Freedom of Information in Tasmania and the External Review Process

Kristen McLagan

1994 (Tas) 7 PPL

This paper examines the external review process of FOI legislation decisions. Specifically, the Ombudsman's functions are explored with regard to common problem areas in agency decision making that result in the need for external review. These problem areas include reasons for decisions, identification of information, inadequate searches, resource allocation and time limits. Government agency opinions ( Tasmania Police, Department of Environment and Land Management) of the external review process were further examined. Statistics related to the number of requests for information received by these two agencies are supplied.