Ms LAWRIE - 2001-11-29
Minister, can you advise the House on the consultations undergoing on the Freedom of Information Bill?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Karama for her question. This is a very important part of our program in our first term of government. When I was given the privilege of carrying this legislation through the process to law, the first thing I had to make sure of, with an information bill, is that people got information about it. Since the draft bill was tabled in this parliament in October, we have carried through with a very active program of consultation with the community. I will outline some of these consultation events we have had to date.
On 30 October, a briefing session was conducted for the media to put the media across the major points of the bill. Advertising on availability of the draft bill and discussion paper has been placed, both in hard copy and on the Web,. To date, approximately 100 hard copies have been distributed. The information bill and discussion paper have been circulated to all public sector organisations which will be affected by the legislation, and briefing sessions offered to senior management of each public sector agency. So far, the Northern Territory Tourist Commission, the Director of Public Prosecutions and Health and Community Services have had briefings. A number of other agencies will have sessions conducted for them in the next few weeks.
The Local Government Association of the Northern Territory has expressed interest in the consultation process, distributing information to its members on the content of the bill, and the obligations it seeks to impose. The Northern Territory Law Society will be hosting an education session for legal practitioners.
The interest shown, and proactive approach adopted by these organisations, is welcome and will greatly assist in the eventual implementation and development of these access and privacy regimes. Public information sessions on the bill will be conducted in Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs in the first week of December. These will be open to all interested members of the public, and I certainly look forward to receiving comments.
The input that we provided during this consultation process will ensure the Territory has the best information access and privacy protection regimes of all jurisdictions in this country. Rather than being seen as the last bastion of government secrecy, as it was in the last government, the Territory will now be viewed as a leader in this aspect of open government.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Karama for her question. This is a very important part of our program in our first term of government. When I was given the privilege of carrying this legislation through the process to law, the first thing I had to make sure of, with an information bill, is that people got information about it. Since the draft bill was tabled in this parliament in October, we have carried through with a very active program of consultation with the community. I will outline some of these consultation events we have had to date.
On 30 October, a briefing session was conducted for the media to put the media across the major points of the bill. Advertising on availability of the draft bill and discussion paper has been placed, both in hard copy and on the Web,. To date, approximately 100 hard copies have been distributed. The information bill and discussion paper have been circulated to all public sector organisations which will be affected by the legislation, and briefing sessions offered to senior management of each public sector agency. So far, the Northern Territory Tourist Commission, the Director of Public Prosecutions and Health and Community Services have had briefings. A number of other agencies will have sessions conducted for them in the next few weeks.
The Local Government Association of the Northern Territory has expressed interest in the consultation process, distributing information to its members on the content of the bill, and the obligations it seeks to impose. The Northern Territory Law Society will be hosting an education session for legal practitioners.
The interest shown, and proactive approach adopted by these organisations, is welcome and will greatly assist in the eventual implementation and development of these access and privacy regimes. Public information sessions on the bill will be conducted in Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs in the first week of December. These will be open to all interested members of the public, and I certainly look forward to receiving comments.
The input that we provided during this consultation process will ensure the Territory has the best information access and privacy protection regimes of all jurisdictions in this country. Rather than being seen as the last bastion of government secrecy, as it was in the last government, the Territory will now be viewed as a leader in this aspect of open government.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016