain had "overstepped any acceptable margin of appreciation" in striking a balance between individual rights and public
60th anniversary of Universal Declaration
Posted on December 10, 2008The two articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that deal with privacy and freedom of information follow- the latter, while oft-quoted in the access to government information debate, doesn't quite amount to a right to know what government knows, but promotes a wider principle...
No laws in place to limit disclosure of personal information by NSW government agencies across state borders.
Posted on December 09, 2008Should people in NSW be surprised to learn there are no restrictions on any NSW Government agency passing personal information about them (other than health information) to anyone in another state or territory, to a Commonwealth agency, or sending it offshore? This despite the fact that Parliament passed legislation 10 years ago in the form of the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Act, in
ACT to abolish most conclusive certificates.
Posted on December 09, 2008The ACT Government will introduce legislation in the Assembly on Thursday to amend the Freedom of Information Act to abolish conclusive certificates except in respect of documents claimed exempt on national security grounds.This stops short of the total abolition proposed by the Federal and Queensland governments, although in both those cases the national security exemption will remain tight.
Parliament, transparency and accountability.
Posted on December 09, 2008No jurisdiction in Australia has yet acted to bring parliament as an institution under the Freedom of Information umbrella. The latest best practice model, Queensland's draft Right to Information bill, specifically excludes the Legislative Assembly. The Australian Law Reform Commission 1995 Open Government report recommended the Commonwealth houses of parliament be subject to FOI...
Just say it isn't so, Malcolm
Posted on December 08, 2008Malcolm Turnbull www.smh.com.au In The Spycatcher Trial (Heinemann Australia 1988) a young Sydney barrister, Malcolm Turnbull, fresh from a notable court victory to allow publication of the memoirs of the late Peter Wright formerly of MI5, says " this book chronicles the greatest adventure of my life...
State secrecy laws should be under scrutiny as well
Posted on December 08, 2008Secrecy provisions in state laws were outside the terms of reference of the ALRC review. I'm unclear what has happened in other states where there may have been an examination of the statute book, but in NSW review has been long promised- never delivered...
No wonder we have a culture of secrecy
Posted on December 08, 2008Professor David Weisbrot AM What happens when for close to 100 years (starting with the Post and Telegraph Act of 1901) you put secrecy provisions in various acts and regulations without regard to principle, clarity or consistency? One hell of a mess according to the consultation paper released today by the Australian Law Reform Commission( Review of Secrecy Laws)...
Say it isn't so, Minister Faulkner.
Posted on December 08, 2008Peter van Onselen of Edith Cowan University had a long opinion piece in The Sunday Telegraph this week ( no link available) "Why party databases should concern us all", about the extraordinary detail held about us by the major political parties that might throw light on our voting intentions, concluding with the comment about how the laws made by political leaders suit their own purposes: "So,
The tale of two parties committed to change
Posted on December 07, 2008In response to my comment that we are still in the dark ages regarding transparency of information about MPs travel and the register of members' interests, because while disclosed, they are not up on the web for all to see, a reader drew attention to the latest from the US- an invitation to the American people to take a seat at the table as the Obama team prepares to take charge on 20 January:
Faulkner on the record as Parliament packs up for the year.
Posted on December 04, 2008Cabinet Secretary and Special Minister of State Senator John Faulkner made this ministerial statement " Restoring Integrity in Government" in Parliament yesterday, as the parliamentary year draws to a close. Much of the ground was similar to that covered in his speech to Transparency International at the end of October, with a couple of new references to recent initiatives such as the plan to
First reactions to Queensland's Right to Information draft
Posted on December 04, 2008A quick look through the 178(!) pages of the Queensland draft Right to Information bill is heartening in many respects, somewhat disheartening in others. Heartening in particular that the drafting style is straightforward, relatively plain english; in the emphasis on proactive disclosure and agency publishing schemes; to find a great preamble that captures the democratic principles that
Disclosures about ministers and MPs still in the dark ages
Posted on December 04, 2008Senator Faulkner had a busy day yesterday- his ministerial statement on integrity in government touched off this debate with barbs flying in both directions- and he also tabled three documents concerning travel by ministers and members of parliament.The register of member interests also surfaced in Canberra - The Age thought this was the most interesting entry and this report on others bobbed up
Has the new era of openness entered the FOI training room?
Posted on December 03, 2008With the Federal, NSW, Tasmanian and Queensland governments all committed to greater transparency and to changing the culture within government regarding access to government information (with major changes to the law to follow sometime), you have to wonder what if any new messages are being given to new and old FOI hands in training programs in these jurisdictions? A thought prompted by
AFR joins in on "too slow on FOI reform"
Posted on December 03, 2008Regular readers have seen it here before and in the Sydney Morning Herald, but 's good to welcome the Fin on board. From the editorial "Secrecy still haunts corridors of power" in yesterday's Australian Financial Review (still so tight with their on-line material that this is all they let the world see for free about the opinion they hold):"The rhetoric of Special Minister of State John Faulkner
FOI reform process-Queensland first then daylight second.
Posted on December 03, 2008The Queensland Government, good to its word that this step would be taken before year-end, has launched the Right to Information era, and its general acceptance of recommendations in the Solomon Review of the Freedom of Information Act, by: inviting feedback on the release of the draft Right to Information Bill (PDF 754 kB), draft Information Privacy Bill (PDF 689 kB), and draft Right to
FOI procedural complexities- keep on trucking.
Posted on December 03, 2008In an unusual Freedom of Information matter before the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal, the issue of the Tribunal's powers to refer a matter to the Ombudsman has again emerged.In this case the agency decided to release requested documents; a third party who unsuccessfully argued to the agency they should not be released on business affairs grounds, and applied for review by the Tribunal,
Fine line on leaks in the UK
Posted on December 01, 2008Frenzy of protest and indignation in the UK media over the arrest of Conservative MP Damian Green in connection with a series of leaks of information about immigration matters, for the common law offence of (depending on who you read) aiding and abetting a person, or conspiring to have a person commit misconduct in a public office...
Child protection in NSW hampered by BOTPA
Posted on December 01, 2008Former Justice James Wood has also given the NSW Government a report in three volumes, concluding his inquiry into child protection services.There are lots of very serious issues here for urgent attention, including in Chapter 24 ( Volume 3 page 958), problems arising from our patchy and complex privacy laws which have created an environment that constrains sharing of information about children
Sun set to shine on performance that matters in NSW Health.
Posted on November 30, 2008Just to follow on from COAG's Communique on the publication of health and education performance information,the Report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into Acute Care Services in NSW Public Hospitals by Peter Garling S.C was released on 27 November...
COAG on performance in health and education sectors
Posted on November 29, 2008Here are extracts from the COAG Communique released after yesterday's meeting 0n agreement reached between the Prime Minister and the premiers regarding increased transparency and accountability in the school and health systems. I'll be interested to see what experts in these fields make of what the PM and others involved say are big steps forward...
FOI simple for ABC
Posted on November 27, 2008Matthew Moore in the Sydney Morning Herald last Saturday commented on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's exemption from the Freedom of Information Act in relation to program material, and the generous interpretation of the provision to deny access to an application for correspondence with Malcolm Turnbull about a profile screened on him...
Seriously, make that "even more slowly," progressing FOI reform
Posted on November 26, 2008The reason why the Bill to amend the Freedom of Information Act to abolish conclusive certificates won't sail through Parliament straight away is that on the recommendation of the Selection of Bills Committee (PDF 55KB), the Senate has referred it to the Finance and Public Administration Committee for report in March 2009...
Documents held by former councillor still within FOI reach, maybe.
Posted on November 26, 2008John Lightowlers The Acting WA Information Commissioner, John Lightowlers, has ruled that any documents, including emails and other digital information held by a former member of the council of a local authority, are documents of the council for the purposes of the Western Australian Freedom of Information Act if they relate to the performance of the councillor's role as a member of the council,
The public interest and the cabinet room.
Posted on November 26, 2008Serious students of the Westminster system of government might be surprised to learn that in the UK, the home of the system, information about the goings-on in the cabinet room are not subject to a specific exemption under the Freedom of Information Act, as is the case here where inputs into cabinet decision making, deliberations and decisions are exempt without the need to demonstrate harm or
Federal Government gets to first base on FOI reforms-conclusive certificates to go next year.
Posted on November 25, 2008The Rudd Government has started to deliver on one element of its Freedom of Information reform commitments with the introduction into Parliament today of legislation to abolish entirely conclusive ministerial certificates.It's a welcome move, and goes further than recommended 13 years ago by the Australian Law Reform Commission, but took a year to eventuate and is nowhere near the top of most
Overall positives for Rudd after one year, but stiil some biggies to deliver.
Posted on November 23, 2008Plenty of assessments- universally overall positive- on the occassion of the first anniversary tomorrow of the election of the Rudd Government. The thrust of many is that the Government has successfully avoided major disasters, and after many months of looking very cautious and obsessed with process and inquiries, has been transformed into action-oriented by quick(maybe too quick in some respects
The law coincides with common sense on access to information concerning deceased child.
