Statement – Environmental Defenders Office, 5 July 2023
Transparent failure — Tasmanian Government is the most secretive in Australia
A new analysis of the administration of Tasmania’s freedom of information laws has found the island state is the most secretive in Australia.
Environmental Defenders Office has reviewed the handling of applications under the state’s freedom of information law — the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) — and found Tasmania ranked last on many measures. The report found Tasmania had:
- The highest rate of refusals. Tasmanians are more likely to have their freedom of information applications refused than citizens anywhere elsewhere in Australia.
- An unacceptably high rate of errors. Tasmanian Government agencies routinely misinterpret the RTI Act when assessing applications. Up to 70% of refusals over the past five years have been overturned on review by the state Ombudsman.
- Unacceptably slow review times. Citizens had to wait almost three years on average to have refused RTI Act applications reviewed. When information is finally released, it is often too old to be of use.
- A large and growing backlog of unresolved reviews. Funding for external reviews has flatlined over the past decade while the number of reviews requested has increased steadily, creating a large and growing backlog.
- A low level of government accountability. In any democracy, access to government information is a critical component of government accountability. Currently, the RTI Act is not being administered in a way that allows for the efficient public scrutiny of government decisions.
The findings, contained in EDO Tasmania’s latest report, Transparent failure: Tasmania’s ineffective right to information system and how to fix it, highlight serious deficiencies in the administration of laws over an extended period. The report recommends 12 reforms to enhance transparency and efficiency in the administration of the Act by:
- Changing the government culture from one of secrecy to one of openness;
- Limiting legitimate reasons for withholding government information;
- Improving the quality of initial assessments;
- Reducing assessment and review times; and
- Enhancing transparency and efficiency.
Report author, Environmental Defenders Office Managing Lawyer (Tasmania) Claire Bookless said:“Our investigation has found the Tasmanian Government is the most secretive in Australia, and this has serious implications when it comes to the realm of environmental law.
Successive governments in Tasmania have denied or delayed access to information that citizens need to participate in environmental decision making, which is an essential part of any healthy democracy.
The tendency towards secrecy occurs particularly when the information may be embarrassing for the government or the industries it is supposed to regulate.
“Secrecy undermines public confidence in decision making and contravenes standards articulated in the United Nations’ Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment.
“It has been well over a decade since Tasmania’s last State of the Environment report. Timely public access to information about the health of our waterways, air and land is critical to securing and maintaining a healthy environment.
“Without ready access to government information about the environment and decisions that may affect it, the work of those trying to protect the environment, such as EDO and its clients, is severely undermined.
“The administration of right to information laws in Tasmania needs urgent reform.”
Read the full report: https://www.edo.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/EDO_RTI_Act_report_web.pdf.
Excerpt – Key Findings
- Despite the Government’s commitment to increased transparency, lutruwita/ Tasmania continues to have Australia’s lowest rate of RTI applications being granted in full.
- In four out of the five most recent reporting years, at least 70% of RTI decisions have been overturned by the Tasmanian Ombudsman, either in full or in part, which demonstrates that public authorities are consistently misapplying the RTI Act to deny public access to information (see table 2).
- In the last year for which records are available (2021/22), public authorities misapplied parts of the RTI Act in nearly every decision reviewed by the Ombudsman (see figures 3, 4 and 5).
- The average time it takes to challenge the decision of a public authority denying access to information by seeking an external review by the Tasmanian Ombudsman has blown out from an average of 230 days in 2016/17 to 987 days in 2021/22 (see figure 6).
- Since 2012, there has been an almost linear increase in the number of RTI external review applications filed each reporting period (see figure 7). However, there has been no marked change in the number of RTI external reviews concluded by the Tasmanian Ombudsman over the same period (see figure 8). This has resulted in a growing backlog of undecided RTI external review applications (see figure 9).
- Despite this growing workload and backlog of RTI external review applications to process, the total revenue of the Ombudsman’s Office has, when adjusted for inflation, remained relatively constant between 2012/13 and 2021/22 (see figure 10).
- While more staff within the Tasmanian Ombudsman’s office have recently been dedicated to the external review of RTI Act decisions, the efficiency of processing these reviews has not increased by an equivalent rate (see figure 11).
- Close to half of the time it takes for the Tasmanian Ombudsman’s Office to complete the external review of an RTI decision is attributable to the review being stalled in “draft” at the “preliminary review stage”. This suggests that more senior staff are needed by the Tasmanian Ombudsman to ensure that reviews can be completed in a timely manner.
- There is a need for the RTI Act to be reviewed and amended to better facilitate public access to government information.
- Further funding and resources are required to enable both public authorities and the Tasmanian Ombudsman’s Office to fulfil their obligations under the RTI Act.
Media release – Ella Haddad MP, Shadow Attorney General, 5 July 2023
Tasmania Australia’s most secretive state under Liberals
New analysis of the minority Liberal Government’s Right to Information record has confirmed that Tasmania is the most secretive state in Australia, ranking last on many measures.
The Environmental Defenders Office review of the government’s handling of RTI applications underlines the secrecy and lack of transparency which has become a hallmark of the Liberals’ ten years in government.
The report shows Tasmanians are more likely to have their RTI application refused than anywhere else in Australia, with the highest rate of refusals.
Not only that but the analysis shows an unacceptably high rate of errors, with almost 70 per cent of refusals over the past five years being overturned on review by the State Ombudsman.
The analysis also shows unacceptably slow review times, with citizens waiting almost three years to have refused applications reviewed, a large and growing backlog of reviews, and damningly, a low level of government accountability.
This report backs in growing community concerns about the Liberal Government’s lack of transparency and accountability, which has been on full display throughout the lead-up to and signing of the deal on the AFL team and stadium.
Mr Rockliff continually hides behind his ‘cabinet-in-confidence’ excuse for not providing advice from Treasury or other department to Parliament, and his ministers regularly refuse to provide straight answers to straight questions.
Meanwhile, it’s now abundantly clear that the Premier didn’t even take the AFL deal to Cabinet and failed to ask Treasury for advice. It’s unfathomable that the Premier could contemplate spending that much taxpayers’ money without Treasury advice or Cabinet approval.
Tasmanians want to see honesty and transparency from their elected officials but this Liberal government has totally ruined the RTI process and continuously hides important information from Tasmanians.
Labor stands for a culture of openness and transparency and in government we will work hard to repair the damage this government has done to the RTI process.
