The Chief Minister's directorate's ongoing breach of freedom of information laws is an example of a culture of secrecy in the ACT government, the Canberra Liberals say.
The Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate did not upload any data to the freedom of information disclosure log between September 1 and December 23, 2022.
Some records appeared on the log on December 23 but the documents associated with these requests were not uploaded to the log until the directorate received questions from The Canberra Times on January 10.
Legislation requires the documents to be published between three and 10 days after they are released to the applicant.
An ACT government spokeswoman said the disclosure log was partially updated on December 23 to provide immediate transparency of documents already released to applicants.
"Relevant documents are continuing to be uploaded as a priority following a secondary review to ensure material that relates to an applicant's personal information or is about an applicant's business, commercial, financial or professional affairs are excluded from publication pursuant to section 28 (6)(a)(b) of the Act," the spokeswoman said.
The directorate previously said the delay was due to an administrative oversight and in all cases the applicants have received the records.
The government spokeswoman said the directorate's freedom of information team was prioritising the work to publish the disclosure log as soon as possible while ensuring compliance for current applications.
Opposition leader Elizabeth Lee said it was extremely concerning that the government could not meet freedom of information time frames for publishing documents on the disclosure log.
"This ACT Labor-Greens government has a long history of not being upfront with Canberrans and this is just another example of the culture of secrecy that has been fostered under this Chief Minister and government," Ms Lee said.
"This is not a new provision and is a freedom of information requirement that has been around for some time now.
"It is not good enough for the Labor-Greens government to say it is an administrative error and for the clear breach to not yet be rectified.
"It is no surprise the Labor-Greens government is seeking to amend the Freedom of Information act to extend timeframes for requests that will keep Canberrans in the dark for even longer."
Special Minister of State Chris Steel introduced a bill in September which had sought to increase processing times from 20 to 30 working days.
The proposed changes would allow for processing times for freedom of information requests to be paused when agencies are waiting to receive information that is relevant to the request.
Mr Steel said this would reflect the reality of processing times and avoid the need to request small extensions of time.
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