Our Say: Ombudsman's report into SafeStreets FOI request |
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| Thursday, 01 September 2011 11:47 |
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We acknowledge the Ombudsman's recommendations and commit to implementing them in full. There was, as the Ombudsman notes, no improper or political intent although we accept that mistakes were made. The reality is that Victoria Police legitimately believed that both reports – ‘Evaluation of Safe Streets’ and a ‘Safer Victoria – a whole-of-government approach to public safety’ were Cabinet-in-Confidence documents and could not be released. We accept however that we should have tested this belief more rigorously. As soon as we became aware that this was not the case, we took steps to have the information released. We would have liked this to have happened quicker, but a lot of the information within the 400 pages had been provided by other government agencies and we were obliged to consult with them prior to releasing their data. Unfortunately this took longer than expected. We do not agree with the Ombudsman's suggestion that there is a 'less than open freedom of information attitude' at Victoria Police. The Ombudsman's inquiry focused on a single request, so wider assumptions about Victoria Police are, we believe, unsubstantiated. It should also be noted that Victoria Police receives a vast and ever increasing number of requests which have placed significant demands on the organisation's FOI unit. Between 2006/7 and the last financial year, the number of requests increased by 37 per cent from 1,736 to 2,381. Nonetheless we accept that we should have done better and will now work through the Ombudsman's recommendations to ensure our FOI processes are functioning effectively. Share This Page  
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