Government agencies create large amounts of data to fulfil their functions and deliver services to the community. The South Australian government recognises the many benefits associated with releasing government information to the public.

There are several mechanisms designed so government information can be released safely and appropriately.

Administrative Release of Information

Administrative Release is the process of providing access to information outside of processes such as Freedom of Information, public registers or other agency specific legislation. This process can be proactive or in response to a request. It enables better public engagement and participation in government decision and policy making.

Our Administrative Release of Information Guideline provides agencies with general advice about the release of government information to the public. It discusses:

• authorisation
• what information should and should not be released under administrative release
• developing a relevant internal policy
• fees and charges and
• relevant legislation and policies.

Proactive disclosure of regularly requested information (PC035)

PC035 requires certain state government agencies to disclose to the public, information that is regularly requested and released under the Freedom of Information Act 1991 (FOI Act).

It describes:

• the type of information to be disclosed (such as credit card, travel and mobile phone expenditure)
• disclosure frequency and the format it should be published
• how it should be published and accessed (including fees and charges)
• security and information management requirements
• publication templates.

PC035 also includes the list of agencies that must comply with the policy and the requirements to publish the data sets on their websites monthly.

The information sheet on Proactive disclosure of regularly requested information helps agencies interpret and implement PC035.

Agencies that are not subject to PC035 are encouraged to consider proactively releasing this information on their website.

Disclosure logs for non-personal information released through Freedom of Information (PC045)

PC045 sets out the policy for proactive disclosure of FOI application information on state government agency websites.

The policy requires agencies to make information and documents available that have already been disclosed to an FOI applicant, as long as they:

• are not related to the personal affairs of an individual
• could not be claimed as exempt documents / material pursuant to Schedule 1 of the FOI Act, when being publicly released
• could not be considered defamatory or a breach of confidentiality or reasonably be anticipated to cause harm to a person.

The availability of disclosure logs enables information of interest to the public to be accessible to the community at large.

See Disclosure Logs for more information.

Open Data

The South Australian government is committed to government data being ‘open by default’. It has directed agencies to release government data proactively and that it be published in accessible formats and available online.

Examples of Open Data include:

• a table of government spending on infrastructure projects or
• a dataset consisting of geocodes for public facilities.

Personal information and Open Data

Open Data involves the release of non-personal corporate data.  Government agencies must ensure privacy standards are met in making its data open by default.

This doesn't mean information relating to people cannot be released. It can, provided the information is sufficiently de-identified.

See our De-identifying personal information webpage and the government's Open Data Framework for more information.