Section 33 Freedom of Information Act (Tas) 1991 and the Tasmanian Ombudsman

Trang Nguyen

1994 (Wol) 7 AAL

The paper aims to examine the effect of the Tasmanian Ombudsman as an enforcement mechanism of the FOI Act (Tas) in his capacity as an external case reviewer and an overseer of public administration. The quality of his decision making is assessed through an analysis of his statements of reasons from the cases which have undergone review. It is argued that the Tasmanian Ombudsman is not satisfactorily performing its function as a promoter of the objects of the FOI Act. In particular it is the inadequate interpretation by the Tasmanian Ombudsman of s 33 of the FOI Act which exempts the disclosure of information on the ground of confidentiality. The exemption and its interpretation is analysed, and the approaches of the Tasmanian Ombudsman and the Western Australian Information Commissioner compared, in an attempt to demonstrate that the objectives of the Tasmanian Act are not met.