ANZSOG Conference 'Opening Government' a real steal

Registration closes Friday for The Australian New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) Conference 2015 in Melbourne next month:

Opening Government Transparency and Engagement in the Information Age-40 speakers 2 days The 1 Event You Can't Afford to Miss" 

Sounds great. 

If you (or your employer) can afford it.

$2395 for the full package, whew! 

The program is jam packed with public servants, former public servants now consultants and academics but few if any sign of citizens, journalists and others who sit on the other side of the open government, transparency and engagement tables. Whether the eventual audience made up of those who can afford it will be more diverse, who knows.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall for
‘Too much information?’: FOI’s defenders meet its critics chaired by Senator The Hon Scott Ryan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education & Training, featuring Andrew Metcalfe a long time one time Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Dr Suelette Dreyfus: How important is the right to know what is happening inside our governments? Has freedom of information gone too far or should new information technologies be seized on as an opportunity to do more? Speakers in this session will offer different views about the flow of information between governments and citizens;

The open data sessions.

And the final wrap featuring Jane Halton Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Finance and Blair Comley Secretary of NSW Premier's: Transparency and Engagement in the Information Age - Implications for public servants Senior public sector leaders discuss how administrations across Australia and New Zealand are adapting to the information age. How well are we preparing for and leading our public servants into the new world of open government?

Terrific if people are talking about such things. But alas, I'm living in a new age of limited entitlements. 

Privacy and security-Sydney next week

Late notice - mea culpa - but the iapANZ has this event on Privacy and Security organised for Sydney on 31 July- worth a visit if you can make it.

First election face off: Integrity

A great kick off subject. I'll be there. Hope you can make it.
 

Integrity in Government
A Pre-Election National Anti-Corruption Forum

Tuesday 23rd July 2013
2.15 – 6.15pm
At the State Library of New South Wales (Dixson Room)
Macquarie Street, Sydney
Chaired by Roger Gyles AO QC, Chairman, TI Australia

This free afternoon forum hosted by Transparency International Australia is a not-to-be missed opportunity before the Federal Election to hear Australia's Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Shadow Attorney-General George Brandis and Greens Leader Christine Milne spell out their party's approaches to fighting corruption and promoting integrity in Australia.

The Independents have also been invited to contribute to this forum.

Refreshments will be served and the event will finish by 6.15pm

Register here by Friday 12th July."

C U Thursday, maybe?

Look forward to catching up with readers who make it to the Walkley Talks "Press freedom in Australia is under assault" at the State Library this Thursday at 6.30. Free but phone  (02) 9273 1414

Hot topic: Press freedom

If you are in Sydney on Thursday 11 April, get along to the Walkley Media Talks series panel discussion, "Press freedom in Australia is under assault", with Philippa McDonald of the ABC keeping Linton Besser, Sophie McNeil and me on topic and under some sort of control. 

Details here-free, how good is that? 

At the State Library in Macquarie St at 6.30pm. Bookings are essential.

Also of potential interest (but no, not free), the Excellence in Government Decision Making Symposium organised by the Australian Government Solicitor in Canberra 20-21 June with plenty of important administrative law topics up for discussion. Details here (pdf).

Conference

Open Government miniconf in Canberra 29 January 2013. No mention of the Hawke review?

Tale of two conferences

I've been remiss in not publicising this free search conference organised by Accountability Roundtable in Melbourne next Tuesday 4 December "Integrity in Government - A Work in Progress" with a stellar cast of speakers. Disappointed I can't make it but get along if you can. Keynote Speaker Senator John Faulkner might have time to explain the whys and where-fors of his announcement as Special Minister of State in 2009 that the Australian Law Reform Commission was to be asked to examine whether the Freedom of Information Act should be extended to the private sector, an idea that disappeared along with him when he went on later that year to become Minister for Defence.

Not free ($950) but also of interest The Privacy in the 21st Century Conference organised by the Communications Law Centre in Sydney on Friday 7 December featuring Lord Leveson, Malcolm Turnbull and plenty of others.

Privacy summit in Sydney

You may have missed the Early Bird but not too late to sign up for the iappANZ 2012 Privacy Summit on Friday 23 November, with a line up of top Australasian speakers. 

International Right to Know Day 28 September

Have a good one. 

 Despite the fact there is a blank when it comes to Australian groups among the 200 organisational members of the founders, FOI Advocates, and on the map of Australia in the world map of RTKD activities 2012. And Australia is not in the list of members of the Open Government Partnership, one year old today, and now with 57 government members - but we live in hope.

