Public Awareness of the Freedom of Information Act

S Bain and J Gottschalk

1994 (Tas) 1 AAL

The study aimed to assess the extent of the public's knowledge of the functions and existence of the FOI Act. A survey was administered to 217 subjects of varied backgrounds. The results of the survey indicated that while the majority of respondents were aware of the existence of the Act, there was a significant discrepancy between awareness of the Act and a more detailed understanding of the purposes of the Act. The responses were further analysed according to age and occupational categories, source of awareness and preferences concerning publication. Further research was conducted by approaching the Freedom of Information Unit to ascertain the extent of its efforts to publicise the Act. Whilst every effort should be made to publicise the Act it is the authors conclusion that apathy of behalf of public bodies in failing to place the information in accessible areas may have a significant effect of the effectiveness of any efforts to publicise the Act.