The Centre for Strategy and Governance shares its views (succinctly and politely) on the APS Review
What do former mandarins think about the Australian Public Service Review so far? Quite a lot, and not all of it is flattering. Read More
John McMillan
John McMillan bats away claims of apprehended bias against John Lloyd
The experienced jurist responds to the former APS commissioner's claims that he exceeded his brief and that he should have been excluded due to apprehended bias -- a concept McMillan understands quite well -- and notes that he mostly found in Lloyd's favour, dismissing all but one of nine allegations. Read More
‘Unfair and biased’: John Lloyd gets the last word
The former Australian public service commissioner has accused the merit protection commissioner's office of smearing his reputation. Read More
Whistleblower law gone to the dogs, change afoot to narrow scope
Too many small, interpersonal matters are being dressed up as whistleblowing, says the nation's former integrity commissioner who will soon complete a statutory two-year review of the Commonwealth's disclosure law. Read More
George Brandis continues uncertainty for information commissioner
Waiting until the last possible moment to act, the Attorney-General kicks the can down the road for a third time on the future of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Read More
McMillan lashes FOI ‘hypocrisy’, attitude of top bureacurats
John McMillan has criticised the decision to axe, and when that failed, defund, the federal agency he once led. He also describes the public commitment to freedom of information in politics as "rank hypocrisy" and says the Attorney-General's Department lacks understanding of information policy. The former Australian information commissioner left the role to become the New South Wales ombudsman earlier this year, leaving privacy commissioner Timothy Pilgrim to run all three commissioner roles at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. The Guardian quotes McMillan criticising recent comments by Treasury secretary John Fraser and the Australian Public Service commissioner John Lloyd in opposition to FOI. “I think it’s terrible that the head of treasury and the head of the public service commission feel comfortable in speaking out and saying FOI has gone too far, without having to explain what is meant by it’s gone too far.” “You get all these mists thrown around, about you can’t have frank briefing at senior levels. FOI protects any document that needs protection. The exemptions are quite adequate to protect any document, and the IC review decisions make it plain.” Read More
Government floundering over Information Commission
Just weeks ago privacy commissioner Timothy Pilgrim was appointed temporary head of the three-commissioner OAIC. Now he's been appointed back to his previous privacy role for 12 months. Unable to abolish the commission, and unwilling to fund it, the government doesn't seem to know what to do next. Read More
FOI limbo continues: Pilgrim appointed temporary OAIC head
Privacy commissioner Timothy Pilgrim will be appointed acting information commissioner when John McMillan leaves shortly — but only for three months. The OAIC abolition saga continues unresolved. Read More
OAIC to be left without statutory officers
The Privacy Commissioner's appointment expires this week, while the Australian Information Commissioner formally resigns on July 31, leaving the OAIC potentially without any statutory officers. The government will need to find a solution to avoid FOI chaos. Read More