Correspondence re Open Government Partnership since 1 January 2012
Dear Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,
This is an application for copies of any correspondence (letters and emails) between the Information Commissioner/OAIC staff and:
- the Attorney General or Attorney General's Department,
- the Minister for Foreign Affairs or the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, or
- the Prime Minister,
regarding the Open Government Partnership (OGP), including the Commissioner's views and recommendations regarding the OGP and the views of the Government, since 1 January 2013.
Please treat this as an informal request for access to documents as set out on your website: http://www.oaic.gov.au/about/foi/
If that is not possible, please treat it as a request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Electronic copies of the documents and delivery by email will be sufficient.
Yours faithfully,
Open Gov Advocate
Dear Open Gov Advocate,
Thank you for your email on 24 January 2013, seeking access to documents
regarding the Open Government Partnership (OGP).
Scope of your FOI request
I understand that you are seeking copies of correspondence between the
Australian Information Commissioner/OAIC staff and:
· the Attorney-General or Attorney-General’s Department,
· the Minister for Foreign Affairs or the Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade, or
· the Prime Minister
about the OGP, including the views and recommendations of the Information
Commissioner and the Government since 1 January 2013.
Date period of your request
I note that the heading of your email states that your request relates to
‘Correspondence re Open Government Partnership since 1 January 2012’, but
the body of your email seeks access to correspondence since 1 January
2013.
Only one document is caught by your request for correspondence since 1
January 2013. However, there are two other pieces of correspondence about
OGP matters that were sent or received during 2012. In the spirit of open
government, I have listed these documents below.
I would appreciate if you could clarify the date period of your request.
Documents relevant to your request
Under the Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010 (Cth) (AIC Act),
the Information Commissioner has the function of reporting to the Minister
(for the purposes of the AIC Act, the Attorney-General) on any matter
relating to Government information policy, including open government and
public sector information (s 7).
Since 1 January 2012, the Information Commissioner has exchanged the
following letters with the Attorney-General regarding the OGP:
· On 27 June 2012, the Attorney-General wrote to the Information
Commissioner regarding the OGP.
· On 17 August 2012, the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) wrote
to the Information Commissioner in relation to the requirements for
Australia to join the OGP.
· On 10 January 2013, the Information Commissioner wrote to the
AGD providing advice on how Australia could join the OGP, what resources
the OAIC could make available, and what further resources the OAIC would
require.
The Information Commissioner and OAIC staff have not corresponded directly
with the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister
for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, or their respective
departments regarding the OGP.
The 10 January 2013 letter contains the Information Commissioner’s
comprehensive view on the OGP. While there are a number of emails between
the Commissioner/OAIC staff and AGD staff regarding OGP matters, those
emails do not contain any information that is not contained in the three
letters discussed above.
Would access to the three letters listed above satisfy your request?
Publicly available information
For your information, the Information Commissioner has also discussed the
OGP in:
· Senate Estimates hearings before the Legal and Constitutional
Affairs Committee on [1]17 October 2011 and [2]16 October 2012 and
· his [3]submission to the recent Review of Freedom of Information
Legislation (December 2012)
Please let me know if you would like to discuss this matter further,
including the scope of your request. My contact details are set out below.
Regards,
Tim de Sousa | Deputy Director | Policy |
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 SYDNEY ACT 2001 |www.oaic.gov.au
[phone number] | [4][email address]
Protecting information rights – advancing information policy
References
Visible links
1. http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/sear...
2. http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/sear...
3. http://www.oaic.gov.au/publications/subm...
4. mailto:[email address]
Dear Tim,
Thanks for your quick response.
To clarify, I'm requesting access to correspondence from 1 January 2012 to now. I apologise for any confusion caused by the typo in my previous email.
I think that access to the letters that you list in your email will satisfy my request; please provide me with copies of the letters. Based on their actual content, I may seek access to further information. However, if I do, I will lodge a fresh request.
Yours sincerely,
Open Gov Advocate
Dear Open Gov Advocate,
I refer to your emails on 24 and 30 January 2013.
I have decided to grant your request for access for information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth); please see the attached letter dated today, which sets out that decision and your rights of review.
I attach the following documents, that you agree will satisfy your request:
. letter from the Attorney-General to the Information Commissioner regarding the OGP, dated 27 June 2012
. letter from the Attorney-General's Department (AGD) to the Information Commissioner regarding the requirements for Australia to join the OGP, dated 17 August 2012 (August 2012 letter)
. letter from the Information Commissioner to the AGD providing advice on how Australia could join the OGP, what resources the OAIC could make available, and what further resources the OAIC would require, dated 10
January 2013.
Please note that the August 2012 letter from the AGD to the Information Commissioner includes the following attachments:
. 'Joining the Open Government Partnership', undated, prepared by the AGD
. 'Open Government Partnership: Articles of Governance', adopted 16 April 2012
. 'Open Government Partnership: Open Government Declaration', September 2011
. 'Requirements to participate in the OGP, undated, prepared by the Information Commissioner.
The two OGP documents attached to the August 2012 letter are also published on the OGP website: www.opengovernmentpartnership.org.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Regards,
Tim de Sousa | Deputy Director | Policy |
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218 SYDNEY ACT 2001 |www.oaic.gov.au
[phone number] | [email address]
Protecting information rights - advancing information policy
Dear Tim,
The documents provided seem to be what I was looking for.
Thank you for a helpful and reasonably quick response.
Yours sincerely,
Open Gov Advocate
Peter Timmins left an annotation ()
For comment on this process - hat tip to the OAIC for speedy no-nonsense access - and the content of the documents released see http://foi-privacy.blogspot.com.au/2013/...