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Thirty three years ago, four years after government began considering FOI and five years before legislation passed, in notes to Prime Minister Fraser , then Secretary Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Sir Geoffrey Yeend in May 1977 wrote : "Freedom of Information legislation would result in administrative chaos.. departments keeping dual filing cabinets. .. It is a can of worms, political commitments notwithstanding. The heads of Defence and Treasury are opposed to the legislation. Broader and in some cases blanket exemptions are necessary. It has been a consistent theme pursued by the leadership of the public service since, with few public expressions of the contrary view.   The m ost recent public comments came i n April   from current Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Dr Martin Parkinson and head of the Public Service Commission John Lloyd as reported in T he Canberra Times Both spoke at a forum, picking up on the report by anothe

The article below appears in "Criminalising The Truth Suppressing the Right to Know: The Report into the State of Press Freedom in Australia in 2016 " (pdf p39) published on Friday by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance. An update of course is the government's decision announced in the Budget this week that it will not proceed with legislation to abolish the Office of Australian Information Commissioner. There is plenty more of interest in the report-commend it to you!! Little Intent behind the Promise On the transparent, open and accountable government, front, it’s that familiar story six months into the Turnbull era. Hope and disappointment.  On his first day in office hopes were raised when Prime Minister Turnbull said  we " need an open government, an open government that recognises that there is an enormous sum of wisdom both within our colleagues in this building and, of course, further afield. The statement reminded of the Liberal Party promise be

From the Attorney General tonight : Office of the Australian Information Commissioner The Government has decided not to proceed with the new arrangements for privacy and Freedom of Information (FOI) regulation, including the proposed changes to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). Accordingly, the OAIC will receive ongoing funding of $37 million over four years to continue its privacy and FOI functions. FOI funding is provided on the basis of the streamlined approach to FOI reviews adopted by the OAIC since the 2014–15 Budget. Details regarding the allocation to the Office are at  Page 261 of the Attorney General's Department Portfolio Budget Statement As summarised by IT News The funding includes $8.1 million in new funding, and $6.7 million per year for the next four years out of the budget of the Australian Human Rights Commission, which was set to house the Privacy Commissioner under the new arrangements. Another $600,000 per year will be alloc