Chris Steel proposes legislation to extend timeframes for FOI requests in ACT

Special Minister of State Chris Steel introduced amendments to the ACT's freedom of information act, seeking to increase processing time from 20 to 30 working days - or up to six weeks.

The bill was one of six bills to be introduced in the territory's parliament on Wednesday as the government makes up for two lost sitting days due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The ACT's long-awaited new planning bill was also introduced. It will be the most significant change to the territory's planning system since self-government.

Planning Minister Mick Gentleman, who introduced the bill, said it was an "important day" for planning in Canberra.

The new bill will place a greater emphasis on project outcomes and will create specific plans for each of Canberra's districts.

The act will also drop controversial "call in" powers but the government will still be able to bypass regular development application procedures when a project is deemed a "territory priority project".

The bill was first released earlier this year for consultation.

Meanwhile, Mr Steel's proposed changes to the freedom of information act have already drawn ire from the territory's opposition.

Shadow attorney-general Peter Cain expressed concerns, saying the bill did not resolve well-documented issues with the freedom of information act.

"At the moment, only one directorate in the ACT public service is meeting the 20-day statutory timeframe for processing FOIs. You can't fix a problem by ignoring the root causes." Mr Cain said.

"The Labor-Greens government have apparently solved this issue by increasing the statutory timeframe to 30 days, and enabling the timer to be paused while information is being requested.

"This is not a solution, this is moving the goal posts so the problem is no longer flagged."

But Mr Steel said the bill would provide greater flexibility to meet the objective of the act.

Freedom of information requests under current laws must be processed within 20 business days but the new bill will increase this to 30 business days.

The proposed changes would allow for processing times for freedom of information requests to be paused when agencies are waiting to receive information that is relevant to the request. Mr Steel said this would allow for agencies to actively process requests within the statutory timeframe.

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Mr Steel said the increased time to process requests reflected the reality of processing times under the act. He said most requests were processed within 27 business days, with agreement from the applicant. He said the increased time would avoid the need to request small extensions in time.

"This amendment is not intended to delay access to government information in practice but it is necessary to update the legislation to ensure that statutory timeframes are fit for purpose," he said.

The amendments would also require third parties who object to the release of information to provide that objection sooner.

Human Rights Minister Tara Cheyne introduced legislation to create an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people commissioner.

"The commissioner will have a clear mandate to advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in the ACT, both individually and at a systemic level, to promote their rights and wellbeing," Ms Cheyne said.

Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee is also expected to introduce her bill to amend the Freedom of Information Act on Wednesday afternoon. Her bill will propose cabinet documents in the territory are released proactively after 30 days.

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