On the last mentioned, Australian Information Commissioner Professor John McMillan told the Creating Open Government Conference in Sydney last month that Australian membership is still  "under discussion"- what a marathon!

The development of a national framework for open government policy was an issue my office took up in an Issues Paper in 2010, Towards an Australian Government Information Policy. We plan to return to that theme in another paper in November this year to mark the second anniversary of the office.
A related development mentioned earlier in this conference by other speakers is the international Open Government Partnership (OGP), which 57 countries have now joined. One of the requirements of membership is that a country publish a national action plan that contains concrete open government commitments and projects. Expert external evaluation of a country's performance against the commitments in the country plan is another requirement of OGP membership. Impressive plans have already been published by, among others, the United States, United Kingdom and Canadian governments. The Australian Government has not yet announced whether it will join the OGP, though the matter is under discussion.

On the fore-mentioned interest in right to information advocacy here, Australia's Right To Know has the name but zero recent form.

(Update: not dancing in the street mind you, but the Office of the Queensland Information Commissioner acknowledges Right to Know Day, which also gets a mention in the Office of Australian Information Commissioner weekly email update :
Today is Right to Know Day! Right to Know Day was created at an international meeting of information advocates in Bulgaria in 2002, with the goal of promoting the global movement of increasing access to information and awareness of Freedom of Information (FOI) worldwide.  For more information visit the Freedom  of Information Advocates Network website: http://www.foiadvocates.net/).

Information Law Smorgasbord

A reminder of the many exciting topics to be discussed (ahem), and top speakers (ahem, not the least, Session 11) at the National Information Law Conference in Canberra, 14-16 November 2012. Read all about it - sign up  here. Download brochure

World conference snaffles... Dr Solomon

A comment from Andrew, just over the ditch, explaining what will be keeping Dr Solomon busy 12-16 November while some of us will be in Canberra (just kidding):

Overlapping with the AGS conference in Canberra is the World Conference of the International Ombudsman Institute, being held in Wellington. Dr Solomon will be speaking there, along with Prof. McMillan, Rick Snell and others. FOI sessions, as well as others relating to ombudsmanship and human rights. More details on the conference website:
http://www.confer.co.nz/wcioi/

Plenty of other top-liners there including Professor Alasdair Roberts, Jerome L. Rappaport Professor of Law and Public Policy at Suffolk University Law School, and Faculty Director of the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service on "Freedom of Information: the current challenges and the future directions freedom of information might take", and  Bruce Barbour, New South Wales Ombudsman on "The effect of removal of FOI jurisdiction from an Ombudsman."

Australian conferences call, and not just David Solomon!

Managing Patient Confidentiality and Information Governance (IIR Conferences) -Melbourne 25-26 June, so hurry. I'm a speaker-as if that will get you across the line! For the record, David Solomon (see below) isn't.

Integrity in Administrative Decision Making  (Australian Institute of Administrative Law)-Adelaide 19-20 July. "An opportunity to consider the concept of the integrity branch, the institutions that constitute it and its health in 2012." Includes sessions on integrity issues featuring Queensland Integrity Commissioner, Dr David Solomon, Professor A.J Brown of Griffith University, and Australian Information Commissioner Professor John McMillan (on "Jurisdictional facts and the Malaysian solution (!)). Julie Kinross, Information Commissioner, Queensland will speak to “Get off the couch!” - The transmission of the public value of transparency through independent merits review, Queensland style".

Creating Open Government (New South Wales Information and Privacy Commission)-Sydney 20-22 August. Program yet to be posted. Early bird rates on offer. Follows the two Right to Know Day conferences in Brisbane in recent years and the Information Policy Conference in Canberra last year. Includes the Solomon (see above) Lecture inaugurated in Queensland in 2009, this year to be delivered by Dr Geoff Gallop, Professor and Director at Sydney University's Graduate School of Government and former Western Australian Premier.

International Council on Archives Congress-Brisbane 20-24 August. Savings for registration before 15 July. I'm exhausted just reading the program! "Rub shoulders ..with internationally acclaimed archivists, information managers, audiovisual and preservation specialists." Two of many offerings of interest are Professor McMillan (see above), Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddard, and Director of the (US) Office of Government Information Services at the National Archives and Records Administration Miriam Nisbet, as keynote speakers on 23 August on "Public Rights to Information and to Privacy" to be chaired by.... Dr Solomon (see above); and Ann Steward of AGIMO chairing a panel session on "Open Government, right to information and recordkeeping: interdependencies and interconnections" that includes Julie Kinross (see above), Queensland State Archivist Janet Prowse, and Miriam Nisbet.

