Documenting the proactive and mandatory release of government information

Proactive release

The GIPA Act requires that organisations review their program for the release of information every twelve months to see if there is additional information that could be proactively released.

The organisation’s rules/procedures for giving access should outline what records are created and kept to document assessments and review for proactive release, and the decisions made.

Records should ensure the organisation has evidence:

• that a considered assessment has been undertaken based on the established procedures
• of what was proactively released with appropriate authorisation
• of what was not made available, and the reasons why.

Records will allow the organisation to demonstrate compliance with the Act and defend the release of information if challenged.

Mandatory release

Organisations should also keep records of the review of mandatory release information, including the annual review of the organisation’s publication guide.

Information published on websites

Organisations should incorporate the management of open access information released under the GIPA Act into its recordkeeping strategy for managing websites.

Organisations need to be able to prove what mandatory information was available on the website at what time/date in order to demonstrate compliance with the Act. This may involve managing different versions of the information over time.

Access directions for open access information

Records created during release assessment can assist the organisation in making access directions under section 51 of the State Records Act. The sensitivities initially identified can be re-assessed to determine if they have diminished with the passage of time.

TIP: Organisations can make an access direction under the State Records Act declaring that all records made available via proactive release under the GIPA Act are available under the early access provisions of the State Records Act. This is a quick and easy way to ensure consistency between the two Acts so that records that are now available will not be closed when transferred to the State Archives Collection.