Posted on November 20, 2008Premier Rees clear message to NSW public sector:The public has a right to know
Posted on October 23, 2008Whistleblower law inadequacies evident in parliamentary inquiries in Canberra and Sydney
Posted on October 13, 2008A challenge on the home front for Federal Health Minister's transparency crusade
Posted on October 08, 2008SA FOI court decision shows relevance and irrelevance of age of documents
Posted on September 29, 2008WA Government acknowledges need to do better on transparency and accountability
Posted on September 24, 2008Transparency 101 briefing prompts more fundamental interest in best practice
Posted on September 23, 2008Supreme Court win for former student over exam paper and marking guides
Posted on September 01, 2008More the merrier as FOI reform crops up in the west
Posted on August 19, 2008Not to be left out, the Opposition in WA have now hopped on board the integrity, honesty and transparency train.
Tassie joins improved accountability and transparency push
Posted on August 19, 2008Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett has announced a 10 point plan to "clean up the mess " includingA review of the Freedom of Information Act, including more staff and resources. Improved protection for whistleblowers. A register for lobbyists. Strengthened codes of conduct for ministers, parliamentarians and ministerial staff...
Media Watch on the media and privacy
Posted on August 19, 2008Last night's ABC TV's Media Watch was devoted entirely to discussion of the Australian Law Reform Commission proposal for an action for breach of privacy, and media reaction or overreaction, depending on your point of view. It followed themes commented on here last week...
FOI delivers grist to the right to know in WA campaign
Posted on August 14, 2008Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act have partly been responsible for keeping the explosion at the natural gas plant at Varanus Island on the front pages in Perth during the state election campaign.Who could disagree with Opposition Treasury spokesman,(ahem) Troy Buswell: "The people of Western Australia deserve to know the truth...
Welcome call for calmer consideration
Posted on August 14, 2008Glad to see that a couple of other media wise men have joined others such as Matthew Ricketson and Jack Waterford mentioned here yesterday, to blow the whistle on some of the over the top reaction to the Australian Law Reform Commission proposal for a cause of action for breach of privacy...
Privacy cause of action commentariat in the ring
Posted on August 14, 2008The match up continues today with some in the red corner, others in the blue, and still evidence that some critics of the statutory cause of action haven't quite come to grips with the proposal. So David Flint in The Australian observes: "Extraordinarily, there is no defence of public interest, something which had been in the earlier discussion paper...
Wisdom of experience from former Victorian Premier
Posted on August 13, 2008John Cain was Premier of Victoria when the Freedom of Information Act was introduced in 1983. In the Herald Sun today he reflects on some of the lessons learnt through experience since, and offers some advice to those currently at the helm of the state Labor Government...
Getting the balance right reporting on the ALRC privacy report
Posted on August 12, 2008The coverage of the ALRC privacy reform proposals, particularly the proposed cause of action for breach of privacy, in some media seems somewhat inaccurate and a little over the top. All of the following are from The AustralianIt started yesterday with"Privacy laws to protect celebrities": One of the 295 recommendations is for "the Government (to) legislate to introduce a privacy law for the first time...
Is frenzy the right word?
Posted on August 12, 2008There are plenty more opinions about privacy reform proposals to come, but Matthew Ricketson in The Age today seems to share the view expressed here yesterday about the "end of the world as we know it" line running strongly in some sections of the media:"In the weeks leading up to the release of the Australian Law Reform Commission's massive report on privacy, the Right to Know coalition has been sounding the alarm at the prospect of a new law against invasion of privacy...
In the NSW ADT, what an agency says about documents held, goes.
Posted on August 12, 2008The new harsh reality arising from the NSW Court of Appeal decision that the Administrative Decisions Tribunal cannot look behind an agency claim about what relevant documents are held is captured in this Tribunal decision dismissing a review application:"In the course of his reasons, Basten JA noted that the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act 1982 is drafted differently...
Another battle pits vested interest against public benefits from transparency
Posted on August 12, 2008Of course Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard is right in taking every opportunity to get the message out that we need greater transparency about school performance. In a long list of interviews she has pushed the issue along in recent weeks with this basic theme:"I would like to see performance information for schools available in the public domain and available most particularly to parents...
ALRC Privacy report hits the deck with a bang-all 2700 pages
Posted on August 11, 2008The Final Report on the Australian Law Reform Commission review of Australia's privacy laws has been released today together with detailed briefing notes, listed below. At 2677 pages in three volumes, there is plenty of fine print, and from what I heard today, the Government plans to take time for further reflection with legislation 12-18 months down the track...
Federal Court FOI decision broadens scope for access to court documents
Posted on August 11, 2008The decision by Justice Gray of the Federal Court of Australia in Bienstein v Family Court of Australia [2008] FCA 1138 will provoke lively interest around the country, particularly from our best legal minds, as it examines what documents held by a court relate to" matters of an administrative nature", and, as a result, are subject to the Freedom of Information Act...
Queensland shows others clean heels on FOI reform
Posted on August 11, 2008Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says the Government will respond to the recommendations in the Solomon Review of the Freedom of Information Act this month, as promised.
Northern Territory Treasury guards royalty payments "in the public interest"
Posted on August 10, 2008The Northern Territory is in the news following a surprisingly tight election on Saturday. As well, a rare Freedom of Information story made it into the Northern Territory News as a result of a Treasury decision to refuse a request for information concerning royalty payments from individual mining projects in the Territory...
High Court FOI decision puts Osland case back for reconsideration
Posted on August 07, 2008The High Court of Australia, by a 5-1 majority has allowed an appeal by Marjorie Osland against a decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal concerning access under the Victorian Freedom of Information Act to advice provided to the Attorney General by three prominent lawyers to deny her petition for pardon for a murder conviction...
Canberra two-step
Posted on August 07, 2008In this review of recent Federal developments in Club Troppo (and this week's Public Sector Informant in The Canberra Times), former senior public servant Stephen Bartos, now with the Allen Consulting Group, is on the money about the good move to abolish conclusive certificates under the Freedom of Information Act; disappointment at what we are seeing in practice in secrecy in the Haneef inquiry; and failure so far to follow outstanding models from elsewhere in the publication of important information about performance and other aspects of government.
FOI academics can teach too.
Posted on August 06, 2008It's a good sign for future interest in freedom of information that three academics who follow the subject closely have been recognised in the 2008 Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.Congratulations all roundRick Snell of the University of Tasmania:"For an outstanding capacity to inspire and encourage student learning across the undergraduate law degree from first-year to final year students"Professor Rick Sarre of the University of South Australia:"For sustained excellence in course development and presentation that continues to motivate and inspire students of law and which has successfully integrated research with teaching"Associate Professor Stephen Lamble ( and Ms Gillian Cowden) of the University of the Sunshine Coast: "For creating innovative curricula and developing research informed teaching resources that enhance graduate employment opportunities in the profession of journalism"
Still waiting for promised review of NSW secrecy laws
Posted on August 06, 2008The Federal Attorney General's decision to have the Australian Law Reform Commission take another look at secrecy provisions in laws, and related issues, serves as a reminder that in NSW there has never been a similar review, despite an undertaking at the time the Freedom of Information Act was passed 20 years agoThis is what was said by the minister managing the matter in Parliament during debate on Clause 12 0f Schedule 1 of the Bill,which exempts a document where disclosure would constitute an offence against another act:"The Premier has indicated that consideration will be given to reviewing the secrecy provisions of the individual legislation...
Name and shame thinking doesn't alter attachment to old ways
Posted on August 05, 2008California Association of Child Care"Name and shame" rolls off the ministerial tongue easily these days in NSW- first in connection with a website to list penalty notices issued for serious non-compliance with food safety standards; this week, the Premier used these words in announcing a website to publish details of successful prosecutions for breach of regulations by pre-schools and child care centres...
Secrecy laws under the microscope
Posted on August 05, 2008The Australian Law Reform Commission, just released from its review of the Freedom of Information Act, has now been asked to look at Federal laws that contain secrecy provisions.?I have asked the ALRC to develop options for ensuring a consistent approach across government to the protection of Commonwealth information,? said Attorney?General Robert McClelland...
Old certificates won't block access if documents are sought again
Posted on August 04, 2008The transcript of Cabinet Secretary John Faulkner's media conference last week announcing the intention to abolish conclusive certificates under the Freedom of Information Act, included a couple of points that didn't make much news, including this on other procedural changes, and documents covered by certificates that have been issued in the past:"This legislation abolishing conclusive certificates will also include some additional measures relating to the AAT's procedures for handling FOI reviews including having the Inspector-General of intelligence and security provide evidence to the AAT in relation to national security documents...
NSWLRC on privacy sees long lost review quietly surface
Posted on August 01, 2008The NSW Law Reform Commission has released a consultation paper on privacy reform in the state, a response to a reference from the NSW Government in early 2006.The paper confirms what everyone who has looked at the issues knows- that the laws are a mess of complex, confusing, overlapping provisions with more gaps than a six year old's smile...
Victoria leads, then daylight, on legal spending disclosure
Posted on July 31, 2008Another issue for the already crowded "can do much better"box.According to this report in today's Australian "(no) other government -- state or federal -- comes close to matching Victoria's commitment to disclosing data about its spending on legal services...
