Scoring the local on food hygiene could make us all feel better

It's almost four years since the issue of transparency regarding hygiene standards in restaraunts was first mentioned here, and Matthew Moore of the Sydney Morning Herald began exposing excessive secrecy surrounding this issue, so terrific to see the NSW Government and local councils now preparing to introduce a score system that that moves things up a notch. Seems like only yesterday that some councils were arguing that release of fines imposed for breach of hygiene standards was personal information concerning the owner, among other howlers, until Blacktown and then Woollahra concils decided the public interest in disclosure trumped other considerations. The new emphasis on transparency as a spur to lift everyone's performance is a welcome shift from "name and shame" the laggards. And better public policy.