ACT Greens Democracy & Integrity spokesperson, Andrew Braddock will introduce legislation to make ACT Government cabinet records more accessible to the public.
Canberra Day marks the occasion where 10-year-old cabinet records become accessible to the public. Or at least, it should. The reality is that the documents on this year's Canberra Day lists won't see the light of day until next year at the earliest.
Under questioning by Andrew Braddock MLA, ACT Greens Spokesperson for Democracy & Integrity, the ACT Government admitted it takes on average 321 days, or 11 months, to process requests for access.
"The delay makes a mockery of cabinet transparency and timely response to the public's request to access these documents," said Mr Braddock.
"The bill will impose a statutory timeframe on the publication of cabinet records, to align it with the ACT's Freedom of Information scheme."
Under the Greens' bill, the Government will have 30 working days to make decisions on how it releases these historical documents, including making redactions to protect people's personal information. It will also allow people to appeal to the ACT Ombudsman on decisions to redact or withhold documents.
"Cabinet Records are crucial to understanding the decisions made by the government of the day and crucial to improving government transparency and accountability over the long term.
"Given that there is already a legislated release timeframe of 10 years, I think it's reasonable for the government to have 30 days to respond to requests from the public for the release of cabinet records.
"The Greens are committed to improving government transparency and making politics more accessible to everyday Canberrans, and this is an important part of that," said Mr Braddock.