UK privacy decision perhaps a pointer of things to come here
Posted on July 30, 2008The Mosely decision in the UK involved consideration of issues that are likely to be much discussed here once the Australian Law Reform Commission Report on the review of privacy laws is released- who enjoys, and what are reasonable expectations of, privacy; and what constitutes responsible journalism in asserting the public interest in publication of information about aspects of a person's life that take place in private behind closed doors...
A few suggestions on immediate FOI changes from "ungenerous" critic
Posted on July 28, 2008Culture change-www.mindset.wsCabinet Secretary John Faulkner apparently thought criticism (guilty, your honour) of the Government for failing to get cracking on culture change to promote open government and a more effective Freedom of Information regime, was "ungenerous", given his recent speech on the subject, according to Matthew Moore's "What they won't tell you " column on Saturday...
ACT Government to look into FOI reform
Posted on July 27, 2008The ACT Government has released for public comment a discussion paper on Governance with recommendations aimed at improving community engagement and feedback. It includes a section on access to information issues, recommending examination of what can be done to encourage the use and reuse of government information, and a close look at the Solomon Report on the Queensland Freedom of Information Act to see what might be applied in the Territory...
WA car parkers who dodge paying won't find refuge in privacy law
Posted on July 27, 2008There has been quite a fuss in Western Australia in recent weeks since it was revealed that a helpful government agency, mistakenly provided parking station owners with contact details for the owners of cars that overstayed or didn't pay, leading to this comment that the Parliament's failure to pass privacy legislation which has languished in the upper house for over a year was part of the problem...
More sun to shine
Posted on July 23, 2008Good news, with more transparency on the way for the health sector (infection rates and mortality rates by hospital) and for state and territory expenditure of Federal grants for indigenous programs.
A lament from Melbourne
Posted on July 23, 2008The Age today follows up yesterday's report of refused Freedom of Information applications for documents concerning investigations into health sector personnel, what contingency plans may be in place if the new transport ticketing system myki collapses and the location of Victoria's top poker machine venues with "Damming flow of info is to damn voters to ignorance" The Age is pleased about movement on reform at the Federal level but scathing about the situation in Victoria, but comments: "What is it about the words "freedom of information" that politicians and public servants do not get? Freedom: (n), unrestricted use of...
ALRC reminder about the main game
Posted on July 22, 2008In a media release today following Senator Faulkner's announcement about conclusive certificates and reform of Freedom of Information legislation, a polite reminder from the President of the Australian Law Reform Commission that twelve years ago, as now, the Commission concluded that the access to government information challenge wasn't simply a matter of getting the legislation right :ALRC media release...
Odious cerificates to go, the rest still just good intentions
Posted on July 22, 2008Cabinet Secretary Senator John Faulkner announced today that legislation will be introduced to abolish conclusive certificates-power to certify that disclosure of a document in response to a Freedom of Information application would be contrary to the public interest- and the associated limitation on review of such a decision...
Annual NSW privacy report-better late than never
Posted on July 21, 2008The NSW Attorney General is a busy fellow. The Annual Report of the NSW Privacy Commissioner for 2006-2007 was signed by Acting Commissioner John Dickie, who finished up in the job at the end of December 2007. The report contains no date, so the Attorney General may have received it anytime to the end of last year...
Brave new open world for NSW Government contracts yet to arrive
Posted on July 21, 2008Interested in what NSW government agencies are up to in contracting with private sector bodies, including buying and selling land; what contracts are being awarded to a particular firm by different government agencies; and what's being spent across government on contracts for a particular type of service?Should be a snap since an amendment to the NSW Freedom of Information Act, promoted by the Independent Member for (and Lord Mayor of) Sydney, Clover Moore, included a new section (15A) requiring information about contracts after 1 January 2007 for $150,000 or more to be published on a central government website, and in the case of contracts in excess of $5 million, (Class 3 contracts), the publication of the contract itself...
Australian Government ponders while UK looks to sharpen privacy regulator's powers
Posted on July 20, 2008Nothing in the public domain so far, but the Federal Government has had the final report on the review of privacy laws by the Australian Law Reform Commission for six weeks, so no doubt lots of thinking behind the scenes about what to do about our weak, complex, confusing and unsatisfactory laws...
Frank and Candid alive and kicking
Posted on July 20, 2008There may be more to it than this, but according to a Sydney Morning Herald report the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has refused to release under freedom of information its overseas audit reports on maintenance performed on Australian aircraft , claiming to do so could harm the maintenance companies due to "adverse publicity" and also reduce the effectiveness of future audits by inhibiting "frankness and candour"...
Faulkner outlines agenda and expectations of public service
Posted on July 17, 2008In a speech on Wednesday to senior public servants, New Directions: Setting the Agenda on Accountability and Integrity Special Minister of State Faulkner outlined the Rudd Government?s reforms and planned reforms, emphasising how significantly the Government relies upon public service leaders to achieve its objectives in this area...
Confidentiality necessary to preserve Queensland's heritage
Posted on July 16, 2008Is the name of the nominator of another person's property for inclusion on the state's cultural register analogous to the name of someone making a complaint to a government agency? Are they both exercising a right that deserves privacy protection in the interests of the community at large? Will fewer nominations be made if the nominator cannot be assured of confidentiality?This decision by the Queensland Assistant Information Commissioner answers these questions in the affirmative in upholding a determination by the Environmental Protection Agency to refuse access under the Freedom of Information Act to the name,on the basis that the named person had made the nomination was information concerning personal affairs, and there was no basis to find disclosure was in the public interest...
Immigration decision making not up to scratch
Posted on July 15, 2008Photo News LimitedThree weeks ago, the Commonwealth Ombudsman released a report following an investigation of the way Freedom of Information applications have been handled by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The report was critical of many aspects, but made it clear that the investigation had not involved examination of the quality of decisions made by the Department...
Queensland adoption laws to open access
Posted on July 15, 2008Transparency in Queensland is on something of a roll-"Adoption secrets to be revealed" according to this report on news.com.
Transparency for HRECs in the public interest
Posted on July 15, 2008Amphetamines.comAlthough not of a binding nature, a decision by the Acting Information Commissioner in Western Australia, that documents about the consideration of an application to the Human Research Ethics Committee at Curtin University of Technology were not exempt under the Freedom of Information Act, should make for lively discussion at universities and other organisations around the country where such committees consider research proposals...
NT Commisioner's first but welcome decision on FOI
Posted on July 14, 2008This must be some sort of world record: The Office of the Information Commissioner in the Northern Territory, almost four years after the commencement of the Information Act, made its first external review decision on an access to information application...
FOI delivers but Mercury declines to name poor performing schools
Posted on July 14, 2008The Hobart Mercury has used the Freedom of Information Act to access information about literacy and numeracy levels of students in the public sector system, reporting large discrepancies that seem to reflect differences in socio-economic status, but decided not to publish the names of the schools with poor records...
Time on again for whistleblower protection
Posted on July 13, 2008Mark Dreyfus QC, Member for IsaacsThe Cabinet Secretary, Senator John Faulkner announced that the Government has asked the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs to consider and report by 28 February 2009, on a preferred model for legislation to protect public interest disclosures (whistleblowing) within the Australian Government public sector...
40000 words on the dark arts of spin and related topics
Posted on July 11, 2008Mark Pearson and Roger Patching of Bond University have published a literature review, "Government media relations: A 'Spin' through the literature", a terrific resource for researchers and students interested in what, unfortunately, have become the dark arts of access to, and communication of, government information...
"The mob" misguided on the right to be informed
Posted on July 10, 2008With the ugly face of the mob on the street in Queensland, the hottest "right to know" issue has become, in the space of a week, our right to be informed about the whereabouts of convicted pedophiles, but why stop there?Peter Faris QC in The Australian and this editorial in the Gold Coast News are advocating an Australian version of Megan's Law which includes convicted sex offenders in many US states...
Primogeniture still trumps
Posted on July 09, 2008In March the Acting WA Information Commissioner decided that where an issue of who was the closest living relative of a deceased person among siblings arose in the course of dealing with a Freedom of information application, the correct interpretation was that this meant the oldest sibling...
New years eve at Kirribilli
Posted on July 09, 2008An unsuccessful Freedom of Information application for documents by the Sydney Morning Herald about the cost and the guest list for the Prime Minister's new years eve party at his official Sydney residence is hardly a matter of great significance but it raises some interesting issues...
NSW "name and shame" initiative second best option
Posted on July 08, 2008Good to see the commencement of publication of the details of fines imposed for breach of food standards on the NSW Food Authority website, bringing this state at least somewhere closer to the good practice standard of comparable countries such as the UK, and many parts of the US, and Canada...
US FOI delivers on Australia's 1960s nuclear ambitions
Posted on July 07, 2008This report in The Age on Australia's concerns 40 years ago about international developments that would prevent us from developing our own nuclear weapons, was based on documents released in the US in response to Freedom of Information applications by the National Security Archive at George Washington University...
Old secrets week
Posted on July 07, 2008Revelations bout the 60s, followed by another about the 50s. If as now revealed, the US Government at high levels knew,there is an interesting issue about what if anything Australian records contain about incidents now coming to light in Korea and the US about the early days of the Korean War...
