ABOUT THIS SITE
  • The Honourable Nathan Rees spoke to Parliament in 2009, Quote “Our public sector must embrace openness and transparency and governments must forever relinquish their habitual instinct to control information” Unquote.

  • He was hailing in the newly reformed freedom of information legislation for NSW.

  • “If the laws in place cause suffering, hurt or anxiety to but one single member of our community that have not transgressed those laws, then they need to be urgently changed because it is one single member of our community too many that has suffered” anonymous


  • In NSW the freedom of information legislation is now known as the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, or simply the GIPA Act, and this year 2021 (the year this Site was launghed) sees it turning 10 years of age, with the NSW Information & Privacy Commissioner (IPC) celebrating with its event Right to Know Week 2021 – Open by Design: Integrity through greater transparency and accountability in government.

  • Whilst this piece of legislation, the GIPA Act 2009, was set up to facilitate greater access to varying categories of government information, a vast majority of the general public are unaware of its existence, find it very difficult to navigate, and find it even more difficult dealing with agencies reluctant to proactively release information. This combination of obstacles sees a great number of requests for government information enduring extensive review processes, including the claimed informal forum of the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal or NCAT.

  • Those who have brought freedom of information cases to the NCAT often attest to the court-like arena, where they can face large publicly-funded legal teams inclusive of experienced barristers, and where they see confidential sessions provided to agencies for the discussion of information withheld from them.

  • The public have as a result felt the GIPA processes including avenues of review, favour NSW government agencies. And regrettably a great number of the public leaves the freedom of information process with reputations damaged, suffering long term trauma and anxiety, simply for endeavouring to exercise legally enforceable rights (supposed rights).

  • This treatment of the public in response to its exercising a legally enforceable right to access NSW government information does not align in any way with the speech of the Honourable Nathan Rees.

  • Thus far, apart from the engaging of legal services, a member of the public has no place to go for relevant information and support services relating to the accessing of government information. The IPC does have a section directed towards the public as well as a Master List of Fact Sheets for both the public’s and agencies assistance, however the information is general in nature and the fact sheets offer very little when it comes to bringing a case to the NCAT.

  • This Site aims to place itself as a public service addressing the numerous processes and implications of accessing government information in NSW, Australia. It will also offer opportunities to share freedom of information experiences.

  • The general public is the largest stakeholder of the information held by the NSW government and now there is a seat for them at the discussion table.

  • As the Site grows it will ultimately include NSW freedom of information case law highlights, discussion forums, personal freedom of information journeys, media releases, interviews, and lobbying submissions to the government for legislative change.

  • Visitors to this Site will see a page specifically dedicated to Section 110 of the GIPA Act 2009, where victims of this Order will share their experiences with the NCAT as well as their experiences with Agencies leading up to the imposition of the Order. The page will also disclose the costs to the community for such Orders and will open up a discussion about whether or not the public sees these costs as good value for public monies. Thus far the Section 110 debate has been completely one-sided at the exclusion of the public which is unfair.

  • A key topic of discussion, the GIPA Act 2009 Section 110 allows an Agency to seek a Restraining Order against a member of the public under certain circumstances. The Restraining Order only pertains to requests to access government information. This topic alone sees much to discuss and this Site intends to do that out in the open.

  • The public are directed to the speech by the Honourable Nathan Rees where he commends the GIPA Act to the public and to parliament in 2009, hailing the legislation as marking a revolution in public access to government information (click here).

  • Agencies are also invited to read this speech, some perhaps for the first time.

  • The information on this Site is general in nature and is not to be construed as legal advice.

DraftCom Pty Ltd t/as NSW Freedom of Information ABN: 87 076 511 941 PO Box 8030 Marks Point NSW 2280 P: 1300 679 364 or 1300 NSW FOI F: (02) 8246 3484 Hrs: Monday to Friday - 9.30am to 4.30pm
Copyright (c) 2021. All rights reserved. Created in Sitebeat.
Acknowledgement of First Nations Australia We acknowledge the Awabakal people as the Traditional Custodians of this area. We recognise their continuing connection and protection of the land, the waterways, and ecosystems since time immemorial. We extend our respect to all First Nations people and we respect the Elders past and present.
DISCLAIMER: The Information on this Site does not constitute legal advice, and is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. The information on this Site is general in nature, comprises publically available information, as well as the personal experiences and opinions of members of the community. NSW Freedom of Information asks every member of the community to respect the content of this Site, some of which has been provided by trusting third parties, and asks that permission is sought first before using the information herein, sharing the information herein, or copying or republishing the information herein.