The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) is encouraging Queenslanders to join the global celebration recognising International Access to Information Day (IAID) on 28 September 2026. This year’s theme is ’Fact vs Fake: Tackling information disorder in the digital age’.
Recognised by UNESCO, IAID is celebrated annually and raises global awareness about the right of every individual to access government-held information and highlights the public sector's role in releasing government data and information in the public interest.
OIC’s signature event marking IAID is the Solomon Lecture and Queensland’s Information Commissioner, Joanne Kummrow, said the focus this year was very timely and relevant.
“IAID reminds us of every individual’s right to access government-held information and the importance of public sector agencies reviewing how the community can access that information efficiently,” Ms Kummrow said.
In 2026, IAID and the Solomon Lecture are putting a spotlight on the growing challenge of misinformation, disinformation and mal-information (collectively known as information disorder).
Professor Peter Greste, journalist and award-winning foreign correspondent, is delivering this year’s Solomon Lecture, and will talk about the essential role journalists and the public sector play in helping the public navigate an increasingly complex information environment.
Ms Kummrow said the public sector had a vital role, as custodian of government-held information, in protecting information integrity and ensuring factual, credible information remains available.
“IAID is a great opportunity to bring the public sector and community together to recognise the importance of transparency, open government, informed public participation and decision-making in a democracy,” she said.
The Solomon Lecture will be held in Brisbane/Meanjin on 28 September at Parliament House.
Professor Greste’s keynote will be followed by a panel discussion featuring:
- Tom Rogers AO (former Australian Electoral Commissioner)
- Linda Waugh (Queensland Integrity Commissioner)
- Stephanie Winson (Queensland Right to Information Commissioner); and
- Melissa Coade (Facilitator, Journalist at The Mandarin).
Watch the Solomon Lecture livestream from 9:30am, Monday 28 September 2026.
The Information Commissioner is available for interview about IAID. To arrange an interview, please refer to the media contact details below.
Media contact:
Steve Haigh
Manager, Education & Engagement
media@oic.qld.gov.au
NOTES:
About Professor Peter Greste
Peter Greste is an Australian-born journalist, author, media freedom activist and academic. He is the founder and Executive Director of the advocacy group, the Alliance for Journalists Freedom, and Professor of Journalism at Macquarie University.
Before joining academia, he spent 25 years as a foreign correspondent, starting with the civil war in Yugoslavia and elections in South Africa as a freelance reporter in the early 90’s. He went on to become the BBC’s Afghanistan correspondent in 1995, and covered Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
He hit the headlines himself in December 2013, when he and two colleagues were arrested in Cairo on terrorism charges. They were convicted and sentenced to seven years in a case that drew international condemnation as an attack on press freedom.
Under pressure, Professor Greste was released and he went on to become a champion of press freedom around the world. His stance has earned him numerous international awards, including the Australian Human Rights Commission Medal, the RSL’s 2016 ANZAC Peace Prize, and the Australian Press Council’s 2018 Press Freedom award. He wrote about his experience in The Correspondent, now a major movie starring Richard Roxburgh.
About IAID
International Access to Information Day (IAID) is celebrated around the world on 28 September every year. It raises awareness of every individual's right of access to government-held information; and the public sector’s responsibility to release information if it is in the public interest to do so. Every year OIC hosts the Solomon Lecture as part of Queensland’s IAID celebrations.
About the Solomon Lecture
The Solomon Lecture is named in honour of Dr David Solomon AM, the Chair of the Independent Freedom of Information Review Panel appointed by the Queensland Government to review Queensland's Freedom of Information laws in 2007.