Transparency central to lifting trust in government
Posted on July 07, 2008Here is an extract from the introduction to The Pew Center Report on the Government Performance Project - how well state governments in the US manage information, infrastructure, money, and people, released earlier this year:"Just a few years ago, states would boast about their latest, cutting-edge piece oftechnology...
Still in the dark on hospital and doctor performance
Posted on July 06, 2008The Sydney Morning Herald reported last week that NSW Department of Health continues to hold the line against publication of information about the professional performance of hospitals and doctors, but the Feds are showing no sign of backing off their insistence that more transparency has to be part of the away forward on reform of the health system...
Chicken little sighted in Canberra
Posted on July 06, 2008Dennis Atkins in the Courier Mail says Federal Cabinet will today consider Minister Faulkner's submission on Freedom of Information reform, with strong public service advice that removing "ministerial discretion to block the release of documents, ....
Anonymity not warranted for significant agency mistakes
Posted on July 03, 2008An unnamed local council in Victoria released 223 pages of documents to a Freedom of Information applicant who was involved in a protracted dispute with a neighbour, including 185 pages of information provided largely in confidence by the neighbour about their side of the story, and without any consultation...
FOI grounded as parliamentarians take flight
Posted on July 03, 2008Midwinter, and many MPs take flight for foreign climes, hopefully to broaden their horizons(or not as the case may be). Junket or no, as this editorial in the Herald Sun points out, there is a lack of accountability as a result of the fact that parliament(in all jurisdictions,not just Victoria) is not an agency for the purposes of freedom of information legislation...
Some advances on the transparency front
Posted on July 02, 2008Credit where due to the Federal Government and Special Minister of State Faulkner for these initiatives for improved transparency, even though the first two still fall short of a robust disclosure regime:Publication of information on the web about aggregate cost of travel by office-holders On line publication of the Register of Lobbyists New guidelines on use of public money for government advertising include the requirement for publication on the web of Auditor General's assessment of compliance...
FOI: cost and delay a continuing problem
Posted on July 01, 2008Stories of cost and delay are commonplace in Freedom of Information experience, but here is Tim Lester of Nine television network on the story so far of an attempt to access two reports on the preparedness of hospitals to cope with a national emergency ($ 3650 to make a decision says the Federal Department of Health); and The Age on a bill for almost $2000, and no "public interest " reduction to get to first base, with an application for documents from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet concerning "rendition", the US practice of forced transfer of terrorism-related prisoners between countries...
FOI decisions around the country in June
Posted on June 30, 2008The most important recent Freedom of Information decision (at least in NSW) was the NSW Court of Appeal ruling that the Administrative Decisions Tribunal had no power to examine issues associated with the adequacy of an agency search for documents - see my post and this commentary by Matthew Moore in the Sydney Morning Herald...
Thanks to the Democrats for trying
Posted on June 26, 2008A salute to the Democrats as they leave the Senate for the last time, for their close interest in transparency and accountability issues, particularly Andrew Murray whose efforts included two Freedom of Information reform bills that never made it, and Natasha Stott Despoja for her advocacy of improvements in privacy laws, one of which would have made our political parties subject to the law, all to no avail...
Members interest declarations not easy to find
Posted on June 26, 2008wajuzi.com A post here in March commented on the requirement for members of parliament to lodge a declaration of interests, and the wonderfully anachronistic practice in this day and age, of only making the register available for public inspection in Parliament House in Canberra during business hours...
Members interests bared and await inspection-in Canberra
Posted on June 26, 2008Pure coincidence, after the post here yesterday, that new registers of interests of members of the House of Representatives and Senate, and details of the cost of travel for members and former members were tabled on the last day of sittings in Canberra as Parliament rose for a two month break...
12 year old cabinet documents still make a front page story
Posted on June 25, 2008The front page article by Linton Besser in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald "The $1b toll bribe that bought Labor votes" may have caused the reader to gag on the cornflakes when reading details from cabinet documents dated 1996 released under the Freedom of Information Act...
Ombudsman urges FOI action not just at Immigration
Posted on June 25, 2008The Commonwealth Ombudsman's report on delay by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) in dealing with requests under the Freedom of Information Act draws attention to the fact that prompt access by an individual to personal information held by a government agency is critical for many applicants affected by government decisions, and that DIAC, faced continually with a large number of applications(last year almost 15000), failed at senior management level to recognise and act on systemic problems in the way it made information available generally, and in processing applications...
Big welcome and congratulations to OpenAustralia.org
Posted on June 25, 2008A big bouquet to Matthew Landauer, Katherine Szuminska, Bruno Mattarollo, Matthew Panetta and Wade Millican for the launch last week of OpenAustralia.org and free and easily searchable Federal Hansard (the parliamentary record for readers from afar). Its based on the work of mysociety in the UK and their TheyWorkForYou website...
FOI processing-12 years outmatched by 30
Posted on June 24, 2008The Independent Audit into the State of Free Speech in Australia, conducted last year on behalf of the coalition of media organisations, Australia's Right to Know, included a lot of stories about excessive delay in dealing with freedom of information applications...
A glimmer of light on political donations-at least for NSW local council candidates
Posted on June 24, 2008Much needed reforms to Federal election laws, particularly in relation to political donations, have been sidelined for a year, according to Special Minister of State John Faulkner, as a result of the Opposition using its numbers in the Senate to refer the bill to a committee with a very generous report deadline...
Queensland's OneSchool in the spotlight
Posted on June 24, 2008The story in the Courier Mail doesn't quite match the headline "Backflip over OneSchool online student database"- one school principal cold on some aspects does not a backflip make- but there are signs of concern and some rumblings of discontent in Queensland about the inclusion of photographs and other details, and the privacy implications associated with the collection,use and disclosure of this type of information, once the project received wide publicity
NSW Court of Appeal rules no go for Tribunal on adequacy of search for documents
Posted on June 23, 2008In a decision that appears to further complicate things for those who seek to contest an agency determination under the NSW Freedom of Information Act, the NSW Court of Appeal has unanimously ruled that the Administrative Decisions Tribunal has no jurisdiction to examine issues concerning the adequacy of an agency's search to locate documents containing information of the kind requested...
University student teacher evaluations should be publicly available
Posted on June 22, 2008Professor Ross Guest of Griffith University in The Australian Higher Education supplement last week said we would greatly benefit if we all knew what university students thought about the teaching skills of their teachers, and contrasts our general culture of secrecy with the US where the law requires state funded universities to make such information publicly available:"Imagine a university world where students knew who were the better teachers and they could vote with their dollars...
Queensland culture change in the frame
Posted on June 22, 2008The Queensland Premier keeps saying it, so its worth keeping it in the frame:".. in another thinly veiled swipe at Beattie government secrecy, Ms Bligh vows to lead a "new wave of Freedom of Information reform". "Not just a reform of the law, but change in the culture ...
Anyone interested in budget transparency?
Posted on June 19, 2008Its tough going if you are looking for acknowledgment of improved transparency in some areas of government activity. Take the Federal Budget for example. Minister for Finance and Deregulation Lindsay Tanner, in an address to a CEDA conference two weeks ago, said that the improvements in the quality of information provided in this year's budget papers had received little media attention, and proceeded to spell out a raft of reforms in "many ways directed at making it easier to identify government waste and excess...
Solomon and related developments
Posted on June 18, 2008Dr Paul Williams in the Courier Mail urged the Queensland Government to act on the recommendations.Keryn McKinnon in the West Australian can't detect any sign of interest from the Premier there in broad ranging reform of the kind advocated by David Solomon...
Approved council minutes still subject to FOI amendment
Posted on June 18, 2008This NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal decision resolved a Freedom of Information review application of a refusal to amend a report to a local council meeting by ordering the council to make two of five requested amendments and upheld the council decision on the other three...
Red letter day in September
Posted on June 18, 2008From today's Australian:"PM speaks up: Kevin Rudd is to give the keynote address at the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association conference in September. He is expected to talk about freedom of information and the importance of environmental management by the newspaper industry...
White House admin support just like the cooks and cleaners
Posted on June 16, 2008With discussion here (in some circles) about extending freedom of information legislation to organisations not now covered, and general thinking that the US provides a model for those arguing for improvement in our access to government information laws, a court decision that the White House Office of Administration is not an agency for the purposes of the US Act comes as a surprise...
What does the public service have in common with a ute on a country road?
Posted on June 15, 2008Allan Gyngell Executive Director of the foreign policy think tank, the Lowy Institute, has spent his career in and around government in Australia, including a stint as adviser to former Prime Minister Paul Keating. He heaped praise on the professionalism and quality of the Australian Public Service in delivering a paper recently on Think Tanks and Foreign Policy but also had this to say about another attribute of the service:"However, it is also small, highly collegial, prone to unnecessary secrecy and, if left to its own devices, as opaque as the windscreen of a Ute on a dusty road in February...
Solomon Freedom of Information proposals in the news.
Posted on June 15, 2008John Hartigan Chief Executive and Chairman of News Limited:"Freedom of Information ball is in the Premier's court"( Courier Mail) warmly welcomed the report:".. it is a historic document that could put Queenslanders at the vanguard of a new form of open government unlike anything else in the country...
