tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18815215.post317287891458327563..comments2024-03-03T19:26:23.287+11:00Comments on Open and Shut: Back to the future: FOI back in lawyers' boxPeter Timminshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04589018910216965607noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18815215.post-65673846016466851362011-11-07T21:52:02.496+11:002011-11-07T21:52:02.496+11:00Disappointing... The only difference between this...Disappointing... The only difference between this and the tax office etc. seems to be a desire to release nothing except under meticulously scrutinised legal coercion. Here's a thought experiment - if there were no FOI, which of our current governments would ever contemplate enacting anything of the sort. Probably not the Federal government - this move hardly suggests they share the Fraser and Hawke governments' belief in the spirit and purpose of FOI.Daniel Robinsonhttp://paperlesschambers.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18815215.post-31652736067666489062011-11-07T10:43:43.138+11:002011-11-07T10:43:43.138+11:00What indeed.I'm with you.What indeed.I'm with you.Peter Timminshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04589018910216965607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18815215.post-42624579326805715632011-11-07T09:58:32.428+11:002011-11-07T09:58:32.428+11:00bugger. You can see the wide-held belief that FOI ...bugger. You can see the wide-held belief that FOI is a legal matter, rather than another service to the public that happens to have its authority in statute, in the job ads. All FOI positions seem to require the applicant to have a law degree and be admitted to practice. You don't need that to be a decision maker under the Social Security Acts, the Taxation Act or even the OH&S Act. What makes FOI too hard for the non-lawyer public servant?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18815215.post-49952876679698751222011-10-21T17:08:45.385+11:002011-10-21T17:08:45.385+11:00Andrew, Yes you have to wonder whether the Prime M...Andrew, Yes you have to wonder whether the Prime Minister and the Minister for Privacy and Freedom of Information even blinked when they got to this proposed change to the Administrative Arrangements Order at the bottom of the pile. On that front nothing published to date that I can see.Peter Timminshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04589018910216965607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18815215.post-37422849802124273102011-10-21T12:28:05.651+11:002011-10-21T12:28:05.651+11:00Depressing news, Peter. For all of various govern...Depressing news, Peter. For all of various governments' bleating about FOI being a major piece of constitutional legislation and a core function of every department, putting it into the hands of a lawyers department, instead of the agency with responsibility for the civil service (or even government IT) has been shown to be a mistake in many jurisdictions. It perpetuates forensic legalistic approaches on a case by case basis, instead of taking a systemic approach and examining how best value can be obtained for the government (as the taxpayers' agent)from the resource they are custodian of and the work they do.<br /><br />Hopefully some comments on this from some of the speakers at the Commissioner's conference in Canberra next month.Andrewnoreply@blogger.com