Update-2nd National information Law Conference (Australian Government Solicitor)-Canberra 14-16 November. See here-scroll down, to pdf top right. Early bird rates to 30 June. "Privacy law, freedom of information and related topics, as relevant to all Australian jurisdictions. Digital privacy will be a particular focus, as will be the key issues and practicalities of freedom of information, and recent reforms in both areas at a Commonwealth level." A lot of territory to be covered over three days and plenty of big names-but not Dr Solomon. Richard Ackland of the SMH after dinner, Sean Parnell of The Australian and Geoff Thompson of ABC Investigative Unit (on a topic broached here in January) sure to add valuable "outsider" perspectives. I'm on, with Rick Snell, University of Tasmania and Justin Davidson of AGS, assessing "Australian information law: what kind of shape are we in?"

Melbourne privacy conference later this month

A weighty privacy conference for academics and lawyers organised by the Faculty of Law at Monash University 23-24 February will cover a wide range of current and emerging issues in Australian privacy law, provide commentary on the law reform agenda, and discuss recent European developments in data protection and privacy law:

• Australian privacy law reform
• Privacy and Data Protection in Europe
• Common law protection of privacy
• Privacy and criminal justice
• Privacy and the Internet
• Theoretical and rights-based approaches to privacy
• Privacy and Media Freedom
• Should Australia introduce a statutory privacy tort?

I won't be there but sounds a good one.

National Information Policy Conference

The National Information Policy Conference in Canberra last week drew a sell out crowd of 270 and had an interesting vibe as well as some interesting presentations. Overall the tone of discussion about  access to information issues, the duty to treat information as a national resource and examples of some government agencies being responsive in a variety of ways, with Freedom of Information just part of the bigger picture, was a far cry from the FOI-secrecy battleground of just a few years ago. Not that that battle is entirely a thing of the past.

Some of the papers and presentations have been posted on the Australian Information Commissioner's website. One of those, Senator Faulkner's reflections on the Freedom of Information reforms had some listeners hearing what they thought was a little stepping back from the open government gusto of 2008-2009. In fact his remarks then and now simply reflect the inherent tensions in balancing openness and other public interests. Another of interest was the presentation by David Glynne Jones of DJG Consulting on Information Governance-an idea whose time in the public sector has surely arrived. 

(Link to PDF of presentation.)

At the same session and right in this groove Tony Corcoran Asssistant Secretary Freedom of Information and Information Management gave a  terrific run down (not yet posted) on (relatively) new thinking in Defence that brings together various information management and disclosure threads including FOI in a service context. In answer to a question about the result of this branch assuming responsibility for FOI from a legal area, Corcoran said compliance with statutory time frames had gone from 12% previously to 100% currently, reinforcing my view that Legal should provide advice when required, not control and manage the FOI function these days.

Ann Steward Australian Government Chief Information Officer, AGIMO  gave a positive and  encouraging account of progress on Gov 2.0 implementation (not yet posted). The best practice examples (ditto) from the Australian National Data Service (until now not known to me) and others in the final session were also eye openers.

The lack of time for questions and discussion at several sessions was disappointing. Tom Burton of the Australian Media and Communications Authority, poacher turned gamekeeper, on Engaging the Public gave a spinner's razamataz version, rather than what  engagement really should involve (link to presentation). And surprisingly Senator Kate Lundy's presentation on Public Sphere which should have been a good story had just a touch of cruel and unusual punishment for this listener at least.

The only oversell was that the conference "would be an opportunity to contribute to... the development of a National Information Policy for Australia", which it wasn't. But on all other fronts an enjoyable and interesting first for what is likely to be an annual event.

A last minor gripe - the name tag with name only. In the absence of detail whence we came and an attendance list the scope for instant recognition or passing interest was limited. If it reflected concern about privacy it was a step too far, and easily addressed by ticking a box on the registration form.

I attended at the invitation of the Office of Australian Information Commissioner and was grateful for that opportunity. And got out of town just ahead of President Obama's caravan-he still doesn't know what he missed.

