The Information and Privacy Commission (IPC) has marked NSW Right to Know Week this week (to 3 October) with the release of new resources for Government Agencies and a report on the first 10 years of information disclosure laws in the State.
NSW Information Commissioner and Open Data Advocate, Elizabeth Tydd said the Week encouraged public sector Agencies to improve applied knowledge of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) and raised awareness of a person’s right to access Government held information.
Commissioner Tydd (pictured) said her 10-Year GIPA Data Analysis Overview 2010 to 2020 report revealed that while Government Agencies had increased their compliance with the Act to 72 per cent in 2020, this reflected a downward trend from an all-time high of 83 per cent in 2017-18.
She said that from an all-time low of 60 per cent in 2010, compliance with proactive disclosure requirements by Departments and sampled smaller Agencies fluctuated markedly.
The Commissioner said Department and Agency compliance varied depending on the requirement, however, given the significant role they performed their acquisition and disposal of public assets and their inherent risk of corruption, she was concerned that in 2020 only two Departments had a full or partial list of major assets and acquisitions.
“The introduction of the GIPA Act was intended to ensure that members of the public have access to the widest possible range of information to give them confidence in Government decision-making,” Commissioner Tydd said.
“There has never been a more important time to consider the right of citizens to access Government information and to reflect our prevailing environment in which real-time data and swift decision-making is both required and expected of Governments,” she said.
She said its Right to Know Week resources would help Agencies to promote and uphold citizens’ rights to access Government held information and included a joint animation with other Australian information access jurisdictions.
She said the resources also included guidelines on the obligations of Ministers and Ministerial Officers; a fact sheet on accessing a deceased person’s information; a fact sheet on public officials and personal information; and a checklist on open access information.
The IPC’s resources can be accessed at this PS News link and the Information Commissioner’s 12-page Report at this link.
