Response by Vic Government to FOI reforms

As most of you will recall, last year the Integrity and Oversight Committee of the Victoria Parliament published a report after conducting an Inquiry into the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) ("Report").

The Victorian Government has now provided its response to the Report.  The substance of that response is that "more time is needed to comprehensively assess" the recommendations made by the Inquiry in the Report.

It stated:

"Given the wide-reaching impact of FOI across state and local government, and other public entities and on the public, government is taking the time to consider the report's findings and recommendations in detail to determine whether the proposed [Right to Information] scheme and associated frameworks are the most appropriate model for Victoria."

In the current economic climate in Victoria, it comes as no surprise that the government has stated that significant further work and analysis is also required to examine the complex policy, legal, cultural and resourcing issues that are engaged when contemplating systemic redesign.

It will be interesting to see whether the current state of our economy and the fact that next year is an election year will have an impact on what, if any steps, the government or the State Opposition will take or promise moving forward.

Our firm will carefully watch out for any future developments and keep you abreast of those matters as they arise.