Rex Patrick on Freedom of Information and Australia’s submarines.
Michelle Grattan discusses FOI law and Australia's submarine program with independent senator Rex Patrick
Leaked WhatsApp messages showed why Julie Bishop performed so poorly in the first round of voting to replace Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the Liberal party.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
There is a strong case to be made that WhatsApp messages are subject to the Freedom of Information Act in the same way as email and others forms of text messages.
Queensland’s Ministerial Code now bans Ministers from using private email and messaging apps.
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The ban on Queensland Members of Parliament using encrypted messaging apps for government business should be accompanied by a willingness to strengthen official accountability across the board.
Attorney-General George Brandis has again lost a bid to prevent his ministerial diary from being released under FOI.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
In the UK, thanks to the freedom of information (FoI) laws, the right to know has become routine. Ten years old this month, freedom of information laws have enabled us to inspect a public document, obtain…
Attorney General George Brandis will be expected to lead the culture change to one of open information.
Stefan Postles/AAP
Tony Abbott’s 2013 election platform promised to “restore accountability and improve transparency measures to be more accountable to you”. In spite of this promise the first Abbott government budget will…
Julia Gillard should make her diary of appointments and visits public according to the Information Commissioner.
AAP/Dave Hunt
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been encouraged to be more open and accountable to the Australian public by releasing her official meeting diary. Although Gillard is not legally required to, Freedom of…
Raising the cost of FoI applications is not the answer.
Flickr/chrisjohnbeckett
The Gillard government will make a huge mistake if it follows through with plans to overturn freedom of information reforms and introduce an increase to the cost of applications. The expected change comes…
President Obama may be forced by the courts to release images of bin Laden’s assasination.
AAP
The author of this article, Daniel Metcalfe, is a former director of the US Department of Justice Office of Information and Privacy. He advised the US Government on the Abu Ghraib pictures. President Obama…