FOI: Losing the Information Game

Abstract

The Australian FOI Act has been failing to live up to its promise to facilitate a vibrant information flow allowing for better public policy dialogue between decision-makers in the public sector and citizens. While this problem has been recognised by Canberra, the search for solutions has been based on an antiquated conception of information management. This article argues that the field of information economics, specifically the work of Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, can assist in changing the perception of FOI from being a troublesome problem to a valuable information tool. An effective and responsive FOI scheme is a prerequisite to a culture of access to government information, which improves policy outcomes and citizen trust in the political process. A system based on transparent, modern and democratic principles of access to and exchange of ideas would be beneficial for all Australians.

Keywords: FOI, Freedom of Information, Information Asymmetry, public policy dialogue, Stiglitz, information management, information tool, information management