International Law

Secrecy laws under the microscope

Posted on August 05, 2008
The 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
Another 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...

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UK privacy decision perhaps a pointer of things to come here

Posted on July 30, 2008
The 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, 2008
Culture 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
There 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, 2008
Good 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
In 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, 2008
Cabinet 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
Interested 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, 2008
Nothing 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, 2008
There 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, 2008
In 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, 2008
Is 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, 2008
Photo 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, 2008
Transparency 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, 2008
Amphetamines.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, 2008
This 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, 2008
The 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, 2008
Mark 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, 2008
Mark 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, 2008
With 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, 2008
In 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, 2008
An 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, 2008
Good 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, 2008
This 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...

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