NSW agencies urged to improve disclosure compliance

NSW government agencies’ compliance with mandatory proactive disclosure requirements remains too low 10 years after the passage of right to information legislation in the state, according to NSW Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd.

In a comprehensive overview of the right to information legislation in the state, Tydd — who is also CEO of the Information and Privacy Commission (IPC) and the state’s Open Data Advocate — identified a number of potential improvements to the operation of the legislation.

According to the report, the number of applications received by agencies increased by 9% in 2019–20 to 17,246.

But overall release rates have remained static at an average of 65% over the past six years, clocking in at 69% during FY20. Private sector businesses are consistently exceeding release rates secured by members of the public.

Conversely, the rate of refusals fell from from 8% in FY19 to 3% in FY20, reversing a trend of a steady increase in deemed refusals over the preceding four years.

But the review found that compliance by government departments with their requirements to meet their five additional open access requirements remains low and needs improvement. Only 22% of agencies had a full or partial list of major assets and acquisitions in FY20, and only 11% had the department’s guarantee of service.

The report concludes that compliance must be elevated to ensure government departments meet their requirements. “After 10 years, leaders must actively engage and prioritise these mandatory disclosure requirements according to the guidance provided by the IPC,” it states.

“I recommend that the public’s right to access their own information is further examined and facilitated in the context of digital government to provide seamless, low-cost access to personal information of the applicant,” Tydd wrote in the commissioner’s overview.

“There has never been a more important time to consider the right of citizens to access government information and to reflect our prevailing environment in which real-time data and swift decision-making is both required and expected of governments.”

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