OAIC

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has "reissued its 4A Framework - A tool for assessing and implementing new law enforcement and national security powers" and has issued Part 3 of the FOI Guidelines: Processing requests for access.

Don't get too excited. The 4A Framework document comprises a single page [PDF], with the requisite purple hue, summarised as -

Analysis – Is there a problem? Is the solution proportional to the problem? Is it the least privacy invasive solution to the problem? Is it in line with community expectations?

Authority – Under what circumstances will the organisation be able to exercise its powers and who will authorise their use?

Accountability – What are the safeguards? Who is auditing the system? How are complaints handled? Are the reporting mechanisms adequate? And how is the system working?

Appraisal – Are there built in review mechanisms? Has the measure delivered what it promised and at what cost and benefit?

I do wonder about the usefulness of a document in which the summary comprises around a third of the content and where the explanation of Analysis comprises -

Careful analysis is needed in the development phase to ensure that the proposed measure is necessary, effective, proportional, the least privacy invasive option and consistent with community expectations. This analysis should involve consideration of the size, scope and likely longevity of the problem, as well as the range of possible solutions, including less privacy invasive alternatives. The impact on privacy of the proposed solution should be analysed and critical consideration given to whether the measure is proportional to the risk.

More substantively, the OAIC has released a Draft Disclosure Log Determination in relation to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).

The draft Determination, under s 11C(2) of the Act, is meant for public comment. If adopted it would mean that Ministers and Australian government agencies would not be required to publish in their disclosure log any information prescribed by the determination.

The determination would apply to -

• information in a document that was an exempt document at the time that access was given by the agency or Minister to the FOI Applicant, and

• information in a document that the agency or Minister would have decided was an exempt document at the time that access was given to the FOI Applicant, if the request for that document had been received from a person other than the FOI Applicant.

Under s 11C(3) of the Act national government agencies and Ministers are required to publish - through a 'disclosure log' on their websites - information that has been released in response to each freedom of information access request. The disclosure log requirement does not apply to publication of personal, commercial, financial or professional information thatt would be 'unreasonable'. The proposed Determination relieves an agency or Minister of any obligation to publish in a disclosure log an exempt document that has been released to an applicant. The expectation is that the agency or Minister may decide that although it is appropriate to provide access to the particular applicant it is not appropriate to publish the document, for example because the document was released in connection with legal proceedings in which the applicant is involved, in connection with a research project, or because the confidential nature of information in a document "would not be jeopardised by selective release".

The Determination No 1 recognises that the exempt status of a document can depend on the identity of the applicant, eg although it would be appropriate to provide a person with a document that relates specifically and only to them it may be an unreasonable disclosure or contrary to the public interest to release that document to another person.

The OAIC's commitment to openness is evident in the timeframe for public comment: provide your feedback by 17 August 2011!

The OAIC has meanwhile foreshadowed its inaugural 'OAIC Information Policy Conference', to be held in Canberra on 15 November 2011. The theme of the conference will be the very imaginative 'Public Sector Information: A National Resource'.

Conference sessions will focus on various aspects of information policy, with a particular focus on the publication of public sector information. Conference speakers are yet to be confirmed. However, they will include a range of information policy experts, including representatives from Australian Government agencies.

A conference dinner will be held on 14 November 2011 at the National Portrait Gallery. Senator the Hon John Faulkner will deliver the conference dinner speech.

A program and registration details will be released shortly.

Let's hope, that as in the recent FOI event, civil society advocates, academics and students are not priced out of the market.