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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REGULATION 2017 (NO 42 OF 2017)
2017
THE
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FOR THE
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL
TERRITORY
FREEDOM
OF INFORMATION REGULATION 2017
SL2017-42
Presented by
Gordon Ramsay
MLA
Attorney-General
Introduction
This explanatory statement relates
to the Freedom of Information Regulation 2017 (the Regulation). It has
been prepared in order to assist the reader of the Regulation. It does not form
part of the Regulation and has not been endorsed by the Assembly.
The
statement is to be read in conjunction with the Regulation. It is not, and is
not meant to be, a comprehensive description of the Regulation.
Outline
Purpose of the Regulation
The purpose of this
Regulation is to prescribe the principal officer for territory authorities and
instrumentalities for the purposes of the
Freedom of Information
Act 2016.
The Act accords particular functions and obligations
to the principal officer of an agency, including to appoint a person as the
agency’s information officer under section 18. Agency is defined in
section 15(1) to include administrative units (within the meaning of section 13
of the Public Sector Management Act 1994), statutory office-holders and
their staff, territory authorities, territory instrumentalities and several
other entities.
Section 15(2) of the Act clarifies that a
‘territory authority’ is a body established for a public purpose
under an Act or a statutory instrument. Section 15(2) also defines a
‘territory instrumentality’ to be a corporation established under an
Act or statutory instrument, or under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and
in which a majority of the governing body is appointed by a Minister, agency or
instrumentality of the Territory or is otherwise subject to ministerial control
or direction.
Examples of territory authorities include the ACT Insurance
Authority under the
ACT Insurance Authority Act 2005, the City
Renewal Authority, the ACT Public Cemeteries Authority under the Cemeteries
and Crematoria Act 2003. Examples of territory instrumentalities include the
Cultural Facilities Corporation and the University of Canberra.
The
Act’s dictionary defines the principal officer for each agency by
reference to each prescribed agency (eg the Principal Registrar for ACT Courts
and Tribunal), however omits a specific definition of the principal officer for
territory authorities and instrumentalities.
The Regulation clarifies
that, for the purposes of the Act, the principal officer for both territory
authorities and instrumentalities is the person who has responsibility for
managing the affairs of the entity. This construction reflects the definition of
head of a public sector agency present in the Public Interest Disclosure Act
2012.
Examples of positions within territory authorities that may be
considered to have responsibility for managing the authority’s affairs
include positions:
- the Chief Planning Executive for the Planning
and Land Authority (under the Planning and
Development Act 2007
)
- the Chief Executive Officer of the Canberra Institute of
Technology (C.I.T.) (under the Canberra Institute of
Technology Act 1987
)
- the Chairperson of the ACT Scientific Committee (under the
Nature
Conservation Act 2014
).
Regulatory impact statement
A regulatory
impact statement is not required for this regulation as it does not impose any
appreciable costs on the community, or a part of the
community.
Human Rights Implications
The Regulation
does not engage the Human Rights Act 2004.
Detail
Clause 1 (Name of regulation) names the Regulation – the Freedom of Information Regulation 2017.
Clause 2 (Commencement) provides that the Regulation commences on
1 January 2018.
Clause 3 (Principal officer for territory authorities and territory
instrumentalities – Act, s 15(2)) provides that the principal officer
for a territory authority is the person who has responsibility for managing the
affairs of the territory authority.
For a territory instrumentality, the
Regulation clarifies that the principal officer is the person with
responsibility for managing the affairs of the territory instrumentality.