Democracy manifests differently around the globe.
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Many of us are currently stunned observers of democratic processes in other countries. The numbness we may feel can inject a collective malaise and scepticism into our views of our own democratic systems and institutions.
Those sentiments can lead to actual harm through neglect that ultimately erodes the core features of our democracy. So perhaps it's timely to ask the question: are we in Australia the beneficiaries of a superior system of democracy? If so, can it be fortified?
The Parliament of Australia tells us there are five key values of democracy:
- Respect for individuals and their right to make their own choices;
- Tolerance of differences and opposing ideas;
- Equity-valuing all people and supporting them to reach their full potential;
- Each person has freedom of speech, association, movement and freedom of belief; and
- Justice-treating everyone fairly, in society and in court.
These values derive from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR). But there is some vital wording that has not translated into the Australian context.
Article 19 of the UNDHR provides: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
To seek and receive and impart information is omitted from the democratic value described by the Parliament of Australia. However, the Parliament of Australia has legislated this essential value and key feature of democracy in the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI act).
Parliament's intention through the FOI act is to promote Australia's representative democracy by increasing public participation in government processes with a view to better decision making and to increase scrutiny, discussion, comment and review of government's activities.
The FOI act provides the legislative framework to deliver information to the Australian community proactively - by mandating information which must be provided by government agencies and reactively - in response to an application.
In adopting this dual delivery approach, the FOI act secures the most important tenets of a healthy democracy: the opportunity for the community to meaningfully participate and contribute to the development of policy by elected governments; and accountability by government to the community it serves.
Along with the right to access government information the FOI act also provides the right to independent review of FOI decisions made by agencies and ministers.
![The Parliament of Australia tells us there are five key values of democracy. Picture Shutterstock The Parliament of Australia tells us there are five key values of democracy. Picture Shutterstock](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/RXMuw2JbrrS7ELSxSY9rkR/d793fd53-c23a-4ac5-b1f2-9fe606fbc237.jpg/r0_78_5000_2900_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
As Freedom of Information Commissioner, my role is to oversee and promote the effective operationalisation of the FOI act and its embodiment of the essential features of a representative and responsible system of democracy.
This includes independently reviewing agencies and ministers' decisions and examining agencies' actions in exercising their functions under the FOI act.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is the regulator of information access and privacy. The community is right to expect our leadership in both domains.
As the regulator we collect agency FOI performance data. Our leadership intention is to apply the data more effectively through the publication of a quarterly dashboard; and uphold the intention that government information is managed for public purposes, as a national resource.
Increasingly we are measuring and reporting on our own performance in preserving and strengthening our legislated democratic systems. We are trusted with significant functions, and we must, like government be accountable for our performance.
I have engaged directly with agency heads to promote alignment of the Australian Public Service with the democratic values and principles enshrined under the FOI act.
There remains much to do, including the challenge of resourcing within agencies. However, the results of this engagement are encouraging and there are tangible improvements in agencies' performance against measures of timeliness in decision making.
Similarly, while there remains much to do for the OAIC, our performance results are also encouraging. IC review applications have increased by nearly 180 per cent over the last seven years (632 to 1754) and resources have not met the continuing demand; backlogs have developed.
To be effective we must be current. That means our decisions and investigations must reflect current, not historical agency practices. Our encouraging results for 2023-24, aided by a modest increase in internal resourcing, place us in a better position to meet community expectations and play our vital role in supporting democracy and integrity.
Our figures up to June 30 show:
- Despite a 27 per cent increase in FOI complaints, we delivered a 204 per cent increase in the number of complaints finalised compared to 2022-23 and we increased the investigations conducted by seven-fold.
- While there was a 7 per cent increase in applications for Information Commissioner (IC) review of agencies and ministers' FOI decisions, we achieved a 15 per cent increase in finalisations compared to 2022-23. In doing so we issued 200 per cent more decisions.
We have also delivered on our monitoring and guidance mandate and developed a forward action plan to ensure that the right to access information is strengthened and delivered as Parliament intended.
In June 2024 the OAIC was elected to the International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC). From this position we are advancing our engagement with our colleagues in the Indo Pacific and ASEAN countries.
Through this work we are actively implementing the ICIC key objectives: to promote and protect access to public information as a central pillar of social, economic and democratic governance.
This year's OAIC results provide a baseline from which we must build.
An effective, and credible independent regulator provides the lens through which we can measure and fortify our system of democracy.
The progress made within the OAIC must continue if we are to preserve our representative and responsible system of democracy for the benefit of the Australian community.
- Elizabeth Tydd is the Australian Freedom of Information Commissioner.