First report card on operation of NSW GIPA act

It's taken a while-three years in fact-but the NSW Information Commissioner's report on the operation of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, the first since commencement, has been tabled in Parliament and is available here.  

The current commissioner Elizabeth Tydd took up the post earlier this year and clearly attached a priority to compliance-finally-with this mandatory annual reporting requirement.

I'm yet to have a close look but the Commissioner reports that three years of information about agency performance

"..confirms the Act is achieving its goal of improving the general approach of decision makers in providing timely and proactive access to information, giving the citizens of NSW confidence in Government decision making. The report indicates that the strategic intent of the Act is largely being met with most agencies complying with the Act’s requirements.

• consistent and credible levels of information release
• high levels of timeliness
• increasing number of valid applications
• the application of public interest considerations
• greater release of information through agency reviews."

The  high level snapshot reveals:

• 50,318 applications were lodged across the five sectors
• 82% of those applications were lodged with government agencies, state owned corporations or Ministers
• 17% of the applications were lodged with NSW councils 
• 61% of the applications lodged with government are attributed to three agencies: Police (36%) RMS (15%) and WorkCover (10%)
• 87% of decisions made by agencies were processed within the statutory time frame
• There is a positive trend with 2,245 invalid applications received in 2010 – 2011 reduced to 1,699 in 2012 – 2013.

 

Information commissioners by name, and nature

The Office of Information Commissioner Queensland has recently revamped the website, drawing attention to:

• A user-centric layout with three primary content sections: Online services, Information for, and Information about

• Dedicated pages for information rights practitioners, public sector employees, community members, media and students/researcher

• Improved site searching options

• Access to annotated legislation to provide critical or explanatory notes relevant to information rights

• Quick links for popular resources and new decisions

• Automated email form to submit a question to OIC

• A friendly design for mobile device users.

"To improve our service, we have collated and organised in one online location, our research tools and information resources, case law and decisions from Queensland and other jurisdictions."

Sure to be useful for those who dig in these ditches.

As are the recently published 16 pages of FAQs and Answers from the Office of Australian Information Commissioner. Aimed primarily at those involved in dealing with Freedom of Information in government agencies, they won't come as a surprise to most. Pointing out that text messages and social media such as instant messaging (IM) that support the business of an agency fall within the definition of ‘document’ might give rise to a collective groan across Canberra. 

That FAQ and A and some others caught the eye: