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International Law

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

Federal Court enables Treasury to maintain its reputation as a closed shop.

Posted on December 12, 2008
Professor 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
The 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...

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No laws in place to limit disclosure of personal information by NSW government agencies across state borders.

Posted on December 09, 2008
Should 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
No 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, 2008
Malcolm 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, 2008
Secrecy 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, 2008
Professor 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, 2008
Peter 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, 2008
In 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, 2008
Cabinet 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, 2008
A 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, 2008
Senator 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, 2008
With 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, 2008
Regular 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
In 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, 2008
Frenzy 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, 2008
Former 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, 2008
Just 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, 2008
Here 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, 2008
Matthew 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
John 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, 2008
Serious 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
Plenty 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

FOI review in Tasmania to first base

Posted on November 22, 2008

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