It was disturbing to read the allegation that the former Queensland Health director general Steve Buckland instructed one of his staff to destroy a report dealing with hospitals reclassifying emergency cases as elective surgery patients. Not only if this is established a breach of the Public Records Act 2002 in Queensland but the fear of the report being accessed under FOI (Freedom of Information) is also of concern. Steve Buckland had a duty to the people of Queensland to protect their safety. He also had a responsibility to ensure his department was acting responsibly, ensuring accountability and complying with all relevant legislation.
The FOI legislation has allowed the electorate the right to seek and participate in the process of government decision making. The intention of FOI is to make the government more accountable and this is surely compatible with our Westminster-style of government.
I believe the right to access government information is inalienable. This is a fundamental right which is at the grass roots of our democratic system. s36.(1) of the Qld FOI Act 1992 has a provision that allows documents to be exempt from disclosure. Under this exemption s36.(1) (c) “it was prepared for a briefing a Minister about an issue proposed, or that has at any time been proposed, to be considered by Cabinet;” so any document that is of concern to the government just needs to be proposed to be sent to Cabinet and it is therefore exempt.
Open and accountable government requires checks and balances. Legislation such as the Public records Act 2002 and FOI Act 1992 were established to help ensure that power is not abused. I am concerned that there appears to be a culture of secrecy in Queensland.
In his 2001/02 report the Queensland Information Commissioner D J Bevan remarked “The exemption provisions outlined in sections 36 and 37 of the Act have been the subjects of repeated criticism by my predecessor in previous annual reports4. When in Opposition, members of all political parties have criticised the current s.36 and s.37 exemption provisions and have argued on numerous occasions that these provisions had been abused.
The issue was most recently canvassed … in connection with the case involving documents concerning the Goodwill Bridge across the Brisbane River. Thousands of documents, most of them of a technical nature, were put before a Cabinet sub-committee and thereby rendered exempt under s.36(1) of the FOI Act. Disclosure of the great bulk of them was not likely to have revealed anything about the Cabinet process.
During the current reporting period, cases continued to arise that raised concerns about the breadth of the exemption provisions and the readiness of agencies to rely on them.”
Information is power. With the Inquiry into the Dr Death scandal and the allegations in the article by Roberta Mancuso and Rosemary Desmond , it appears that at least one senior public servant within the Queensland State Government has been controlling the availability of records that could be damaging to the current government.
It is imperative that those who set the laws obey those same laws particularly in relation to Public Recordkeeping and the means by which the citizens can access those records under the FOI Act.
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National President
Records Management Association of Australasia
