By Jane Dargaville

Complete refashioning of information disclosure and public access laws in NSW, Queensland and Tasmania have transformed the FOI system.

In NSW, the Freedom of Information Act 1989 was repealed and replaced by the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, which came in to effect on July 1 last year.

In Queensland and Tasmania, FOI legislation introduced in each state in 1991 was repealed and replaced by right-toinformation acts in July 2009, and July last year, respectively.

The Commonwealth has also made significant amendments to its Freedom of Information Act 1982 since 2009 and will conduct a review next year.

With the ACT and Western Australia reviewing FOI laws put in place in 1989 and 1992 and the Northern Territory having introduced legislation in 2002, only
Victoria and South Australia remain outside the new model.

NSW and Queensland have also strengthened the link between access to government information and information privacy with Queensland introducing an Information Privacy Act 2009 in tandem with the new RTI law, and NSW establishing an Information and Privacy Commission in January this year.

General opinion is the legislative changes represent welcome and positive developments but even the most senior officials spearheading the national reform program admit change at a deeper level is required. Read More>>

Read the full report: The new right-to-know landscape [PDF]