International Law

Cabinet secrecy for the National Cabinet-maybe, maybe not

Posted on October 30, 2020
Seven months after its formation, the National Cabinet has made its way into the just published new edition of the Cabinet Handbook. (Pages 30-31) but is still to get a mention in the Government DirectoryAnyone looking for an explanation about what makes the NC and a range of committees and groups that come within its scope (The Council on Federal FinancialRelations, any other committees "as required" that the NC establishes, and any National CabinetReform Committees) part of the Federal Government Cabinet will be disappointed by the entry in the Handbook...

Major parties respond with faint praise but nothing else to Senator Patrick's FOI reform bill

Posted on October 04, 2020
 In 2018 Senator Rex Patrick sponsored the introduction of the Freedom of Information Legislation Amendment (Improving Access and Transparency) Bill and made the second reading speech, the bill was referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, the Committee report recommended the Senate not pass the bill (Senator Patrick and Greens senators dissenting)...

Sports rorts-would Sir Humphrey be proud?

Posted on August 20, 2020
Some exchanges during the two hours Secretary of Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Phil Gaetjen spent before the Senate Select Committee on Administration of Sports Grants Committee on 22 July- the sports rorts committee- shouldn't stay buried away in the Hansard...

Commonwealth Government the 'one fly in the ointment' on assistance to Ruby Princess inquiry

Posted on August 15, 2020
Extract from Report of Special Commission of Inquiry into the Ruby Princess conducted by Bret Walker SC and released by NSW Government on14 August1.53 The one fly in the ointment so far as assistance to this Commission goes, is the stance of the Commonwealth...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

A rose by any name-is the National Cabinet part of Federal Cabinet?

Posted on June 01, 2020
Or operate as such?Putting aside political pressures that may make this difficult there are other issues that make this more complex and complicated than the Prime Minister and officials have suggested to date.New FederalismThe Prime Minister's announcement of the abolition of the Council of Australian Governments and its replacement, 'permanently' by the National Cabinet which will form part of "a completely new system", was welcomed as a step in the direction of a co-ordinated approach as our federation faces the challenge of moving beyond the current crisis...

High Court ruling on 'Palace letters' case paves way to learn more about The Dismissal - and our Constitution

Posted on May 31, 2020
 National Archives of Australia Anne Twomey, University of Sydney  The High Court has ruled that Sir John Kerr?s correspondence with the queen comprises ?Commonwealth records?. This means access to them is now in Australian hands and can no longer be vetoed by the private secretary to the queen...

New look federalism: National Federation Reform Council, National Cabinet.

Posted on May 30, 2020
From the Prime Minister's Statement yesterdayNational CabinetNational Cabinet has agreed to the formation of the National Federation Reform Council and the cessation of the COAG model. National Cabinet has worked effectively to respond to COVID-19. The new National Federation Reform Council agreed to by Premiers, Chief Ministers and the Prime Minister, will change the way the Commonwealth and states and territories effectively and productively work together to address new areas of reform...

Transparency during the crisis, business as usual?

Posted on May 28, 2020
The full extent of how the COVID 19 crisis is impacting on transparency and accountability at the federal or state level is unknowable to us outsiders-maybe information commissioners could have a look and tell us, warts and all ? But what you can glean from the public record suggests the longstanding attachment, in Canberra certainly, to secrecy, confidentiality and guarding the barricades against the inquisitive and interested is hard to shake...

Privacy Commissioner and OAIC expected to do more on the smell of the same oily rag?

Posted on May 14, 2020
The Office of Australian Information Commissioner was asked again to do more with no additional resources, something it should be used to by now after six years of practice. That's since since the Abbott government had an unsuccessful crack at abolishing the Commission and successive governments in the years since kept the lid closed or just slightly ajar (with some additional privacy resources in last year's budget to go with earlier expansions of its role) on the moneybox...

"National Cabinet" not Cabinet as we have known it

Posted on April 20, 2020
Explainer: what is the national cabinet and is it democratic? AAP/Mike Bowers Jennifer Menzies, Griffith University Crises pose particular challenges for democratic leaders. They are expected to make critical decisions in times of uncertainty and rapidly develop effective plans to lead us out of the crisis...

Parliament out till August, scrutiny of response to pandemic in the hands of senate committee

Posted on April 08, 2020
At the truncated sitting of the Senate yesterday, the Senate:debated  in the course of a ministerial statement about the Coronavirus pandemic, whether Parliament would adjourn normal sittings until August, subject to recall by the presiding officers in the event of urgent necessity...

Pass the hot parcel when questions are raised about 40 years of records in the bin

Posted on March 09, 2020
The testimony in a senate committee hearing on the Sports Rorts affair that retiring Secretary of the Department of Health Glenys Beauchamp had destroyed all of the notes and notebooks from her public service career at the end of January led to further inquiry in Senate estimates last week...

Another closed book: letters from Governor General to the Queen 45 years ago?

Posted on February 04, 2020
Explainer: what is the 'palace letters' case and what will the High Court consider? Gough Whitlam outside Parliament House on November 11, 1975. National Archives of Australia Anne Twomey, University of Sydney The dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975 remains as controversial as ever...

Australia Day Honours are a closed book

Posted on January 25, 2020
A bit of interest today in transparency amid controversy over decisions on honours awards by the Australia Day Council .Are decisions or any other documents held by the Council Secretariat (staff in the Office of the Governor General) subject to FOI?Nope...

Andrew Podger on Thodey and the government response

Posted on December 29, 2019
Report on public service overhaul a good start, but parliamentary inquiry is needed The Morrison government has rejected any recommendations that would strengthen the independence of the public service. AAP/Mick Tsikas Andrew Podger, Australian National University The final report of the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service is much more substantial than its interim report...

