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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2194 ..

MR OSBORNE (continuing):

... the Bill will amend the requirements in relation to annual reporting to provide for responsible Ministers to report annually on the operations of the Freedom Of Information Act in respect of themselves and of their agencies. This new arrangement will reflect the fact that agencies have now assumed full and direct responsibility for the application of the Act to their operations rather than the arrangement which previously existed ...

Setting aside for a moment the fact that Mr Humphries does not seem to have provided here for irresponsible Ministers, this part of the Bill is completely based on the assumption that his new system is working properly. I have to say that I am yet to be convinced of that. Just a few weeks ago, several months after the beginning of Mr Humphries's new system, one of my staff went about lodging an FOI request and had an incredible amount of difficulty in going through what should have been an easy process.

It turned out that the Government switchboard at that time was referring all FOI inquiries through to the contact person at the Business, Employment and Tourism Bureau because they did not know where else to refer them, and this person in the bureau did not have a full list of all the other FOI contact people. In the hope of obtaining a complete Government FOI contact list, this staff member went to the Government shopfront, just down the road, only to be referred by them to the non-existing FOI central office of the Attorney-General's Department in the GIO building. To top it all off, the request was finally sent to the right place 35 days ago, and we have heard nothing since. I tried to ring them earlier today, but I was told that there was going to be no-one in their office this afternoon. Is it not comforting to see the processes of this essential part of our society working so well! If Mr Humphries can guarantee me that he can get his house in order and make his new arrangements work properly, then I will be much happier in giving this Bill even more support.

Mr Humphries also mentioned in his speech that he intends to review our whole Freedom of Information Act in conjunction with the Commonwealth FOI Act. Last year the Australian Law Reform Commission completed a review of our Federal freedom of information laws, and the president of the commission said after their investigation that the culture of secrecy that still pervaded much of the Australian public sector must be dismantled if the Federal Government was to become truly transparent and accountable. In other words, there are too many secrets without good reason. This report also emphasised that information held by government is a national resource and that those who collect it do not do so for their own benefit; rather, they are trustees of that information for the Australian people. While these comments were made in a national context, they are also totally applicable to our own Freedom of Information Act. Our freedom of information laws have been based on Commonwealth legislation, and most of its intent is relevant to us. Instead of containing quick and simple processes to obtain information that actually work, much of our current Act is taken up with unnecessary complex hoops to jump through and creative exemptions.

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