Our ref: CMTEDDFOI 2025-384
Right to Know
via email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
To Whom It May Concern
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – NOTICE OF DECISION
I refer to your application under section 30 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2016
(the Act), received by the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development
Directorate (CMTEDD) on 22 October 2025.
Specifically, you have sought access to the following information:
“Under the Freedom of Information Act, I am seeking soft copies of any documents about
the agreed Executive Reform in the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement for the 10th
Legislative Assembly regarding requiring employee and consumer representation on the
boards of major ACT territory owned corporations or Government businesses.”
Authority
I am an Information Officer appointed by the CMTEDD Director-General under section 18
of the Act to deal with access applications made under Part 5 of the Act.
Timeframes
In accordance with section 40 of the Act, CMTEDD is required to provide a decision on
your access application within 30 days. As this matter required third party consultation,
the decision due date was extended by 15 working days, in accordance with section 40(2)
of the Act. Therefore, a decision is due by
24 December 2025. Decision on access
Searches of CMTEDD records have identified
28 documents within the scope of your
request.
I have decided to grant
full access to
17 documents.
I have decided to grant
partial access to
eight documents.
I have decided to grant
no access (nondisclosure) to
three documents.
The records identified as relevant to your application are listed in the schedule enclosed
at
Attachment A. This provides a description of each document that falls within the scope
of your request and the access decision for each of those documents.
Release of documents
The information being released to you is provided at
Attachment B.
Statement of Reasons
In accordance with section 54(2) of the Act a statement of reasons outlining my decisions
is below. In reaching my access decisions, I have taken the following into account:
Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development
GPO Box 158 Canberra ACT 2601 | phone: 6207 7754 | www.act.gov.au
• the Act
• the information that falls within the scope of your request
• third party consultation
•
Human Rights Act 2004
•
ACT Ombudsman FOI Guidelines
As a decision maker, I am required to determine whether the information within scope is
in the public interest to release. To make this decision, I am required to:
• assess whether the information would be contrary to public interest to disclose as
per
Schedule 1 of the Act.
• perform the public interest test as set out in section 17 of the Act by balancing the
factors favouring disclosure and factors favouring nondisclosure in
Schedule 2 of
the Act.
Exemptions claimed
Schedule 1: Information taken to be contrary to the public interest.
My reasons for deciding not to grant access to the information or components of
information found within documents are as follows:
• Section 1.2 - Information subject to legal professional privilege.
Some documents identified as within scope of your request are composed of information,
or partly composed of information, that is considered to be contrary to the public interest
information under section 1.2 of Schedule 1 of the Act. This information is deemed
Legal
Professional Privilege and can only be released if the parties involved agree to waive that
privilege. The parties involved have not waived privilege.
Legal professional privilege exists to protect confidential communication between a client
and their legal practitioner. Its purpose is to promote the administration of justice by
encouraging legal practitioners and their clients to have frank and honest dialogue so that
lawyers can provide legal advice that best assists the client. It covers documents prepared
by the client, the lawyer, and in some circumstances a third party.
Public Interest Test
The Act has a presumption in favour of disclosure. As a decision maker I am required to
decide where, on balance, public interest lies. As part of this process, I must consider
factors favouring disclosure and nondisclosure.
In
Hogan v Hinch (2011) 243 CLR 506, [31] French CJ stated that when ‘used in a statute,
the term [public interest] derives its content from “the subject matter and the scope and
purpose” of the enactment in which it appears’. Section 17(1) of the Act sets out the test,
to be applied to determine whether disclosure of information would be contrary to the
public interest. These factors are found in subsection 17(2) and Schedule 2 of the Act.
Schedule 2: Factors to be considered when deciding the public interest.
Taking into consideration the information within scope of your request, I have identified
that the following public interest factors are relevant to determine if release of the
information contained within these documents is within the ‘public interest’.
Factors favouring disclosure (Section 2.1)
•
Section 2.1(a)(i) - promote open discussion of public affairs and enhance the
government’s accountability.
•
Section 2.1(a)(ii) - contribute to positive and informed debate on important issues
or matters of public interest.
•
Section 2.1(a)(viii) - reveal the reason for a government decision and any
background or contextual information that informed the decision.
The release of this information could promote discussion of public affairs and contribute
to positive and informed debate on the Executive Reform in the Parliamentary and
Governing Agreement for the 10th Legislative Assembly.
The release of this information could also reasonably provide background for government
decisions, including those affecting the administration of boards and statutory offices. I
afford this factor significant weight.
I am satisfied that these factors favouring disclosure carry weight. However, these factors
are to be balanced against the factors favouring nondisclosure.
Factors favouring nondisclosure (Section 2.2)
•
Section 2.2(a)(ii) - prejudice the protection of an individual’s right to privacy or any
other right under the Human Rights Act 2004.
Having reviewed the information, I consider that the protection of an individual’s right to
privacy under the
Human Rights Act 2004, is a significant factor. Information within your
requested scope includes personal information of several third parties where disclosure
could reasonably be expected to prejudice an individual’s right to privacy under the
Human Rights Act 2004. Having applied the test outlined in section 17 of the Act and deciding that release of some
information contained in the documents is not in the public interest to release, I have
chosen to redact this specific information in accordance with section 50(2). Noting the
pro-disclosure intent of the Act, I am satisfied that redacting only the information that I
believe is not in the public interest to release will ensure that the intent of the Act is met
and will provide you with access to the majority of the information held by CMTEDD
within the scope of your request.
Charges
Under section 107(2)(e) of the Act, a fee must be waived if the applicant is a member of
the Legislative Assembly.
Online publishing – Disclosure Log
Under section 28 of the Act, CMTEDD maintains an online record of access applications
called
a disclosure log. Your original access application and my decision will be published on the CMTEDD
disclosure log. Your personal contact details will not be published.
Ombudsman Review My decision on your access request is a reviewable decision as identified in Schedule 3 of
the Act. You have the right to seek Ombudsman review of this outcome under section 73
of the Act within 20 working days from the day that my decision is provided to you, or a
longer period allowed by the Ombudsman.
We recommend using this form
Applying for an Ombudsman Review to ensure you
provide all of the required information. Alternatively, you may write to the Ombudsman
at:
The ACT Ombudsman
GPO Box 442
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Via email:
xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) Review
Under section 84 of the Act, if a decision is made under section 82(1) on an Ombudsman
review, you may apply to the ACAT for review of the Ombudsman decision. Further
information may be obtained from the ACAT at:
ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal
GPO Box 370
Canberra City ACT 2601
Telephone: (02) 6207 1740
http://www.acat.act.gov.au/
Should you have any queries in relation to your request please contact the CMTEDD FOI
Team by telephone on 6207 7754 or email
xxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx. Yours sincerely
Katharine Stuart
Information Officer
Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate
18 December 2025
Document Outline
