Audit report - 'Reporting on RTI and IP statistics - Survey results about reporting on the operation of the Right to Information Act 2009 and the Information Privacy Act 2009'
The Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) and the Information Privacy Act 2009 (IP Act) are cornerstones of open, transparent and accountable government in Queensland. The preamble to the RTI Act recognises that this legislation contributes to a healthier representative, democratic government and improves public administration and the quality of government decision-making.
It is necessary to measure and report on how the RTI Act and the IP Act (the Acts) operate to assess whether government agencies are achieving the Acts’ objects of proactive disclosure and the safeguarding of personal information.
To better understand government agencies’ views on the annual reporting requirements and process, we conducted a short survey in early 2024.
The 69 agencies that completed our survey confirmed and expanded on the findings from consultations the Department of Justice and Attorney-General (DJAG) conducted in 2016-17 and 2022‑23. They said they want to report on meaningful statistics and measures relevant to the broader aims of the Acts. This includes proactive disclosure and safeguards about personal information.
The responding agencies were supportive of the Open Government Partnership metrics to enable better benchmarking with other jurisdictions. They also said they would welcome an easier, quicker and more efficient process to collate reportable statistics.
We encourage DJAG to consider the following in reviewing the current reporting requirements and drafting new regulations:
- require reporting about both the operation of the RTI Act and the IP Act, including data on proactive disclosure of information and privacy complaints
- require reporting in relation to OGP metrics
- remove the requirement for an agency to report on the number of pages considered and released under the Acts
- ensure agencies have sufficient lead time to upgrade or re-configure their systems, policies and procedures to provide for changes in collecting the data.
