An Evaluation of Criteria Used to Determine the Adequacy of Statement of Reasons in Tasmania under the Freedom of Information Act (1991)

Rachel Lee and Kate Brown

1994 (Tas) 2 PPL

This paper builds upon the research of Natasha Apandy 1993 (Tas) 3 PPL which examined the criteria used to determine the adequacy of statement of reasons in Tasmania under the FOI Act. The Freedom of Information Guidelines provide the criteria for the FOI officers to follow when making decisions to refuse access to documents and providing the reasons for them as required by the Act. The author's assessed the criteria used in the former article in order to examine the adequacy of the statements of reasons given by a number of agencies in Tasmania. The authors'' subsequently formulated their own criteria.