The Tasmanian government operates under a ‘culture of secrecy’ that has left the island state among Australia’s poorest performers for transparency, according to a damning new independent review.
The comprehensive assessment of Tasmania’s Right to Information framework found the system is hampered by risk-averse decision-making and a tendency to close ranks when politically sensitive issues arise.
The report, made public by Premier Jeremy Rockliff this week, revealed Tasmania sits “in the bottom ranks of most performance criteria for mainstreaming transparency in government in Australia”.
Professor Tim McCormack and Associate Professor Rick Snell were commissioned to conduct the review following pressure from crossbench MPs in the previous parliament.
Speaking at the report’s release, Professor McCormack acknowledged the framework wasn’t entirely dysfunctional but required significant reform.
“The fundamental framework … is not fundamentally broken. But there are some changes and there are some improvements and there are some tweaks that certainly can happen to make our public’s participation in government, to advance the goal of transparency in government, happen more effectively,” he said.
The findings, however, expose deeper systemic problems across the Tasmanian public service.
The reviewers identified “a demonstrable failure to treat RTI as a fundamental and ongoing public policy program” and criticised the ombudsman for failing to provide adequate oversight.
Associate Professor Snell said the core issue was cultural rather than legislative.
“The frankness and candour that’s expected of the public service in the Westminster system to the government of the day has actually been transformed into frankness and candour to both the government and to the people of Tasmania,” he said.
The review, based on more than 75 interviews across government, found public servants were reluctant to challenge the “official line” due to career concerns.
The report stated that “public service advice is too often shaped to suit what are assumed to be the preconceptions of the people receiving it”.
It described a public service “labouring under the weight of an old, outdated and dysfunctional Westminster conception of information with little sense of urgency to change”.
The reviewers warned that in the information age, Tasmania could not afford to isolate its population with “restrictive, reluctant and begrudging trickles of information”.
They found the RTI Act was failing to enable Tasmanians to participate effectively in policy-making or collaborate meaningfully with government on major challenges.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff thanked the reviewers for their work, saying it was “a very good body of work to ensure greater accountability”.
The review calls for cultural transformation led by the premier, department secretaries and the ombudsman, particularly around cabinet processes.
The government has not yet indicated which of the 43 recommendations it will implement.
