The Auditor General tabled his report on FOI and Public Sector bodies several days ago. We’ve copied some extracts from his findings below. The full report may be accessed at: http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/publications/20120418-FOI/20120418-FOI.pdf

“Freedom of information (FOI) is a cornerstone of a thriving democracy. FOI upholds the public’s fundamental right to access information held by the government. The community’s ability to scrutinise public sector activities and hold the government of the day accountable for its decisions is affected by the transparency and accessibility of government information. 

Since the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) was introduced, both the number and the complexity of requests for information have increased considerably. In 2010–11 there were 34 052 FOI requests, compared to 4 702 requests in 1984–85, the first full year the Act was in operation……

Since FOI legislation was introduced 30 years ago, Victoria has gone from being at the forefront of FOI law and administration to one of the least progressive jurisdictions in Australia. Over time, apathy and resistance to scrutiny have adversely affected the operation of the Act, restricting the amount of information being released. As a result, agencies are not meeting the object of the Act, which is ‘to extend as far as possible the right of the community to access information’.

The public’s right to timely, comprehensive and accurate information is consequently being frustrated. The Victorian public sector’s systemic failure to support this right is a failure to deliver Parliament’s intent.

The prevailing culture and lack of transparent processes allow principal officers— secretaries and chief executive officers of agencies—to avoid fulfilling their responsibilities. Principal officers are not being held to account for their agency’s underperformance and non-compliance.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Given recent events at VCAT, and Council’s repeated failure to answer public questions directly and comprehensively, we believe that many of the Auditor General’s findings are also applicable to Glen Eira.

The 2010/2011 Annual Report contains some revealing statistics –

In 2005/6 the number of FOI requests totalled 13. Of these, 3 were granted full access and 5 partial access.

In 2010/11 the number of FOI requests burgeoned out to 37 (with council claiming that 10 were ‘determined’ not to be FOI requests) and only one application was granted full access.

It is at least encouraging that residents are beginning to exercise their rights in applying for FOI when they are not satisfied with council responses to their questions. It is, however, concerning that the culture that is currently attributed to state agencies also appears to be alive and well and thriving in Glen Eira. Hardly surprising we say, when so much relies on secrecy and behind closed doors decision making!