Maximum disclosure principle of FOI legislation
Dear Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,
Your Office states that: “The reformed FOI Act expressly states a new presumption of openness and maximum disclosure. " (http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform...).
Are there any evidence to justify the statement? Could you give me any laws, regulations or official documents to show that Australia law is compatible with the maximum disclosure principle of FOI legislation?
Yours faithfully,
Ha
Dear Ha
Thank you for your enquiry.
The [1]Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) receives a
large quantity of written enquiries each day. An Enquiries Officer will be
assigned to your enquiry and will be in contact soon.
We aim to respond to all written enquiries within ten working days. If
your enquiry is urgent and requires an immediate response, please
telephone us on 1300 363 992 and quote your reference number. More complex
phone enquiries may require a written response and may still take some
time.
Please do not forward any further information. Any questions or additional
information you have can be discussed with the officer who responds to
your enquiry.
To keep in touch with the OAIC and the privacy reforms, you can go to the
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You can also find additional information on our website [3]www.oaic.gov.au
Yours sincerely
Carl
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Important update: The Freedom of Information Amendment (New Arrangements)
Bill 2014 which proposes to close the OAIC on 31 December 2014 was not
passed by the Australian Parliament before the end of the 2014 sitting
period. The OAIC will therefore remain operational until further notice.
For further information see the [4]OAIC website.
Dear Ha
Thank you for your enquiry.
The [1]Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Act 2010 (Reform Act)
included a number of changes to the [2]Freedom of Information Act (FOI
Act) to encourage openness and maximum disclosure.
For instance, the [3]Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Act 2010
(Reform Act) created a requirement for agencies to publish specified
categories of information under the [4]Information Publication Scheme.
You can see this requirement in [5]Part II of the FOI Act. They are also
encouraged to make other information available for public access, through
[6]administrative access schemes.
The Reform Act also inserted a requirement for Agencies and ministers to
list information released in response to FOI access requests in an online
disclosure log, subject to some exceptions. This requirement is contained
in [7]s 11C of the FOI Act. More information about creating FOI disclosure
logs is available on the [8]Access to Documents page and in [9]FOI Fact
Sheet 14 — Disclosure logs.
The Reform Act also extended FOI to included documents held by contracted
service providers delivering services to the public on behalf of an
agency. See [10]s 6C of the FOI Act.
Finally the Reform Act and the [11]Australian Information Commissioner Act
2010 (AIC Act) established the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) and the two new statutory positions of the Australian
Information Commissioner (Information Commissioner) and the [12]Freedom of
Information Commissioner (FOI Commissioner).
The Information Commissioner, supported by the FOI Commissioner, acts as
an independent monitor of FOI matters and reviews FOI access decisions
made by agencies and ministers.
Further information about FOI law reform, including other measures in the
FOI Reform Act can be found on the [13]FOI law reform page of our website.
Statistical information on Australian government agencies compliance with
the FOI Act can be found on our [14]Freedom of Information reports page of
our website.
About us
The [15]Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (the OAIC)
regulates the [16]Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act) and the
[17]Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (the FOI Act). The OAIC has the
power to investigate complaints about the alleged mishandling of personal
information by Australian, Norfolk Island and ACT government agencies and
many private sector organisations, as well as the power to investigate and
review FOI processes and decisions.
For further information, please visit our [18]website.
I hope this information has been useful. If you have any further
enquiries, please contact the OAIC Enquiries line on 1300 363 992.
Yours sincerely
Carl
Enquiries Officer
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
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Important update: The Freedom of Information Amendment (New Arrangements)
Bill 2014 which proposes to close the OAIC on 31 December 2014 was not
passed by the Australian Parliament before the end of the 2014 sitting
period. The OAIC will therefore remain operational until further notice.
For further information see the [20]OAIC website.
Daniel O'Connor left an annotation ()
You may be interested in reading the OAIC's guidance to agencies - http://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-inform... - which strongly pushes the public interest in applying the act.