FoI in Western Australia

Roger Halford

This article reviews the (at the time) yet to be proclaimed Freedom of Information Act which received assent on the 15 of December 1992.

The article gives a brief introduction to the act before proclamation, including a statement of the aims of the act. The aims being openness of government both at state and local levels. Although due to the definition of 'agency' to which the FoI Act applies, this potentially has a wider reach, reaching out to bodies or offices established for a public purpose under a written law.

It reviews the potential of the Act in terms of information statements, applications, costs, review, exempt agencies and exempt matter with a detailed explanation of the scope of each of these.

In conclusion it is stated that whether the Act is truly an improvement on earlier equivalent Acts can only be answered when a detailed comparison is undertaken - which can only be done in the fullness of time.
 
 

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