New RTI Commissioner appointed
The Office of the Information Commissioner welcomes the appointment of Ms Stephanie Winson as Queensland’s new Right to Information Commissioner from 16 January 2023.
Ms Winson is an experienced executive public sector leader and lawyer with significant constitutional, administrative and international law knowledge. Her experience spans investigative, legislative, and regulatory domains, and she has over 20 years’ experience advising on, and working with, comparable legislation in the New Zealand jurisdiction.
Ms Winson has been in the role of Assistant Ombudsman with the Office of the Ombudsman NZ since 2020, and previously spent nine years with Maritime New Zealand as Deputy Director Regulatory System Design, General Manager & Chief Legal Counsel. Ms Winson holds relevant legal qualifications.
The Office of the Ombudsman NZ performs the equivalent information access functions to the Office of the Information Commissioner in Queensland, including review of agency decisions about access to documents, audit and investigation and support for government agencies.
In her role as Assistant Ombudsman, Ms Winson led a team responsible for undertaking the Chief Ombudsman’s self-initiated investigations into public sector compliance with Official Information law. Ms Winson used this opportunity to influence and champion oversight of agency compliance to achieve transparency and open government through a systemic lens.
The Office would like to take this opportunity to thank Acting Right to Information Commissioners Katie Shepherd and Anna Rickard for their service over the past 16 months, and former RTI Commissioner Louisa Lynch. Under their leadership OIC maintained a high level of service and teamwork throughout a period of substantial growth in demand and complexity during this time, together with significant reviews, critical projects and uncertainty.
The media statement of the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Minister for Women and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, is available here.
