Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council

In his Report on the Review of the Freedom of Information Act 1989, the Ombudsman recommended that the new Open Government Information legislation be extended to the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council (Recommendation 29). (Note: The Ombudsman expressly said that he was not recommending that coverage be extended to Members of Parliament at this time, although he suggested that this could be considered as part of a future review of the legislation.)

The Ombudsman noted in his Report that he had received few submissions commenting on the proposal to extend the legislation to the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The Report did not indicate whether the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council themselves had expressed any views.

The Ombudsman also noted that in no other Australian jurisdiction are the Houses of Parliament subject to freedom of information legislation.

The Government sought the views of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the President of the Legislative Council. Their response is available below:

Letter from the Speaker (LA) and the President (LC)

In light of this advice, the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council have not been included in the new legislation.