NBN Co review leaves broad blanket exemption in creative hands

The Morris review of NBN Co's handling of freedom of information found the agency: 
. complied with its lawful requirements in administering the FOI Act

. used a careful process to identify exempt documents, has clearly articulated the reasons for the  claimed exemptions, and has not been extravagant in claiming exemptions;

. sought to minimise the cost to applicants by actively assisting in identifying possible documents that are the real basis of the request; 

. operated in a timely manner; and

. generally adopted a pro-disclosure attitude.

Mr Morris described the primary purpose of the review as to ascertain whether the provisions of the Freedom of information Act that apply to NBN Co. “have achieved the correct balance in practice between the pro-disclosure requirements of the FOI Act and the protection of commercially sensitive information that NBN Co. may hold." In essence how NBN Co in practice administered its FOI obligations. It came up well, perhaps on best behaviour in the first 12 months knowing all along this review was coming.  Applicants will hope it continues to comply with spirit and intent without too much smart lawyering to test the potential of available exemptions. The broad blanket nature of the exemption that defines what NBN Co. information is excluded from the act would appear to leave scope for that.

Interesting also that NBN Co. commendably links the FOI function with "knowledge management" and that Mr Morris rates its FOI staff well above others in his experience- according to NBN Co's main man he has a "passion for screenwriting' but we won't go there...