More needed than just an information commissioner
Posted on June 15, 2008UK Information Commissioner Richard ThomasWith the Federal Government committed to establishing (sometime) an information commissioner to provide leadership and to deal with freedom of information complaints, and Queensland considering an enhanced role for its commissioner in accordance with recommendations of the Solomon Report, this article in The Independent is a reminder from the UK that the work of the lead agency responsible for encouraging openness in government is never done...
Reasonable steps in searching for documents
Posted on June 15, 2008This recent decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal provides a good statement of the law concerning the requirement in the Federal Freedom of Information Act to undertake a search for documents relevant to an application and what to be considered if they cannot be located...
Complexity in the move to simplicitly
Posted on June 12, 2008One of many positive recommendations in the Solomon report is that in Queensland most Freedom of Information exemptions be replaced by a single exemption where disclosure would on balance "be contrary to the public interest." If this is acted upon, it would not represent a first in Australian access to government information law...
MPs travel in the dark
Posted on June 12, 2008In a recent post about the opaque setting in which members of parliament use public money, I said that at least we had regular reporting on Federal MPs travel.Yet Kim Wheatley in The Advertiser reports that in identifying almost 40 overseas trips by soon to retire senator, Grant Chapman, including a "lap of honour" this year, with "complete records difficult to obtain, parliamentary insiders believe there are likely to be more...
Solomon sets FOI reform hares running
Posted on June 11, 2008Further reporting, comment and opinion on the Solomon report today. All positive, with a consistent theme that proposed reforms should be emulated nationally.The Courier Mail finds the Premier's positive response heartening, but regrets that confidentiality will be assured for some ministerial briefing documents...
Queensland FOI review report published
Posted on June 10, 2008The Solomon Review of the Queensland Freedom of Information Act has issued its final report today-it runs to well over 400 pages. From a quick look at the summary there are plenty of recommendations for culture change, pro-active disclosure and simplification of exemptions...
Much to like in Queensland review report
Posted on June 10, 2008The Solomon Review is impressive and comprehensive, and contains important new ideas about how to deliver on the objective that underpins all our freedom of information acts- extending as far as possible the rights of the public to access government information...
Canberra should find new Queensland thinking of interest
Posted on June 10, 2008This ABC News report"Pressure for Qld FOI changes to go national"includes comments by Rick Snell and me on the AM program this morning:"University of Tasmania senior law lecturer Rick Snell says if implemented the changes will fundamentally transform the state from defaulting towards secrecy to virtually always defaulting towards openness...
Sunlight sinking in the west
Posted on June 07, 2008Keryn McKinnon in The West Australian quotes the highly respected former Information Commissioner Bronwyn Keighly-Gerardy on the state of things in the west, where proposed but long delayed legislation will transfer review powers to the administrative tribunal:?Right from word go, the FOI Act has always been slanted in favour of them (the government)...
Data matching and privacy concerns
Posted on June 06, 2008In March, reports surfaced of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority providing Medicare with a list of athletes? names and asking Medicare to search through its files in order to identify possible users of steroids and human growth hormones. A worthy objective maybe, but there was a flurry of concern at the time about whether there had been proper consideration given to the privacy issues concerning health information held by Medicare...
Cabinet committees disclosed-earth does not move.
Posted on June 05, 2008In April a Queensland academic reported no luck in getting information about Federal Government cabinet committees. Last week when asked in Senate Estimates Cabinet Secretary John Faulkner was happy to oblige:"Senator MINCHIN?Can I ask the minister if the government has formally published a list of all cabinet committees and their membership?Senator Faulkner?I am not sure whether it has been published, but I am certainly happy to provide it for you if you would like...
Slowly, slowly for FOI reform
Posted on June 05, 2008Three Freedom of Information issues were raised in the Senate Estimates Finance and Public Administration hearings on 27 May(transcript pages 93-96). All in all, government responses were disappointingly laid back and indicate that even basic questions on whether there will be public consultation on the detail of reform proposals are yet to be addressed...
Access to advice-perennial question,perennial answer
Posted on June 05, 2008Battles raged in many of the Senate Estimates Committee hearings over the last two weeks, with the prominent players engaging from a different perspective as they settle into new roles of government and opposition. The battles of course have a familiar ring, with one constant the often unsuccessful attempt to get answers to questions about advice, usually dismissed simply on the grounds that the question goes to advice provided to the government or a minister...
Victorian Police leak no breach of "legal duty"
Posted on June 04, 2008Victorian Police operate under a more forgiving law than Federal public servants regarding disclosure of information acquired in the course of duties.The Chief Justice of the Victorian Supreme Court has ruled that a police officer did not breach regulations when she responded to a request from a friend wishing to contest a speeding charge by sending copies of police manuals for the operation of speed detection devices...
Courier Mail scorecard
Posted on June 03, 2008Six of 40 requests to Queensland government agencies for information about matters impacting on the community, all previously refused following Freedom of Information and other applications, have now been answered. That means 34 haven't. The Courier Mail is keeping track here.
The right to know your surgeon's track record
Posted on June 02, 2008Health professionals all know which surgeons to go to and which ones to avoid. Not so most members of the public.The following letter was published in The Guardian last week. NSW Health Minister Reba Meagher and others who continue to drag their feet about disclosure of information about the health system here may need a stiff dose of the smelling salts if this crosses their desk...
Leaks illustrate need for policy debate and resolution
Posted on June 02, 2008Last week's leaks of a letter between ministerial colleagues, and the co-ordination comments from four major policy departments, on a cabinet submission on the FuelWatch program raised a number of issues.The Australian Federal Police were called in to investigate; the Prime Minister said the public service was to blame for the departmental leak but in any event he favours policy contestability and debate about the issues; Matthew Moore in the Sydney Morning Herald wonders why we were surprised there were differing views within government about the proposal, but is concerned "(t)his is the moment bureaucrats and staff will whisper in ministerial ears that easing the FoI laws will lead to more advice becoming public and more troublesome stories about government splits"; and John McDonnell in The Australian says that if a public servant is behind this, a basic element in the trust relationship between ministers and public servants -never leak-has been broken...
There are leaks......and leaks.
Posted on June 02, 2008The Australian Financial Review at the weekend reported on some of the current thinking in one government agency about dealing with Freedom of Information applications, based on "leaked notes about a briefing "provided to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests...
2020 Summit Final Report
Posted on June 01, 2008The Final Report of the 2020 Summit was released (without fanfare-not even a media release) on Saturday and is available in a number of formats. The report-all 399 pages- was prepared by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from the notes of scribes who recorded discussions of the 10 groups...
Cain's call to enable FOI laws
Posted on May 27, 2008Former Victorian Premier John Cain, responsible for the Freedom of Information Act introduced in that state in 1983, has added his voice to those calling for improvement in the laws and the way they operate. Cain says government contracting on the current scale was not contemplated at the time and confidentiality claims hide important information that should be publicly available.
Access to legal advice-the more things change.....
Posted on May 27, 2008Senate Estimates committee hearings on the Federal Budget commenced in Canberra this week, just as the Government was dealing with its first embarrassing leak. And, as the investigation got underway, plenty of reminders that it is yet to deliver on its whistleblower protection promises ...
Houses not in order
Posted on May 26, 2008Picking up on the UK disclosures, does it really matter that we don't know much about payments from the public purse to members of parliament, and how each has spent the money?In my view its"Accountability 101". Payments to ministers, as such, are usually accessible under freedom of information laws as relevant documents are held by the minister or the agency for which they have responsibility...
Call for FOI review in Tasmania
Posted on May 26, 2008Tasmania has a new Premier-but, mind you, it's nothing to do with "shreddergate" or other governance related recent scandals. Just before Premier Lennon took the great leap forward, the Ombudsman joined Rick Snell and Australia's Right to Know on ABC TV's Stateline last Friday in calling for a review of the state's Freedom of Information Act...
FOI delivers parliamentary accountability-in UK
Posted on May 25, 2008The House of Commons has released the documents containing information about how some members spend the allowance they receive when parliamentary duty requires those of them from other places to be in London, following the High Court decision referred to on this blog last week and the subject of Matthew Moore's column in the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday...
Good news and no news on transparency and accountability
Posted on May 25, 2008The good news is that Minister of State John Faulkner's announcement of the first stage in electoral law reform saw legislation introduced into the Parliament on 15 May toReduce the disclosure threshold for donors, registered political parties, candidates and others from ?more than $10,000? (indexed annually to the CPI) to a flat rate of $1,000...
Bloggers (and others), the future is yours!
Posted on May 23, 2008Where are we bloggers on the edge of politics going, what sort of clout might we come to exercise, is new technology changing, for better or worse, the nature of dialogue about what's going on, or should be going on around us? I have just signed up for this Microsoft sponsored opportunity to hear Matt Bai from the US and some interesting Australian panelists discuss these issues in Canberra on 25 June...
