Page 1345 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
in this category reflect those considered in the commonwealth act to be generally exempt.
The second category groups together all types of documents that are conditionally exempt. The concept of the conditional exemption has also been taken from the commonwealth act and integrated into this bill to further facilitate the capacity for the public to access government-held information. The condition placed upon the non-disclosure of documents in this category is that, even if a document qualifies as conditionally exempt, it must still be proven that it would be contrary to the public interest for the document to be disclosed in order to withhold it from the applicant.
This represents a positive change from the existing statutory regime, in which documents can be exempt on the basis that the document’s release would be contrary to the public interest or if it could not be shown that it was in the public interest for access to be granted. This shift ensures that decision makers will begin at a position of treating conditionally exempt documents requested under FOI as requiring release, and documents will only be withheld if it would be contrary to the public interest for them to be released.
As noted in the bill’s introduction, the “conditionally exempt” category works in conjunction with a single public interest test. This test favours the disclosure of documents in two different ways. The test sets out a range of factors favouring the provision of access to conditionally exempt documents. These factors are broad ranging, the intention being that there will be many circumstances favouring disclosure.
Importantly, the release of documents will be favoured if release would promote the objects of the act. This means that, in conjunction with the introduction of the improved objects clause, amendments in the bill will ensure that when decision makers consider the status of conditionally exempt documents, they explicitly must do so on the basis that the documents they hold are a public resource and should be treated with the good of the public in mind.
Further, the test will operate to exclude the consideration of various factors that might be used to justify non-disclosure. Decision makers cannot take into account factors such as whether a document’s release would result in causing embarrassment to or loss of confidence in the government. The key test is that it must be contrary to the public interest for a conditionally exempt document to be withheld.
In many ways, these amendments codify the government’s desired operation of the act and its policy on open government. We recognise that those in government, and those who work for the government, will occasionally make mistakes. However, it is not the intention of the act to allow the government to hide these mistakes. The public interest test will ensure that decision makers treat the conditional exemption category within the spirit of the “push model” and act with the good of the whole community at heart when administering these provisions. The introduction of the conditionally exempt category, in conjunction with the public interest test, should work to increase the potential for government-held information to be released.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video