Dear Mr Diamond
 
Thank you for your email of 14 May 2016 asking whether the remarks made by
the Australian Public Service Commissioner reported in the Canberra Times
article of 11 April 2016 ‘reflect (i) Government policy, or (ii) the
official position of the Australian Public Service Commission, or (iii)
his private personal views?'
 
In response to your query, the Commissioner has confirmed that the views
he has expressed are his own. Please note that responsibility for the
administration of the FOI Act currently rests with the Attorney-General
(see Administrative Arrangements Orders available at
[1]https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C...).
 
We trust this information is of assistance. Noting that we have answered
the question raised in your email, we are treating your query as complete
and understand that you do not wish to pursue access to documents under
the FOI Act.  However, please let us know if that is not the case.
 
Kind regards
Louise
 
Louise Futol    
Australian Public Service Commission
Level 6, Aviation House, 16 Furzer Street, PHILLIP ACT 2606
P: 02 6202 3702    l    F: 02 6250 4437  
W: [2]www.apsc.gov.au |  E: [3][email address]
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark R. Diamond
[[4]mailto:[FOI #1941 email]]
Sent: Saturday, 14 May 2016 5:02 PM
To: FOI
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Comments purportedly made by
Commissioner John Lloyd
 
Dear Australian Public Service Commission,
 
In an article in the Canberra Times of 11 April 2016 headed "Australia's
top public servants call for FOI reform to hide advice from public"
([5]http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national...), Martin Parkinson, head
of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet was reported as having
made various statements about amendments to the Freedom of Information
Act. Broadly, the Canberra Times article claimed that Mr Parkinson had
said (a) "The FOI act does not afford sufficient protection to public
servants" , (b) "As leaders we need to use exemptions appropriately, but I
would support going further and advocating for changes to FOI laws to
protect the deliberative process." (c) "[This is] not to reduce our
accountability, nor to protect us from stuff ups we may have made, but to
enhance the capacity to give truly frank and fearless advice that good
policy design needs." The article added that the remarks made by Martin
Parkinson "were supported by Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd, w  ho
said the bureaucracy was subject to sufficient scrutiny and accountability
beyond FOI laws. According to the article, John Lloyd said "We have a high
level of accountability in the public service with at least three senate
hearings a year, an auditor general, ombudsman, privacy commissioner,
information commissioner, and a public service commission just to name
some".
 
I would like to know the answer to the following question" "Did the
remarks made by John Lloyd reflect (i) Government policy, or (ii) the
official position of the Australian Public Service Commission, or (iii)
his private personal views?" If it is possible to provide a simple answer
to that question under administrative arrangements or through some other
avenue, then that would be most convenient, least onerous and probably the
most transparently forthright.
 
If it is not possible to answer that question then please treat this as a
request under the Freedom of Information Act for the following: any
(single) document created by the Australian Public Service Commission
between 1 January 2016 and 11 April 2016 indicating that the reported
comments of John Lloyd reflect the official position of the Australian
Public Service Commission. If some further limitation is absolutely
necessary to avoid a practical refusal decision, I would seek only a
document actually created by or for John Lloyd.
 
Yours faithfully,
 
Mark R. Diamond
 
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More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
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If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
 
 
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