http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22794673-2702,00.html
<snip> Brumby shakes up FOI rules Rick Wallace, Victorian political reporter | November 21, 2007 JOHN Brumby has scrapped the $22 fee for Freedom of Information requests in Victoria and narrowed the scope of the "cabinet documents" exemption, under laws announced yesterday. But the Premier has given bureaucrats - already under fire for their tardy, politicised and obstructive responses to requests - an extra month to respond to requests, taking the total time given to 75 days. He has done nothing to curtail the "commercial in confidence" and "internal documents" excuses often used to stifle access to government papers. Announcing the reforms yesterday, Mr Brumby said he would abolish internally issued conclusive certificates to allow the courts and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, rather than a departmental secretary, to decide whether a document is a cabinet document. The Premier said the change would end the practice of wheeling boxes of documents through the cabinet room to protect them from FOI requests. "The threat of that power has often been used to hold documents back," Mr Brumby said. "We are removing that, except in cases where national security is at risk. You will still see protection for genuine cabinet documents, you will still see protection for genuine commercial-in-confidence documents. But one of the shields which has acted against the release of information is being removed." Mr Brumby's move comes after a coalition of media including The Australian launched the "Your Right to Know" campaign in May, targeting constraints on the public release of information. Liberal leader Ted Baillieu dismissed the changes as window-dressing, saying the Government had used every conceivable angle to block the release of key documents and was scrapping just one possible exemption "I think it's just smoke and mirrors," Mr Baillieu said. Among other changes announced yesterday, the Government pledged to expand the online submission of FOI applications. Attorney-General Rob Hulls said agencies would also be expected to put frequently requested information or documents on their websites: "The more information that's out there publicly, we believe will reduce the number of FOI applications or the need for people tomake FOI applications." The new laws, to be introduced in parliament this week, also contain a clause allowing the Government to declare applicants vexatious. Mr Hulls said this was aimed at prisoners "whiling their time away in jail" writing spurious requests and he did not envisage it applying to requests from the public or media organisations. The changes are a response to a damning Ombudsman report last year that exposed a culture of secrecy, political interference and neglect in the state's handling of FOI requests. The Government yesterday claimed the changes addressed all of the Ombudsman's recommendations, but some of his most pointed findings related to the interpretation of the act by bureaucrats, who often block media FOI requests to please their political masters. Mr Brumby said the reforms would send a message to the public service to take a more reasonable approach to such requests.