Government quick to hose down Thodey call for FOI reform

Posted on December 12, 2019
Analysis of the Thodey report on the APS and the government response released today will take time  but I thumbed my way quickly to Chapter 4 "Partner for Greater Impact" Page 114 which lays out the path toward a new open engaged public service that is more partner than commander...

Victorian CEOs responsible for FOI basics-will it make a difference?

Posted on December 12, 2019
The Victorian Information Commissioner in accordance with Section 6U of the FOI act has issued Professional Standards for government agencies The standards, a legislative instrument, came into effect from 2 December. Section 6W(1) of the FOI Act states the principal officer of an agency, and any officer or employee of the agency concerned in the operation of the FOI Act, must comply with the standards...

The state of FOI is no joke

Posted on November 13, 2019
We are far better off with freedom of information legislation than we were without it (37 years ago).  FOI delivers often ( recent examples: Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price charged taxpayers $77,254 for a recent week-long visit to Europe; serious complaints about mistreatment and abuse of children with a disability) but often not and often then only after pettifogging, long delays and battles that are costly all round...

Your Right to Know resumes after a spell

Posted on October 20, 2019
Great to see media organisations today putting Your Right to Know up in lights with the front page wrap in publications across the countrytogether with articles and editorials that explain (or attempt to) why excessive secrecy is everybody's business...

NSW: 30 years on the open government journey shouldn't go unnoticed

Posted on July 14, 2019
The thirtieth anniversary of the commencement of freedom of information in NSW passed on 1 July.I didn't see any public acknowledgement from within government ranks, and its just another anniversary after all.The NSW Government has had much more on its plate including working through a massive reorganisation that kicked off within weeks of the March 23 election...

Why the raids on Australian media present a clear threat to democracy

Posted on June 05, 2019
Why the raids on Australian media present a clear threat to democracy On Wednesday, the AFP raided the ABCs Sydney headquarters in relation to the 2017 ?Afghan files? report. AAP/David Gray Rebecca Ananian-Welsh, The University of Queensland The Australian Federal Police has this week conducted two high-profile raids on journalists who have exposed government secrets and their sources...

'The public has a clear right to know what One Nation is up to.'

Posted on March 27, 2019
Did Al Jazeera's undercover investigation into One Nation overstep the mark?Andrew Dodd, University of Melbourne The sheer audacity of Al Jazeera?s three-year ruse is astounding. The news company?s investigation unit has carried out a sting that has captured both the National Rifle Association of the United States and Australia?s One Nation Party in all sorts of compromising positions...

"Implied understanding" of confidentiality about Federal-State meetings?

Posted on February 19, 2019
In the Estimates hearing for Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet this week Senator Rex Patrick referred to an FOI knockback that suggested meetings of senior officials are confidential, and put the department on notice that he is going to challenge...

Records on private devices could be subject to FOI-but are they kept?

Posted on November 15, 2018
Yes, a WhatsApp message could be subject to FOI ? but you'd have to find it firstMoira Paterson, Monash University  Secure messaging services like WhatsApp often feature in the news in the context of their potential use by terrorists.But paradoxically they are now used increasingly by Commonwealth government ministers and other senior officials...

Vale Judge Kevin O'Connor AM

Posted on November 05, 2018
Nice and deserved tributes in today's Sydney Morning Herald in an obituary by former NSW Solicitor General Michael Sexton for Kevin O'Connor who died in September Kevin's full and rich life detailed there, was Australia's first federal privacy commissioner and the foundation president of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal and later Deputy President of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal...

States and territories have improved integrity measures, but Commonwealth lags far behind

Posted on November 04, 2018
This article was first published on The Conversation Voters want their governments ? local, state, and federal ? to clean up their act and put integrity reforms high on the agenda. AAP/Mick Tsikas Danielle Wood, Grattan Institute; Carmela Chivers, Grattan Institute, and Kate Griffiths, Grattan Institute This week we?re exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australia?s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute?s State Orange Book 2018...

NBN Co and applicants given 12 month FOI good behaviour bond

Posted on April 01, 2011
The result of last week's final steps in the passage of legislation that included extension of the Freedom of Information Act to NBN Co is that the company is to be subject to the act except, as a result of the Bandt amendment previously approved by the House, in relation to documents in respect of its commercial activities...

Tell the world or dud the journalist FOI applicant

Posted on March 31, 2011
In a submission to the Australian Information Commissioner on the Discussion Paper, Disclosure Logs, Professor Rick Snell has a suggestion for addressing the concern of journalists over potentially losing exclusive rights to material released in response to a freedom of information application when an agency simultaneously posts in the disclosure log at exactly the same time documents are released to the applicant:"I would suggest the Information Commissioner adopt a guideline whereby the applicant can make a request on whether any released information be delayed from general release up to the 10 day maximum period...

NSW Incoming government briefs "cabinet documents"

Posted on March 30, 2011
Oh dear, who dreamed this up? Matthew Moore in the Sydney Morning Herald:Barry O'Farrell must decide whether to release the ''blue books'' prepared by government officials to brief his administration on key issues after the former government told departments to prepare these documents for an ''incoming cabinet''...

President Obama open to open government community

Posted on March 29, 2011
As you do:"(M)embers of the openness community today met with President Obama to discuss a range of transparency issues."Well it wasn't that routine or unremarkable: "The Oval Office meeting ? during which the president was given an award for his work thus far in encouraging agencies to release information to the public ? was the first time that longtime open government advocates in Washington recalled a sitting president meeting with them to discuss government transparency...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.