The Voice to Parliament is done and dusted and Australia is left to reckon with the result, a resounding "no".
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The campaign was a huge and exhausting effort for many, first and foremost First Nations people. But also for one man in the middle: the Australian Electoral Commissioner.
Spokespeople at the Australian Electoral Commission conducted more than 530 media interviews on the referendum in 2023, according to data provided to Public Eye last Friday morning.
Tom Rogers was actually beaten out by the AEC's national spokesperson Evan Ekin-Smyth for most interviews given.
"We deliberately provide a very open and accessible media presence to inject fact-based commentary about the processes we deliver," Mr Ekin-Smyth said in a statement.
Officials also hit the ground to conduct more than 50 in-person briefings across capital cities, including two press gallery briefings. The media team responded to more than 6500 enquiries relating to the referendum throughout the year.
There were 36 media releases on the referendum put out this year, and social media teams worked to make the AEC one of the most active APS presences online, Mr Ekin-Smyth said.
"The AEC's social media accounts have put out hundreds of proactive messages specific to referendum processes right throughout the year.
"The AEC has monitored the 202,100-plus tags to AEC social media accounts relating to the referendum this year (most of which have come in the past six weeks), responding regularly as part of one of the most active social media presences in the Australian Public Service."
The commissioner on Saturday said morale was high among AEC staff and the 100,000 volunteers who had come on board to make the referendum happen. The agency's census results, due to be dropped next month with the rest of them, will give more insight into that.
Public Eye also wanted to know whether the referendum was a bucket list item for Mr Rogers, but he would not be pinned down on that.
"Well, I know that sounds like we're very nerdy, and that the referendum would be a bucket list for a commissioner," he responded.
"It's really interesting to see that sort of activity, and I'm very glad to be part of such a great team of people delivering democracy for Australia, whether that's an election or a referendum."
An artful example of public servant speak.
You can't copy the ATO's style
The Australian Taxation Office has released its style guide under freedom of information, drawing our attention like moths to a flame.
What journalist doesn't enjoy a little sticky beak at a style guide? (Yes, Tom Rogers we're "very nerdy", too). But Public Eye quickly spotted the dreaded black boxes of redaction.
In a baffling move, the tax office blocked large swathes of its style guide from public release, arguing conditional exemption under Section 47E(d) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
This means the information could reasonably have a substantial adverse effect on the proper and efficient conduct of the operations of the ATO.
It was an odd move for a fairly superficial document, which thousands of tax office staff have access to.
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The Freedom of Information officer reasoned that this exemption applied because the style guide "could be used to assist those who may wish to replicate ATO correspondence, thus providing legitimacy to fraudulently drafted documents".
They pointed to 25,609 ATO impersonation scams reported to the ATO between 2022 and 2023, representing a 25 per cent increase from the previous year.
"Therefore, there is a significant and genuine risk to the public if the ATO releases this information," they wrote in the explanation of their decision.
They also said public interest in open government didn't outweigh protecting the information, because "the information relating to specific ATO styles has little meaning in providing clarity to these issues".
Still, Public Eye can't quite get used to seeing redactions made under subheadings like "Proper nouns, titles and figures of speech" and "Starting a sentence with a number".
Australia's 'transparency warrior' turns Jedi master
Rex Patrick is a name that probably sends a chill up the spine of many public servants (or at least those who work in a department's Freedom of Information division).
The self-titled "transparency warrior", and former independent senator, is known for his work around government integrity, and his penchant for FOIs.
Now those in the APS can blame Mr Patrick for any uptick in well-worded information requests coming from MPs offices: the former independent senator has run FOI training sessions for staffers across 16 offices in the past year.
According to a question on notice response to Labor senator Nita Green, Mr Patrick ran these sessions for 56 staffers between August 2022 and August 2023. He was paid a total of $32,436 for these workshops.
We understand the workshops take staff through everything from how to use FOIs in parliamentary work, to how to apply to have the Administrative Appeals Tribunal review a decision.
"I'm really pleased that MPs and senators have embraced the opportunity to train their staff in FOI," Mr Patrick told Public Eye.
"Interestingly, I haven't received any calls from Labor MPs and senators to train their staff - it turns out transparency is a word only shouted from opposition benches."
But it appears that, in the course of this work, Mr Patrick has upgraded his title from "transparency warrior" to "Transparency Jedi Master".
Mr Patrick provides all students who have completed the course with a certificate dubbing them a "Transparency Jedi Apprentice", signed by the "Transparency Jedi Master".
The document also stipulates that with enough transparency points, students can graduate to Jedi Knight or Jedi Master themselves. The only way to earn these points is by appealing an FOI decision internally, to the Information Commissioner, or all the way up to the AAT.
By our count here at Public Eye, that means we are well on our way to Jedi Knight status. We will dutifully await our certificate.
On the agenda
- Annual reports have begun to drop, stay tuned for our coverage.
Over to you
- Is your agency too cautious with its FOIs?
- ps@canberratimes.com.au