Opposition leader Alistair Coe claims a culture of secrecy still pervades the ACT government, almost two years on from the introduction of laws aimed at improving transparency.
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But Chief Minister Andrew Barr has maintained the territory has the "strongest" freedom of information regime in the nation.
As news organisations banded together on Monday to draw attention to the dangers of increasing federal government secrecy, The Canberra Times questioned the leaders of the ACT's political parties about the territory's own freedom of information regime - and whether it was serving the interests of Canberrans.
New ACT freedom of information laws came into effect on January last year, creating a system designed to favour disclosure over suppression.
The ACT Greens instigated the new system, including it in their parliamentary agreement with Labor following the 2016 election.
Details of ministerial and staff travel, ministers' appointments, minutes of meetings of government boards and summaries of cabinet decisions must be proactively published under the "open access" regime.
Information can only be withheld if it is deemed to be contrary to the "public interest". Personal and legal information is kept secret.
Despite the new laws, Mr Coe said Canberrans were still being kept in the dark.
He pointed to the ACT ombudsman's report into the first year of the new regime, which found that more than 80 per cent of documents released under freedom of information had been redacted to some degree.
The report described the figure as "of concern".
"Transparency and access to the information that informs government decisions is essential for accountability .... it underpins our democracy," Mr Coe said on Monday.
"The default position for the government is secrecy."
Mr Coe said the Canberra Liberals has been forced to turn to the ombudsman to gain access to government reports relating to the ACT health split, West Basin project and the performance of Canberra's buses.
He firmly rejected suggestions that the Liberals' enthusiasm for government transparency would disappear if elected next year.
ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury shared the ombudsman's concerns about the high proportion of documents being censored.
But Mr Rattenbury was confident that the reforms had made politicians more accountable to the public.
"In any strong and healthy democracy, government information must be easily accessible and widely available," Mr Rattenbury said.
"That is why the Greens have made sure that the public are able to access government information easily - to narrow the chasm between government action and public knowledge. After all, we can only form accurate judgments about government action if we have all of the necessary evidence."
Mr Barr said the ACT had the "strongest freedom of information regime in the country".
"The ACT also has a very strong proactive disclosure scheme," he said.
"As a matter of course, we will continue to review our rules and regulations to provide an appropriate level of understanding regarding government decision making. We do this while also ensuring that personal details of individuals are protected."
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
