It's Right to Know Week NSW 2024
The IPC holds an annual, week-long celebration around International Day for Universal Access to Information on 28 September. Declared by the UN as the international day to support the right to seek and receive information, Right to Know Week (RTK) NSW takes place from 23 – 29 September this year.
The theme for 2024 is ‘Mainstreaming Access to Information and Participation in the Public Sector in NSW’.
The IPC is focusing on educating NSW agencies and the public about the connection between transparency and public participation under Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) this RTK Week.
Transparency is a core pillar for supporting public participation in the public sector. Mandated openness under legislation is one reason the GIPA Act in NSW is a world-leading example of how to mainstream transparency in the public sector.
Rights to access government information make public participation both possible and meaningful. Successful public participation can help create more responsive and effective policies and increase trust between community and public institutions.
Right to Know Week supports NSW public sector agencies to explore opportunities to provide access to more government information, as well as to better understand their obligations. This year the IPC is encouraging agencies to get even more proactive about transparency, to ensure new technologies help not hinder public participation. When adopting new technologies, public sector agencies need to give careful thought to the preservation of information access rights. Agencies taking more proactive steps towards supporting public participation will also better support a culture of integrity.
Watch below a welcome to Right to Know Week from the Information Commissioner, Rachel McCallum.
IPC RTK Panel Discussion
Right to Know Week NSW 2024 Panel – Transparency and Empowering Public Participation
Release date: 24 September 2024
During Right to Know Week, the NSW Information Commissioner will be releasing a panel discussion that focuses on automated decision-making and record-keeping, and how these issues can impact open government and public participation. Hear from examples of panellists Chris Clayton from NSW Ombudsman, John Davies from the Office of Local Government, and Martyn Killion, from State Records NSW. The panel highlights what agencies can do to be more transparent in their approach to decision-making in the context of new technologies.
Resources:
For Right to Know Week NSW, the IPC has released translated guidance and developed new information pages in over 10 languages. These new pages and translated guidance aim to support NSW’s culturally and linguistically diverse communities and support understanding of information access and privacy rights.
Our dedicated Information in your language page contains links to the various languages available.
Additional to these new resources, the IPC is also highlighting the following resources:
For citizens:
- Animation – Ways to access government information in NSW
- A simplified guide for information access
- Open Access information for citizens
- Fact Sheet on automated decision-making, digital government and preserving information access rights for citizens
- How to access your personal information from government agencies
For agencies:
- Fact Sheet on automated decision-making, digital government and preserving information access rights for agencies
- Fact Sheet on authorised proactive release of government information
- Open Access information for agencies
- The updated Information Access Self-assessment Tool
Your information access rights in NSW
In NSW there is a legally enforceable right to request access to government information. NSW laws create an open government framework for the public sector and a presumption that information is available unless there is an overriding public interest against its disclosure.
The IPC can assist people to understand how they can access government-held information. Learn more in our information access resources for citizens.
You can also learn more about what’s on this Right to Know Week here.
