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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: 4/day Last Entry: October 30, 2020 at 10:02:02 Recent Entries: 1271
Go to Open and Shut, find other International Law blogs, or browse all law blogs.
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
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