By Amelia McGuire and Charlotte Grieve
This country’s freedom of information regime has once again revealed itself to be a complete disgrace.
Earlier this year, Australia was criticised for joining Rwanda to become the only two countries in the world to have a UN delegation on torture terminate its visit after access was denied at several local detention centres.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The news cycle quickly moved on, but this masthead wanted to know more.
So we lodged a FOI request with Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’ department for anything that might shed some light on what happened.
A bundle of documents was found, but they were quickly identified as “complex and voluminous”. Cue delay and obfuscation.
The department came up with a litany of excuses, including warning that the documents could harm international, or even domestic, relations.
It insisted “great care” must be taken to ensure “no information is unduly released”. Perhaps it should take more care to ensure our detention centres are torture-free.
Initially, we had sympathy for the department’s position and agreed to an extension request. While patience is a virtue, it also has its limits.
When another request to extend came around, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner was called in and it has now, thankfully, stepped in to our defence.
In a scathing determination issued on Wednesday, the commissioner found the department had essentially copied and pasted “identical submissions” between requests and “failed to adequately demonstrate” why more time was needed.
It also found there was “limited available evidence of work undertaken” to process, let alone finalise, the request.
This is an important matter of public interest and the department has been exposed as lazy, disorganised and uncaring. If it had its way, the total processing time would have blown out to 167 days – five times the statutory limit.
For a country that claims to value open society and transparency, we expect more, particularly from the department responsible for Australia’s law and justice.
When the department was asked a proposed timeline, we were told: “as soon as practicable”.
SURGEON SEVERED
Just days after CBD brought news of financial woes at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, its chief executive officer John Biviano has resigned.
The leadership change was delivered to members in a four-sentence message sent at 9.14pm on Monday evening.
College president Kerin Fielding wrote that Biviano was stepping down to pursue other opportunities after nine years of service – he was acting chief executive from 2015 and chief executive since 2019.
We wrote on Monday the college’s finances are close to flatlining and the leadership was forced to apologise after clocking two successive deficits of more than $10 million. The college had been “living beyond its means”, Fielding and vice president Owen Ung told members.
Surgeons have been quietly questioning the leadership of the college for some time – one singled out expenses on technology as excessive. “I think some accountability might be in order!”
Yet RACS insists the departure is not linked to the sea of red and backs the college’s plan to “help the organisation grow sustainably into the future”.
DIRECTOR DISASTER
For an organisation that promotes itself as the gold standard for corporate governance, you’d be forgiven for expecting more from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
The institute has had to issue a letter of apology to recent graduates for a “minor printing error” that caused certificates to be sent to the wrong recipients.
“Firstly, we sincerely apologise for this error, which arose from a processing problem at our printing supplier,” the letter, seen by CBD, said.
The institute comforted its graduates by ensuring that “only first and last names” were included – no other personal information.
“Nevertheless, for the confidentiality and security of all our participants, we kindly request you destroy the certificate you received.”
Contacted for comment, the institute said 358 people had been impacted. It accepted responsibility and outlined its rectification plan. Tick, tick.
But the message had slightly changed. Rather than “only” first and last names being included – this time it was “in most cases”.
″There were a smaller number of cases where the person’s role/title was also conveyed.”
Thankfully, no emails, phone numbers or other contact details were disclosed, we’re told. You can hear the collective sigh of relief.
“No certificate was provided to any course participant who had not achieved a pass,” the institute said.
Well, that seems like a low bar.
We thought to suggest directors take a refresher course on their own material – particularly a report on its website The New Governance of Data and Privacy by Malcolm Crompton and Michael Trovato.
But when you try to click on the link to the report, it’s broken.
ALKALINE WATER PAYS OFF
The property escapades of serial entrepreneurs Garrett and Stephanie Jandegian are proof there’s money to be made from selling fancy water and COVID-19 rapid antigen tests.
Last year, the pair purchased a five-bedroom home in Sydney’s Bellevue Hill for an estimated $27 million.
Now, they’ve lodged a development application to conduct $7 million in renovations on the same property.
You’d think if you were to be crowned with the most expensive purchase of the year in Australia’s most lucrative suburb, the house in question would have to be pretty perfect. But, alas, the pair want to build a basement for underground parking, a swimming pool, plus do associated landscaping – and it won’t come cheap.
Although they declined to comment about their businesses on this occasion, Stephanie – the former Sydney bureau chief of Nine’s A Current Affair and one-time So You Think You Can Dance contestant – told this masthead last year they made their money through Garret’s alkaline water business Aqualove.
ASIC documents show Garrett cut ties with the business less than one month after their record-breaking buy. Garrett remains a director of Pharma Soul, one of the many businesses that launched at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to sell rapid antigen tests and other COVID-19 protective equipment. The couple are also directors of multiple property and import businesses.