There we were languishing down the order for a moment, with NZ at the top of the FOI tree.
Next thing you know it's congratulations to Senator Kate Lundy who received the Politics Online International eDemocracy award for People Changing the World of Internet and Politics in Paris last week, honouring her Public Sphere consultation initiatives, and support and advocacy for Gov 2.0. Another Australian Craig Thomler made the top 10.
I think Australia is in many ways leading the world with our Gov 2.0 agenda and our commitment to Open Government, and I believe we will see more exciting and innovation projects in government in the coming years, especially around open data, citizen-centric services and participatory democracy.”
Lundy is Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (and Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Citizenship) in the Gillard Ministry.
Hi Peter;
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, this is an excellent blog, I use it a lot for my research.
Secondly, I have a question: What is the relation between the Australian (Cth) 1982 FoI Act and the Victoria 1982 FoI Act.
I see that some cases in the VCAT, involving Melbourne Water falls under the Cth Act. Since MW is a Victorian legal body, shouldnt it be covered by the Vic 1982 Act?
Forgive my ignorance on Australian legal system -- I am a foreign lawyer and a beginner to Australian Law.
My research is on the transparency of water utilities regulation. Got loads of questions on Vic/Australia!
Mova, The two apply to different entities- the Commonwealth act to Commonwealth government agencies and ministers, the Victorian act to Victorian government agencies and ministers.The Commonwealth act wouldn't apply to documents held by Victorian Water, but there may have been references to Commonwealth cases in Victorian tribunal and court decisions, as many provisions in the acts are the same.Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteThat helps a lot. Thanks Peter!
ReplyDelete