Both sides worked hard to minimise the devastation of the coronavirus. The community gave up freedoms in good faith that the government would impose no more restrictions than were absolutely required for people's safety and health.

In exchange, and as a token of that good faith, the public rightly expected clear, timely information from the government about the status of the virus and the progress of the vaccination rollout. For much of the lockdown, the government largely respected this unwritten contract and delivered this information through the Chief Minister's daily press conferences and other channels.

It has been disappointing, then, as the government's commitment to the transparency and openness underpinning that life-saving partnership has frayed and faltered.

Unfortunately it has happened on several occasions during the lockdown. In one instance, it took nearly a week for health authorities to inform the public of a COVID case in the maternity ward at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children in September.

In August, the government delayed notifying the disability sector about an outbreak in their community, insisting its priority was to communicate with those directly involved and that it wasn't hiding information. The government didn't reveal the outbreak to the wider public for another two days after finally informing sector stakeholders.

One common refrain of the ACT government in refusing to provide information about important elements of the COVID outbreak is that it could breach privacy. In many cases, the reasoning just doesn't make sense.

This week, the Education Directorate refused to answer questions about the number of teachers refusing to observe the ACT's vaccination mandate, saying it wanted to protect the privacy of staff. In the same response it revealed it had validated 98 per cent of school leaders' and teachers' vaccinations.

On the same day the Education Directorate was ducking important questions, Canberra Health Services chief executive Dave Peffer was more open in answering questions at an inquiry into the COVID-19 response. He said 47 front-line healthcare workers at the organisation had confirmed they would not receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

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The inconsistency in transparency levels across the government makes the Education Directorate's refusal to answer questions seem arbitrary. It creates the well-founded suspicion that the government's "privacy reasons" are simply yet another in the growing array of excuses used by governments to avoid scrutiny. There are reasons to believe the ACT government is abusing the concept of privacy in refusing to answer basic questions about the number of teachers who are vaccinated. It applies the term too broadly, given it is implausible to think answering the question would identify any individuals.

Being open and transparent on this would promote trust in the directorate's handling of the transition back to classrooms. It would respect the good faith of a community that put its trust in the government when it accepted lockdown restrictions.

There is a right to privacy in the ACT and it is one the community should cherish. Privacy is an important protection against the intrusion of governments into the lives of citizens.

Governments should not reduce it to a means, used at their convenience, to avoid scrutiny.

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