President Obama will never know

All he has to do is get to Canberra on 15 November, one day earlier than scheduled, to attend the Australian Information Commissioner's National Information Policy Conference "Public Sector Information: A National Resource" there that day. And stay in Australia one day longer than planned to attend The Centre for Legal Governance at Macquarie Law School and the Australian Academy of Law conference Tomorrow's Law: Disclosure of Information-Balancing Public and Private Interests in Sydney on 18 November. I'm on the panel looking at legal developments relating to whistleblowing. Other sessions will cover censorship and classification, and the interaction between journalism and the public interest.

The prez will never know what he's missing.

Neither will you if you don't book a spot soon.

Conferences for those who didn't get to Ottawa

Don't be disappointed. Conferences closer to home include:

The Centre for Legal Governance at Macquarie Law School and the Australian Academy of Law are hosting a one-day conference on 18 November in Sydney on the regulation and disclosure of information . Details here. The conference theme is tomorrow's law- legal developments anticipated in the year ahead, specifically whistleblowing, censorship and classification, and the interaction between journalism and the public interest. I'm a speaker-so is Allan Kessing, in a rare conference appearance, and a cast of luminaries. Hope some readers can make it.

I'm also on a panel with Professor Wendy Bacon and Professor Rod Tiffen at the University of Sydney on 19 October discussing the Media Inquiry.

And hope to make it to the Information Policy Conference in Canberra on 15 November.

Information commissioners in Ottawa

The 7th International Conference of Information Commissioners now underway in Ottawa has a great program covering a range of highly topical issues.
 
Three Australians are on speakers panels-Australian Information Commissioner John McMillan, Queensland commissioner Julie Kinross, and Associate Professor Moira Paterson of Monash University. Other Aussies may be there as well-look forward to a rundown, and to the papers when available.

Information Policy Conference

Have a look at what's on offer at the Australian Information Commissioner's 2011 Information Policy Conference in Canberra in November, an opportunity to:

• find out about the progress of the open government reforms
• contribute to the development of a National Information Policy for Australia
• consider issues around the proactive publication of public sector information
• share best practice case studies
• learn about the OAIC's Principles on open public sector information
• discover how technology provides new opportunities for information management and exchange.

"FOI for the private sector" on the agenda at Canberra law conference

The 2011 National Administrative Law Conference will be held in Canberra on 21-22 July, with the theme "Democracy Participation and Administrative Law." I'm not going this time but a number of sessions are of interest, apart from the big picture topics: Sven Bluemmel, Western Australian Information Commissioner on Corporatisation and electronic records: on a collision course with administrative justice?; and FOI papers by Dr James Popple, Australian Freedom of Information Commissioner on Commonwealth FOI, and Avinesh Chand, Clayton Utz, Extending FOI to the private sector—accountability strikes back or a bridge too far?

I will be particularly interested in what Chand has to say about extending FOI.

Senator Faulkner’s announcement in March 2009 came as a surprise and out of the blue.

"the Government will (later this year) provide the Australian Law Reform Commission with a reference to consider whether FOI should be extended to, or another disclosure regime provided for the private sector."

While this proposal had been considered but not recommended in the Commission's 1995 Open Government Report, Senator Faulkner said

"the Government considers it timely to re-examine this issue in the context of the general reforms to freedom of information and developments on disclosure regimes in both public and private sectors."

There was no attempt then or since to explain or sell the idea. After the announcement it disappeared, apart from a couple of desultory repetitions of the intention in parliamentary debate in 2009.  

In late 2010 I made an FOI application for documents on the subject held by the departments of the Prime Minister and the Attorney General and wrote about what was revealed in January. It seems when Senator Faulkner moved to Defence later in 2009 the government dithered over what to do with an initiative approved by Cabinet but largely owned by him. Eventually in April 2010 public servants-who apparently were not involved in research or advice about the idea in the first place-recommended moving on. Attorney General McClelland was happy to approve other references to the ALRC. Nothing was said publicly that the FOI reference had effectively been ditched.

The draft terms of reference contained in documents released to Open and Shut state the subject was to be referred to the Commission 

See you in Canberra, maybe?

I will be in Canberra for the next three days at the National Information Law Conference 2011, courtesy of the organisers, Australian Government Solicitors', so look forward to catching up with any of you who are there. Good to see that the Queensland Information Commissioner has snaffled Deputy UK Information Commissioner Graham Smith for a couple of sessions in Brisbane for agency officers. Not sure if any of the other visiting luminaries are off to other capitals while they are here.