Mary-Anne Romano

This report is the culmination of three years of investigation into the culture and practice of administering the Freedom of Information (FOI) Acts across the Victorian, South Australian and Western Australian states, as well as the culture of implementing information access systems overall. This includes the processes of managing information (records management (RM)).

In September 2018, the School of Media, Film and Journalism at Monash University co-hosted a research roundtable with the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) with participants from Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales (NSW), the Australian Commonwealth and a representative from the international access to information body, the Open Government Partnership. The research roundtable identified what research was needed to aid the participating Information Commissioners and ombudsmen in their quest to improve the practical functionality of FOI and Right to Information (RTI) systems in Australia. Functionality in this case is defined as how well the laws and systems deliver access to government-held information from a FOI/RTI user’s point of view.

A pilot study was commissioned by OVIC to determine if the culture of implementing access to information could be captured. The study was executed by A/Professor Lidberg in 2019 and the conclusion was that the culture could be captured. In 2021, a second study expanded on the pilot study and widened the data capture from five to 30 Victorian agencies. This 2021 study design was used as a foundation for this project, expanding the study once again to include close to 30 agencies across the three participating states, as well as a broadening to encompass the university sector and include state government ministers with portfolios as participants.

The study was conducted across three years, 2021–2024, and was funded by the Australian Research Council and the Information Commissioners in Victoria and Western Australia and the SA Ombudsman.

The research team would like to thank the OVIC, OIC WA and the SA Ombudsman for their leadership in FOI and access to information development in Australia. Sincerest thanks also to all the FOI practitioners, executives and principal officers of government agencies, who openly and frankly shared their views, feedback and interpretations of FOI in this project.

Adelaide Fringe is the largest arts festival in the southern hemisphere. Internationally, it is second only to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (EFF). A non-for-profit and open access festival, Adelaide Fringe aims to encourage ambition and artistic excellence amongst the artists and performers that take part. Inspiring audiences and patrons alike, Adelaide Fringe is well known as being culturally diverse and inclusive. This cultural diversity extends to disability inclusion in two key areas. First, a commitment towards education in areas such as disability accessibility. Second, Adelaide Fringe is dedicated to, investigating barriers that could be preventing artists and performers from taking part in Adelaide Fringe itself. This report details findings of the research project Adelaide Fringe: reducing barriers of participation in the independent Arts (Fringe) for artists and performers with a disability. The three-month APR Intern funded project investigated environmental, systemic, and attitudinal barriers preventing those living with a disability from accessing and connecting with fringe arts opportunities. As part of this project, 118 individuals took part in an online survey, and a further six were interviewed via Zoom.