NSW ADT sticks to "disclosure to the world" but policy needs rethinking
Posted on May 22, 2008The Appeal Panel of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal in Cheney v Sydney West Area Health Service (2008) NSWADTAP 29 has decided that disclosure of documents to an applicant under the NSW Freedom of Information Act is "disclosure to the world", and that this prospect needs to be taken into account in determining whether disclosure of a document containing information about the personal affairs of a person to another would be unreasonable...
A tale of two tax stories
Posted on May 21, 2008The latest edition of "Open Government:a journal on Freedom of Information" includes a comparative case study by Dr Judith Bannister of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne of two freedom of information applications for tax policy related documents to treasury departments in the United Kingdom and Australia...
ALRC to recommend privacy data breach notification requirement
Posted on May 21, 2008We'll be hearing a lot more about this when the report is released, but Australian Law Reform Commission President David Weisbrot told a conference yesterday that the review of privacy laws will include a recommendation for a notification requirement for personal data breaches that involve a real risk of harm.
Haneef detention-1300 documents and still counting
Posted on May 19, 2008Dr Haneef's legal team did not come up empty handed after seeking documents under the Freedom of Information Act held about their client's detention- some 1300 pages of sometimes heavily edited documents were released, and Crikey has posted them on the web...
No stopping big brother
Posted on May 19, 2008The Federal Government claimed a "saving" of $1.2 billion over four years in last week's budget for ditching (last December) the Howard Government's National Access Card, but there is no stopping exploration of the wonders of technology, ie data matching...
NSW Premier not commited to FOI reform
Posted on May 18, 2008The following Q and A in the NSW Parliament last Thursday, saw the Premier play straight bat when asked for a commitment to act on the recommendations to come from the Ombudsman's review:Ms CLOVER MOORE: I direct my question to the Premier. Given that the New South Wales Freedom of Information Act is based on principles developed more than 30 years ago and that it has been the subject of more than 60 amendments, and given the poor rate of freedom of information releases in New South Wales, will the New South Wales Government commit to implementing the Ombudsman's recommendations following his review of the Act?Mr MORRIS IEMMA: As the member quite correctly states, the Ombudsman has commenced a review...
UK shows a lead on Freedom of Information
Posted on May 18, 2008The High Court dismissed an appeal by the House of Commons from a decision of the Information Tribunal requiring disclosure of payments relating to the Additional Costs Allowance, an allowance payable to Members of Parliament who represent constituencies outside London or outer London constituencies...
NSW ADT rules government policy subject to objectives of FOI Act
Posted on May 18, 2008In the latest decision in a long running battle over access to documents about the sale of the Sydney markets, the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal has upheld a decision by the Department of Premier and Cabinet to refuse access to documents, based on cabinet documents, executive council documents, and legal professional privilege exemptions...
Australia's Right to Know report card
Posted on May 14, 2008Australia's Right to Know, the coalition of major media organisations, marked its first anniversary yesterday, with Chairman John Hartigan of News Limited releasing a short report card of pluses and minuses on freedom of speech issues over the last 12 months...
Ideas for FOI reform have wide application
Posted on May 14, 2008Some thoughts from Rick Snell on Freedom of Information reform in Tasmania- most of these suggestions would make sense just about anywhere in Australia.
PM avoids specifics when it comes to advice
Posted on May 13, 2008The Opposition raised a series of questions in Federal Parliament yesterday, asking the Prime Minister to table advice received on high profile issues such as the inflationary effect of industrial relations policy or the actual cost of the commitment regarding computers in schools, in the light of his "more open government" commitments...
No sign of money for the new era of open government
Posted on May 13, 2008I'm no expert when it comes to analysing the detail of government accounts, but my foray tonight into the 2008 Budget, looking for some reassurance about the Federal Government's plans to get on with Freedom of Information reform, matched by funding, came up with zilch, in other words, a big zero...
No oxymoron- Government committed to budget papers that make sense
Posted on May 13, 2008Its not a headline issue, but it will be interesting to see how tonight's Federal Budget matches the statements by Minister for Finance Lindsay Tanner, that Labor would take steps to provide comprehensive and detailed information about planned expenditure in a way that presents a coherent picture of how our money is being spent and for what purpose...
Spinmeister shows how it's done
Posted on May 13, 2008Now this is someone who graduated with honours from spin school.The York Daily reporting on a security violation at Three Mile Island nuclear energy plant in the United States in April, quoted a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission describing the preliminary findings of an investigation, as ?greater than very low safety significance...
Federal action on lobbyists- good, but.........
Posted on May 13, 2008Minister of State Faulkner yesterday announced the final version of the Government's proposals concerning the register of lobbyists and related matters such as the limitation on post separation lobbying by former ministers, staff and senior public servants...
2008 FOI Summit in Philadelphia
Posted on May 12, 2008They're a less patient lot in the United States where last week the National Freedom of Information Coalition held the 2008 FOI Summit, with what sounds like a great program, and a call to arms to fight for First Amendment rights in a keynote speech by Toni Locy, who faces a $5000 fine for every day she refuses to reveal her sources for stories about the 2001 anthrax attacks in the US...
Patience a virtue while waiting for improvement in press freedom
Posted on May 12, 2008Patience - www.mythprints.comDerek Barry on Woolly Days provides a good summary of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance 2008 report into the state of press freedom in Australia, "Breaking the shackles", and its commentary on Legislation and the Courts, Government Actions Restricting Press Freedom, International Affairs, and Attacks on Press Freedom in the Asia Pacific Region...
Openness and collaboration in responding to public policy challenges
Posted on May 12, 2008Further to the comment here on Sunday about the public good of information sharing, anyone interested in pushing culture change in government in the direction of greater openness and increased citizen participation should snap up a container load of "Wikinomics:How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything" by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams...
Amazing thought: public might help solve public problems
Posted on May 11, 2008Speaking of culture change in the public sector, as we have been, Nicholas Gruen in a post on public goods on Club Troppo, reflects on issues arising from how the internet provides a new means of producing and utilising information and knowledge for everyone's benefit including:Can governments become more open in their deliberations, to maximise the extent to which those outside government can provide assistance in solving problems...
Rare glimpse of details of Ombudsman investigation of FOI complaint
Posted on May 11, 2008The Sydney Morning Herald reports today the findings of the NSW Deputy Ombudsman following a complaint by a journalist about the refusal of the Roads and Traffic Authority to disclose any of the 59 documents sought under the Freedom of Information Act concerning a $25 million payment to the operator for delays of road changes around the privately owned Lane Cove motorway...
Shredder busy in Tasmania
Posted on May 11, 2008Not a great week in Tasmania last week for trust, confidence, honesty and transparency.Rick Snell and The Greens received separate but apparently identical responses to Freedom of Information applications for a copy of the submission to the then Attorney General on the appointment of a magistrate that he claimed had never been approved, only to be brought undone when the original, approving the appointment was found shredded in his rubbish bin...
Need to walk as well as talk
Posted on May 10, 2008Lenore Taylor sums up on ABC TV's The Insiders today, after discussion of the Prime Minister's reaffirmation this week of the commitment to promoting a culture of disclosure in government:"The new era of open government is something you do rather than something you talk about"...
Amendment rights under FOI laws
Posted on May 08, 2008Two recent decisions on amendment of record applications under freedom of information laws, examined the scope of this right and when it can be exercised.The Acting Information Commissioner in Western Australia upheld a decision by Edith Cowan University to refuse to amend its records concerning a decision to exclude a PhD student from the program for a 12 month period...
PM says future begins as soon as practically possible
Posted on May 08, 2008Whether this represents an advance on "we'll introduce Freedom of Information law reform by the end of the year" remains to be seen, but the Prime Minister in speaking at an event at Fairfax Media yesterday, again made it clear change is on the way as soon as practicable...
Principle hard to find in Treasury decisions on access
Posted on May 07, 2008If you are somewhat confused about disclosure of Federal Treasury advice on various matters, the following is a snapshot. It is hard to discern the principle that underpins Treasury assessments of what should be disclosed or refused access. That is of course unless you see a pattern of refusing access to anything likely to cause major inconvenience to the Government or Treasury, and releasing information that gives the Government a leg up...
When does the future start?
Posted on May 07, 2008The fact that Minister of State John Faulkner spoke to the Governance group at last month's 2020 Summit was well known, but I hadn't been aware that the text was published on his website.His remarks again give cause for optimism that the Government will act on transparency and accountability issues, including Freedom of Information reform...
Famous UK kid has some right to privacy
Posted on May 07, 2008Do kids of famous parents have a reasonable expectation of privacy, at least from the covert use of long range cameras used for photos for publication in the media? The Guardian reports the UK Court of Appeal has decided that the son of Harry Potter author, JK Rowling , has the same right as a "normal"kid in this respect, and the case for breach of privacy should proceed to hearing...
The future will definitely start by the end of the year
Posted on May 07, 2008Rick Snell and Australia's Right to Know also lament the disappointing "we'll get to Freedom of Information law reform by the end of the year" approach of the Federal Government, as reported in today's Australian.Culture change to follow?
Where are we on compliance when the Attorney General thinks mandatory means optional?
Posted on May 06, 2008Matthew Moore in the Sydney Morning Herald last Saturday drew attention to the fact that successive NSW Attorneys General have failed to comply with a statutory requirement to undertake a review of the legislation that established the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal...
