‘Totally unacceptable’ for the SA Government to take months responding to FOIs: Ombudsman

The SA Ombudsman is calling for changes to Freedom of Information laws to compel Government officials to act swiftly in responding to requests for information.

SA Ombudsman Wayne Lines. Picture: Tait Schmaal

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South Australia’s public sector watchdog says it is “totally unacceptable” for State Government ministers and their departments to take months to hand over documents he has ordered to be released via Freedom of Information.

It comes after the Opposition revealed State Ombudsman Wayne Lines has ruled on 16 occasions this year that Health Minister Stephen Wade and SA Health must hand over requested documents – in one instance a single email – but that information is yet to be forthcoming.

Mr Lines said it was common for departments to drag their feet in response to his findings, describing it as “poor form”.

“The agencies, in particular health, are very slow in complying with my determinations so it doesn’t surprise me that (Labor is) saying they’ve got 16 or so (instances) where they’re still waiting on the documents,” he said.

“Part of the problem is that the FOI act doesn’t impose any obligation on an agency to comply with my determination, so my determination is not enforceable.

“But it’s poor form because they are executives and as an ombudsman they should be respecting that determination and demonstrating to the public that they are submitting to my scrutiny.”

Mr Lines called for the FOI Act to be changed to make Ombudsman determinations enforceable, saying it was “totally unacceptable” for government officials to take months to hand over documents.

“If they aren’t going to object (within 30 days) to my determination then compliance within a week is I think reasonable, even for large amounts because in making the determination and conducting the external review leading to that determination, they’ve been required to provide all the documents to me anyway, so they’ve got them there,” he said.

Mr Lines said he was in discussions with SA Health in an effort to “bolster (the) support and emphasis” this give to FOI requests and determinations.

Labor’s requested documents related to a range of matters, including the National Health Reform Agreement; Modbury Hospital’s high dependency unit; cardiac services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital; NDIS mental health services; and SA Pathology.

Opposition health spokesman Chris Picton said he had been waiting more than six months for Mr Wade’s office to release the full contents of an email sent by the Minster’s staff to former Mayo candidate in the last Federal Election, Georgina Downer.

“This is an FOI farce. The Liberals are making a mockery of the idea of transparency of government,” he said.

A spokesman for Mr Wade said there had been a 42 per cent increase in the number of FOI applications from June 2018 to June 2020 and “several” of the Opposition’s 16 requests fell outside of the health portfolio or related to further information was not originally understood to be within the scope of the application.

Meanwhile, SA Health has successfully blocked an application by Mr Picton to access briefing documents that the department’s chief executive Dr Chris McGowan took to an estimates hearing at State Parliament in 2019 by claiming parliamentary privilege.

An SA Health spokeswoman said the department was working to ensure appropriate processes were in place to release outstanding documents as soon as possible.