by jmsthornton | Mar 14, 2024 | Freedom of Information, News
Urgent reforms needed to FOI The Accountability Roundtable is urging greater reforms to Australia’s freedom of information regime. It is one of 16 organisations and individuals committed to greater transparency that signed an open letter to the Attorney-General,...
by jmsthornton | Feb 28, 2024 | ART policy, Freedom of Information
THE PROBLEM A powerful and independent freedom of information scheme must be a central feature of a functional democracy, an essential step toward enhancing transparency and accountability. The existing basis of FOI legislation laid down in the 1980s is sound – yet...
by Lyn Allison | Sep 27, 2021 | Federal Government, Freedom of Information, News, Open Government
ART Chair, Fiona McLeod AO SC, Professor Spencer Zifcak, Stuart Hamilton and Dr Ken Coghill appeared today before the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee into the COAG Legislation Amendment Bill 2021. Here is the video of our presentation to...
by jmsthornton | Oct 2, 2018 | Freedom of Information, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Privacy
The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the Freedom of Information Legislation Amendment (Improving Access and Transparency) Bill 2018 was set up following the introduction of this Bill by Senator Rex Patrick on 22nd August 2018. The Bill...
by jmsthornton | Sep 15, 2018 | Auditor General, Federal Government, Freedom of Information, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Open Government, Open Government Partnership (OGP)
ART’s Tim Smith has tirelessly pursued the parlous state of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, where funding has not been reinstated and one Commissioner has been doing the work of three. Tim’s letters containing the arguments for...
by jmsthornton | Apr 30, 2018 | Corruption, Freedom of Information, News, Open Government Partnership (OGP), Political Funding
The ART submission to the Open Government Partnership National Action Plan round 2 calls for some specific reforms to accountability and openness processes. CONTENTS 1. WHY WE NEED A FEDERAL ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION What evidence of corruption is there? Why do we...