Australia's data breach stats prove nothing
Posted on May 05, 2008The IT security writer for ZDNet Australia has a bone to pick with the Federal Privacy Commissioner about the lack of information on breaches of security of personal information in the public and private sector in this article with the catchy title "Why I hate the Privacy Commissioner's office" He's got a point - as long as there is no obligation to report significant data breaches, or notify those who may be effected, we will remain in the dark about theft or misuse of personal information...
High Court weighs waiver in FOI case
Posted on May 04, 2008The Osland case and the issue of waiver of legal professional privilege in the context of the Victorian Freedom of Information Act had a full day in the High Court of Australia recently, with judges reserving their decision until later in the month...
BYO gloves
Posted on May 04, 2008In an article about US Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff and his recent comments in Canada, that fingerprints aren't personal information, Al Kamen in the Washington Post is taking the micky-isn't he?"As Chertoff, who after all was recently a federal appeals judge, knows quite well, no one should expect privacy in a restaurant or anywhere else where a fingerprint might be left...
Don't blame me, I'm just the Treasurer
Posted on May 03, 2008The Treasurer Wayne Swan this morning on ABC TV's the Insiders responded to questions about Treasury's decision to refuse access to documents (see earlier post) by saying it was nothing to do with him, and was a decision by a public servant in accordance with the law...
Yes, Prime Minister
Posted on May 02, 2008The Sydney Morning Herald editorial today( "What kind of Mr Hacker") sees good coming from the boost the Prime Minister gave to professionalism in the public service in his address this week, but......."We would have hoped, however, to hear Mr Rudd sound more proactive about inclusive government and accountability...
World Press Freedom Day,3 May
Posted on May 02, 2008On the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, a freelance journalist from Mexico, Lydia Cacho Ribeiro has been awarded the World Press Freedom Prize for her efforts to expose political corruption, organized crime and domestic violence in the face of death threats, an attempt on her life and legal battles...
What Gunns says goes in Tassie
Posted on May 01, 2008"Commercial in confidence" gets a solid workout in freedom of information land, but the response by the Tasmanian Department of Economic Development and Tourism denying access to all documents requested by The Greens relating to the proposed water and effluent pipeline for Gunns? Tamar Valley Pulp Mill, stretches the concept way beyond the limit- to cover anything that Gunns says it covers, no matter how innocuous or significant:"There is an explicit arrangement between the agency and Gunns Limited that information will be only communicated on the understanding that it is in the strictest confidence...
Business as usual in Canberra
Posted on May 01, 2008Meanwhile back in Canberra, things continue as they have for the last 25 years- Treasury knocks back a Freedom of Information application by the ABC for documents about the inflationary impact of the Government's industrial relations policy on the grounds that"The full release of these documents would disclose cabinet decision-making processes and, as such, the public interest considerations against their release outweigh any public benefits resulting from their disclosure," a Treasury official says in the response to the ABC...
WA Police vigilant in pursuing cabinet leaks
Posted on May 01, 2008Canberra, under new management, may have given up the previous practice of reporting every leak to the police for investigation, but in Western Australia, vigilance to protect the confidentiality of the cabinet room has prompted a police raid on the West Australian...
PM and public service getting along famously
Posted on April 30, 2008The Prime Minister yesterday addressed 900 top Federal public servants on the government's plans, and where they fit in the picture. All good positive stuff about building or rebuilding a modern competitive nation, and the vital role the public service will play in this...
NSW Court of Appeal to decide on Tribunal powers
Posted on April 30, 2008As a result of this decision in the Supreme Court, the NSW Court of Appeal is to decide whether the Administrative Decisions Tribunal has power to order the release of a document found to be exempt under the Freedom of Information Act, where the Tribunal judges this to be the correct and preferable decision...
NSW Councils advertising inserts may breach privacy law
Posted on April 29, 2008It's fairly common practice for NSW local councils to include in the mail out of rates and other notices, advertising material for which they receive a direct or indirect benefit. Some recipients regard this as unsolicited advertising, and it would be wise for councils to at least provide an opportunity to "opt out"...
Ombudsman urged to dig around Police and Health FOi practices
Posted on April 29, 2008The Daily Telegraph has also thrown its weight behind the NSW Ombudsman review of the Freedom of Information Act, emphasising the need to have a close look at what is going on in some agencies:"The Daily Telegraph, a frequent user of the state's FOI laws, has noted great variance in how agencies comply...
Action needed to match Canberra's FOI rhetoric with applicant's reality
Posted on April 24, 2008In an article today in the Sydney Morning Herald, I comment on a recent decision in the Federal Administrative Appeals Tribunal, upholding an exemption claim for a four year old report on a major policy initiative by a working group of senior public servants, and how this sits uncomfortably alongside the mood of the 2020 Summit "for a more vibrant democracy through increased public participation in the operation of our democratic institutions, and more open, accountable government...
NSW Ombudsman FOI review in the news
Posted on April 24, 2008More comment about the planned Ombudsman review of Freedom of Information in NSW in an editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday, and by Rick Snell in today's Australian, including these observations about the current state of play:The Herald( scroll down to "What's the big secret?"):"( The Ombudsman's work) will have little impact unless the Iemma Government embraces the spirit of the freedom of information law instead of thwarting it...
Swifter,higher,stronger indeed
Posted on April 23, 2008What is it about the Olympics and secrecy?When the Games were held in Sydney in 2000, the NSW Government,presumably at the urging of the IOC, enacted an amendment to the Freedom of Information Act that provided that any information held by the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, and other government agencies created to run the Games that was confidential to the International Olympic Committee (no matter what is was, or when it was sought), was exempt from disclosure...
NSW Ombudsman acts to review FOI Act
Posted on April 22, 2008The NSW Ombudsman has announced today a comprehensive review of the Freedom of Information Act, which will cover not only the provisions of an act which he describes as dated, complex and difficult,but also its day to day implementation to identify what works well and what could be improved...
Reaction to planned review of NSW Act
Posted on April 22, 2008Here is the Sydney Morning Herald report on the Ombudsman's planned review of the NSW Freedom of Information Act (including a comment by me); another from The Australian (reporting a promise of additional resources by the Premier); and a media release from The Greens, calling on the Premier to commit to a change and to a response to recommendations within six months...
Bartlett directory of 2020 commentariat
Posted on April 21, 2008The blogosphere has been buzzing with comment from participants and others on the 2020 Summit.Senator Andrew Bartlett has put together this useful list, with links.
Services Sydney scores a rare win
Posted on April 21, 2008Services Sydney, a private infrastructure development company has been involved in a long battle to try to access the assets of the NSW Government owned monopoly provider, Sydney Water, in order to be able to provide some services in competition.Given this background, it may have been surprised by the substantial win in the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal recently in a case involving 10 documents(now four years old), claimed to be exempt by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal and Sydney Water...
Mostly smiles as 2020 Summit wraps up
Posted on April 20, 2008Lots of optimism, as well as ideas from the final session of the 2020 Summit just completed. I'm sure there are also tales of disappointment and frustration that we will also get to hear about soon enough.One participant told Peter Mares on Radio National today there were a lot of grumpy people in the Governance group yesterday, and the scuttlebutt was that it was proving to be the most difficult of the 10, but things had improved this morning ...
Tell them about FOI in NSW, its a great story(not)
Posted on April 20, 2008I think I saw NSW Premier Morris Iemma sitting in the backrow in the Health group at the 2020 summit, as might befit the former Minister for Health in NSW,and someone rightly concerned about the crisis in the public health system in NSW.Did his path cross with David Marr in the Governance group who said on Saturday that this comment in the folder sent to him by the Premier put him over the edge when it came to responding to the Premier's urging to represent NSW interests at the Summit...
What do we want:statehood for Northern Territory.
Posted on April 20, 2008Yes, it has not taken long for disgruntlement to feature in media reports about the 2020 summit. Where will we be by Monday morning?
Queensland behind the game on health research
Posted on April 20, 2008Well, as we said recently, its not all happy news on the transparency front in Queensland.Access to data about non personal information about the incidence of cancer is off limits for research purposes even though its available as a matter of routine elsewhere.
Morning after reflections on 2020 Summit
Posted on April 20, 2008Assessments of the 2020 Summit seem mostly positive and realistic about what results when you lock a lot of people in a room for a relatively short time and tell them "discuss" the major challenges facing the nation.But there are also plenty of naysayers as well...
Just how interested are you in 2020?
Posted on April 18, 2008This could sort the sheep from the goats-there will be live streaming for some sessions of the 2020 Summit(but from the look of things not the Governance group)from here over the weekend, and television coverage from ABC1 and ABC2.All 8000+submissions were sent to participants over the last few days, so that that must have been fun...
Lead not just in the air in Mt Isa
Posted on April 17, 2008The Queensland Government's apparent good intentions in charging the Solomon review with the task of fundamental re-examination of the Freedom of Information Act earned it high praise in FOI circles, but as this editorial in today's Courier Mail points out, the day to day performance on transparency issues is not reflective of its stated lofty ambitions.
