Vic gov's info release laws could be updated for digital age

The Victorian Parliament will consider how government disclosure laws could better reflect modern IT and information management processes in its review of the state’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. 

Technology features in both the inquiry’s terms of reference and the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner's (OVIC) September 2021 investigation [pdf] that recommended the inquiry take place.

“The inquiry presents a significant opportunity to overhaul the Act to make it fit for purpose in the digital age,” information commissioner Sven Bluemmel said in a statement yesterday announcing the inquiry. 

Set to deliver its final report the end of March 2024, the Victorian Integrity and Oversight Committee Inquiry into the Operation of FOI Act will examine “opportunities to increase the disclosure of information relating to government services using technology.” 

“Information management practices and procedures required across government to facilitate access to information” is another of the inquiry’s eight terms of reference. 

One of the main finding of OVIC’s investigation into “impediments to timely FOI and information release” [pdf] was that many processes and directions for agencies in Victoria’s FOI Act 1982 only made sense in the paper-based age that they were written. 

"This comprehensive review is something for which my office has advocated for some time," Bluemmel said.

The recommendations of OVIC’s 2021 investigation were drawn from an analysis of how Victoria Police, the Department of Justice and Community Safety, the Department of Transport, Alfred Health and Frankston City Council managed FOIs. 

Poor use of technology was not the only cause of processing delays identified in OVIC’s investigation; it also blamed under-resourcing, culture, communication and the impact of the pandemic for agencies’ FOI backlogs and failure to meet legal timeframes for making decisions on disclosing requested documents.

However, OVIC noted how different agencies applied technology - sometimes speeding up FOI processing and other times delaying it - and made recommendations about the use of technology based on its findings. 

Particular focus was given to the agencies’ different bespoke case management systems, which are used for “monitoring FOI workflows, measuring statutory timeframes, assigning tasks, and generating reports.” 

The agencies had each designed or procured different case management systems - even though they had similar functionality because they were used for meeting the requirements of the same legislation.

The commissioner suggested that a centralised system could be valuable.

“OVIC suggests that the Victorian public sector should consider either developing an FOI case management system that agencies could elect to use, or establishing a panel of providers that offer FOI management software that is able to manage requests under the FOI Act ‘off the shelf’," it said.

The report noted that in NSW, for example, “a cloud-based tool is made available to all agencies for FOI case management and reporting.” 

When agencies’ FOI case management systems were not adequately automated or not designed to perform tasks in accordance with regulatory processes, FOI officers had to resort to “manual intervention” and “time-consuming workarounds,” the report said. 

“The most common concern was that these case management systems had not been updated to reflect changes to processing times (from 45 to 30 days) in 2017 or that they did not properly account for the FOI Act’s extension of time provisions," OVIC found.

For example, when Alfred Health realised that its case management system was “unable to produce accurate reports…the FOI officer created and maintained an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of the status and number of Alfred Health’s FOI requests.”

“With around 2600 requests each year, maintaining a spreadsheet to track the FOI requests created further work for the FOI Officer with an estimated four-to-five hours per week required to update it.” 

OVIC also recommended that the FOI Act should be changed to “encourage agencies to make more information available to applicants outside the FOI Act, for example through online self-serve systems that provide quicker access to information.”