Our organisation
The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) is a statutory body for the purposes of the:
Initially established under the repealed Freedom of Information Act 1992 (Qld), it continues under the Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) (RTI Act) and Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) (IP Act).
Under the RTI Act and IP Act the Information Commissioner is a statutory office holder appointed by the Governor-in-Council, and is not subject to ministerial direction in the exercise of the functions under the RTI Act and IP Act. The independent authority of the Information Commissioner allows the community to have confidence that the role of the Information Commissioner will be carried out independently, fairly, and impartially.
The Information Commissioner is supported by two other statutory office holders appointed by the Governor-in-Council: the Right to Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner.
The Information Commissioner is accountable to the Community Safety and Legal Affairs Committee and meets with the committee during the course of the year to discuss issues, such as, OIC’s activities, work output, budget, annual report, and any other significant issue. The Committee may also require a report on a particular aspect of OIC’s performance, but it cannot investigate particular conduct or reconsider or review decisions in relation to specific investigations or reviews. However, an independent strategic review of OIC is conducted every five years.
While the Information Commissioner is not subject to ministerial direction, under Section 133 of the RTI Act, OIC’s budget must be approved by the Attorney-General.
Executive management team
The RTI Act provides for an Information Commissioner who is an officer of the parliament, a Right to Information Commissioner and OIC staff. The Privacy Commissioner is established under the IP Act.
Our current statutory office holders include:
Information Commissioner
Joanne Kummrow was appointed for a three year term as Information Commissioner on 3 April 2024.
Joanne is an experienced public sector leader and statutory decision maker with a professional career working in the public, legal and integrity sectors. She has a personal commitment to advancing government transparency, accountability and the public interest.
From 2018 to 2024, Joanne was the Public Access Deputy Commissioner at the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner with statutory responsibilities for the conduct of external reviews and complaints made under the Victorian Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) and regulatory oversight of agency compliance with the Freedom of Information (FOI) Professional Standards.
Her background is as an administrative lawyer, including with the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office, where she advised government agencies, statutory authorities and Ministers on good decision making, investigations, privacy, right to information (FOI), professional regulation and licensing, dispute resolution and the conduct of public interest litigation. In 2015, Joanne led the Victorian Government’s legal response to the Royal Commission into Family Violence.
Joanne was admitted to legal practice in 2002 and accredited by the Law Institute of Victoria as a specialist in Administrative Law in 2013.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons.) and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne.
Right to Information Commissioner
Stephanie Winson is an experienced executive public sector leader and lawyer with a significant interest and focus in constitutional, regulatory and administrative law matters.
She has advised on information access matters in New Zealand for many years and served as the Assistant Ombudsman Systemic and Monitoring, which included independently investigating agency compliance with information access laws.
Her senior public sector leadership roles abroad include the Director of Legal Services of the Namibian Parliament and the Secretary of the National Assembly of Namibia. In New Zealand she also led various teams performing legal and regulatory policy functions.
She holds a Master of Laws (LLM) with distinction, Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and was admitted to practise as a lawyer in Namibia and New Zealand in 1991 and 2002 respectively.
Stephanie is appointed as Right to Information Commissioner to 16 January 2026.
Privacy Commissioner
Paxton Booth was appointed to the position of Privacy Commissioner, Office of the Information Commissioner in December 2021.
Paxton has worked in law enforcement and integrity agencies throughout his career. Prior to his appointment as Privacy Commissioner, he was Executive Director, Corruption Strategy, Prevention and Legal at the Crime and Corruption Commission, Qld (CCC). Paxton held several positions at the CCC during his 11 years of employment. Most recently he was responsible for leading the identification of strategic corruption risks, prevention initiatives and corruption audits.
Paxton has a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce, and was admitted as a Barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1997. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Paxton worked at the Office of the Health Ombudsman for 9 months as the Executive Director of Investigations.
Paxton worked for the Queensland Police Service for 11 years as a lawyer. Paxton provided legal advice into investigations about major and organised crime to the QPS and represented the QPS in Supreme Court applications for surveillance devices and other police powers.
Paxton also spent 5 years working at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
He brings to the role extensive executive experience in regulatory compliance, and a proactive and strategic approach to working with agencies to adopt effective systems and processes to manage their regulatory responsibilities and minimise risk. Paxton has maintained a strong interest in privacy throughout his career and looks forward to further supporting agencies to identify privacy by design solutions that help build greater trust through transparency, and enable critical outcomes for the community.
Paxton is appointed as Privacy Commissioner to 12 December 2028.
Other members of our Executive Leadership Team include:
Chief Operating Officer
Zoe Mochrie has been a public servant for most of her working life.
Starting in Scotland, she worked for the Scottish Government experiencing a range of roles on the Fast Stream before progressing to leadership in Freedom of Information, internal consultancy, and international strategy. Since arriving in Queensland, Zoe’s passion for knotty problem solving has seen her major in policy and regulatory activities in diverse domains, from Queensland Health to natural resources to building and construction. Zoe’s appointment as Chief Operating Officer in the Office of the Information Commissioner reflects her firm commitment to openness and transparency in the public sector.
Zoe holds a Master of Arts with honours, a Master’s in Public Administration, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Director Audit and Evaluation
Sandra Heidrich has more than 25 years’ experience in performance auditing, accounting and business analysis in the public and private sector. Since joining OIC in 2016, she has implemented a more strategic and risk-based approach to assurance engagements. She had lead a range of topical and compliance audits about Queensland government agencies’ practices in right to information and information privacy.
Sandra holds a Master of Economics and a Master of Accountancy.