Poll says Aussie democracy AOK
Posted on April 16, 2008The ANU Poll of 1000 Australians in March about what they think about governance includes:Confidence in Institutions? Australians have most confidence in the defence forces, universities and the police, and least confidence in the public service, trade unions and banks...
Openness,transparency and accountability a key focus at 2020 Summit
Posted on April 16, 2008From a report in today's Herald Sun, featuring comment from each chair of the 10 sub-groups, John Hartigan reflects on the challenge for Governance:"IT has been easy for some to criticise the summit. Most of it has been superficial and cynical. It shows why a discussion is long overdue...
2020 Summit submissions published
Posted on April 16, 2008Well, yes there does appear to be the odd shortcoming in our system of government. Even before the 2020 Summit commences,775 submissions were received on Governance issues by closing time last week and have now been published on the 2020 website( go here and select "Governance")...
Treasury proves it's still a 'closed shop'
Posted on April 16, 2008Just as participants in the 2020 Summit start to gather to discuss among other things "how best to implement an effective agenda of open government", and "how best to engage the community in government decision making", along comes a timely reminder of some of the obstacles to achieving these objectives...
ICAC decides all above board in battle for Beacon Hill
Posted on April 15, 2008The Manly Daily reports that the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption has decided against any formal investigation into the decision to close the school and sell the land, the subject of many Freedom of Information battles, in recent years.
Nothing personal,just your fingerprints please
Posted on April 14, 2008The US Secretary of Homeland Security in Ottawa last week suggested that fingerprints were not "personal data", implying that collection and use, and sharing between authorities should be beyond the reach of privacy laws.Canada's Privacy Commisioner wasted no time in telling her Minister(publicly) that this was not a view consistent with Canadian law, and that she expected to be consulted about any arrangement with a foreign government about sharing this type of information...
MPs expenditure should be on the public record
Posted on April 14, 2008You would hope its only a matter of time here also, as at least one party leader in NZ reflects on a recent order for disclosure of expenditure by MPs in the UK, and says bringing the Parliament under the Official Information Act will happen in NZ sooner or later...
Real time disclosure of political donations
Posted on April 14, 2008During an interview on Radio National's The Public Interest, the Director of the New York City Campaign Finance Board said she had offered the Australian Electoral Commission(and the NSW election authority) free access to software that would facilitate almost immediate publication on the web of declared political donations...
FOI delivers another head on a plate
Posted on April 09, 2008A document obtained under the Freedom of Information Act,and some painstaking reconstruction of another trashed document by the Tasmanian Greens, have led to the resignation of the Deputy Premier of Tasmania, Steve Kons, after it was revealed that he had misled Parliament...
2020 Summit submission
Posted on April 09, 2008Here are my 500 words submitted today to the PM's 2020 Summit on the Governance topic.Identify those provisions in the Constitution that are outdated (eg Section 59 gives the Queen power to disallow any law made by the Australian Parliament within one year of assent) or inadequate (eg Section 51 gives the Commonwealth authority over lighthouses and buoys, but makes no mention of the environment)...
Shreddergate in Tasmania
Posted on April 09, 2008Here is the Mercury's update on Tasmania's "shreddergate", including the reconstructed document that the Deputy Premier tried to disappear, after telling Parliament that the decision it recorded him making had never been made.If Kons had succeeded, the only remaining record would have been the Department's submission recommending the appointment...
Feds confirm conclusive certificate powers to go
Posted on April 09, 2008Here is what the Acting Prime Minister told the Maritime Union of Australia yesterday about work going on within the Government on the issue of conclusive certificates, including whether anything should be done concerning certificates issued years ago that are still current and protect documents about the Howard Government involvement in the 1998 waterfront battle...
NSW Tribunal rules on FOI whisleblower exemption
Posted on April 09, 2008The Appeal Panel of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal has adopted a narrower interpretation than in previous cases of the exemption in the Freedom of Information Act for"matter relating to a protected disclosure within the meaning of the Protected Disclosure Act 1994" (Clause 20(1)(d))...
Minister Faulkner puts privacy law reform on the priority list
Posted on April 09, 2008A strong commitment to privacy reform including uniform laws from the Government yesterday, as outlined in this article in The Australian. Special Minister of State John Faulkner in his speech also spoke of work underway within APEC on a co-operative scheme on privacy complaint handling that may help to some degree with cross border issues...
FOI in the slow lane in WA
Posted on April 08, 2008In the fast moving state of Western Australia, some things hardly move at all-like the Government's Freedom of Information Amendment Bill, still awaiting debate in the Legislative Council 13 months after it was introduced into the Assembly by the Attorney General...
The farce is on us
Posted on April 08, 2008Who knows how many applications to the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal for review of Freedom of Information decisions are failing because the applicant did not act within 60 days from when the agency should have, but didn't, respond to a request for internal review? Experienced hands at the Sydney Morning Herald have now suffered the same fate as the applicant in this case mentioned here a couple of weeks ago...
Some more concerns about 2020 Summit papers
Posted on April 07, 2008Following on from the comment here yesterday about the Governance topic, Henry Ergas in today's Australian points out some problems with other 2020 Summit background papers.
Wharfies try again but documents still secret
Posted on April 06, 2008The Maritime Union of Australia, on the 10th anniversary of the Howard Government intervention in the waterfront dispute, has raised the issue of access to documents that would show thinking within the government that led to the drama. Under the Howard Government access to most documents had been denied on various grounds and had been the subject of a conclusive certificate that the documents were exempt...
Some shortcomings in the 2020 Summit background paper on Governance
Posted on April 06, 2008The background paper and questions on Governance issued to 'trigger conversation both before and during the 2020 Summit' may just do that, but they won't help shape discussion at the Summit itself. In fact by making some disputed claims, and not providing background information on some important elements of the topic, they could make dialogue and consensus on a whole range of complex issues even more difficult...
Modest progress on lobbyists register
Posted on April 03, 2008Special Minister of State Senator John Faulkner has released a draft code of conduct on lobbying that incorporates a public register of names and the interests they represent.While the proposed scheme is a step forward, it's classic 'light touch' regulation and won't go far in assisting the public to know what goes on as influence peddlers go about their business...
Nothing to show for four months of thinking about FOI reform
Posted on April 03, 2008The Rudd Government was sworn into office 4 months ago today. Frenetic is the best word to describe the work rate of the Prime Minister and his team during this period. But Freedom of Information is one of the few areas where we are still to see any public indication of the Government's progress on plans for reform...
Victoria's Virgin bid also off limits
Posted on April 02, 2008And yes folks, details of Victoria's unsuccesful bid for Virgin Blue's business are.......confidential.
Excessive secrecy surrounds government business dealings
Posted on April 02, 2008Lots of drum roll and fanfare yesterday with the announcement that Sydney has been chosen as the regional hub for Virgin Blue, and its new international V Australia will be flying daily between Sydney and Los Angeles. More jobs, more tourists, great benefits to the taxpayer all got a run the when the Prime Minister signed an agreement in Washington, and the NSW Premier proudly announced a Sydney victory over other competitors...
And the best FOI Law is........Mexico!
Posted on April 02, 2008UNESCO has published the second edition of a comparative survey of FOI laws by Toby Mendel, the Law Programme Director with ARTICLE 19, the human rights NGO based in London. Mendel traces the development of international law concerning the right to access information, and uses uses a set of principles to assess regional trends and country specific access to government information laws in 14 countries( not including Australia)...
2020 Governance discussion could prove challenging for the Chairs
Posted on April 01, 2008Phillip Adams, a participant in the Governance Group at the 2020 Summit, tells us today that he didn't apply, didn't know he'd been nominated by anyone else, and didn't hear a word from anyone until he read his name in the paper on Saturday. He says he'll now have to think about the topic, but as he usually goes to sleep in meetings of this kind, his participation may be limited...
Proposed political donation reform hardly best practice
Posted on March 31, 2008It's well and good that Special Minister of State John Faulkner has announced plans to introduce legislation to fix some aspects of the loopholes in laws relating to political donations and public funding, but it's hardly a big deal that disclosures will be required every six months rather than once a year...
A few names of great potential contributors lost
Posted on March 30, 2008Another thought on the Governance Group for the 2020 Summit.What a pity there was also no room at the inn for Andrew Podger, President of the Australian Institute of Public Administration and a distinguished former public servant who has spoken up about the need for greater transparency; Jack Waterford of the Canberra Times, with a long history of involvement in government watching and FOI; Professor Meredith Edwards, of the School of Governance at the University of Canberra and former Deputy Secretary of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; Tony Harris, former NSW Auditor General and Financial Review columnist and Dr...
Governance group 2020 Summit participants
Posted on March 30, 2008The PM must have taken the entire Government PR team with him to Washington on Friday morning. How else to explain that the list of attendees at the 2020 Summit was announced at 11am that day, but at 5pm there was still no sign of the list on the Government's 2020 website? The only way of knowing who was in was the full list published by the Australian? (The list appeared subsequently)...
Carter Center call to action on FOI
Posted on March 27, 2008The Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action for the Advancement of the Right of Access to Information has been published this week, the follow on from the conference organised by the Carter Center in February and attended by invited experts and interested parties including Australia's Rick Snell...