Solomon Lecture recording now available
The Solomon Lecture is a signature event marking International Access to Information Day (IAID) held on 28 September. This year the keynote was delivered by Professor AJ Brown AM from Griffith University.
Professor Brown's keynote was titled, ‘Push, Pull and Public Trust: Taking stock of citizens’ rights to know in a ‘Free Assange’ Australia’. A synopsis of the lecture is below:
"Public trust and participation in government continues to hinge on ready access to official information. Yet the Australian policy landscape is riddled with tensions and mixed messages - from strengthened support for the proactive release of confidential information, to fragility and underfunding in information rights enforcement; from the moral and political victory of Julian Assange's return to Australia as a convicted but free citizen, to the Commonwealth Government's prosecution of public interest whistleblowers such as David McBride and Richard Boyle. The lecture will attempt to make sense of, and make some recommendations for, this conflicted policy landscape, with a focus on the lessons of effective information rights enforcement for other areas of the Queensland and national integrity systems, especially the duties and protections applying to the public officials who serve us as primary custodians of public interest information."
The lecture was followed by a panel discussion. Journalist and media personality, Ms Kendall Gilding, moderated the panel featuring:
- Ms Elizabeth Tydd, Australian Information Commissioner
- Mr Matthew Cooke, Chairperson, Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council
- Ms Angela Pyke, Deputy Ombudsman Queensland
- Professor AJ Brown, Griffith University