The culture of administering access to government information and freedom of information in Victoria – part II

Between May and August 2019, a pilot study capturing the culture of administering
access to government information and Freedom of Information (FOI) in Victoria was conducted (Lidberg, 2019). A sample of five Victorian government agencies participated in the study. The overarching aim of the study was to determine if the FOI culture in agencies could be captured. The study confirmed this was the case and was able to, based on the findings, recommend a number of concrete changes to the Victorian information access system to improve its functionality.

One of the key findings in the study was the pivotal role the executive management level in agencies play in building a well-functioning information access culture. The pilot project also raised questions regarding the generalisability of the findings.

After further discussions between the partners in the pilot study, The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) and Monash university, it was decided to expand the study to gather more data complementing the pilot study.