Regulatory Compliance?
Or Regulatory Strategy?

Roger Clarke

Principal, Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, Canberra

Prepared for presentation at the IBM Government Forum, October 2003, in Wellington, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney

Version of 2 October 2003, plus a link renewed 14 July 2005

© Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, 2003-05

This document is at http://www.xamax.com.au/EC/IBMRC0310.html

The PowerPoint slide-set is at http://www.xamax.com.au/EC/IBMRC0310.ppt

This document provides access to:

• the Abstract for the 30-minute presentation;
• the slide-set; and
• references used during its preparation.

Abstract

Some laws would try the patience of Job. They get in the way of government business. And they're a rather boring topic for a business breakfast.

The antidote to both of those problems is to recognise that most of these regulatory constraints can be approached in a positive frame of mind. This presentation invites delegates to avoid the stereo-typed, conservative and constraining idea of 'compliance', and instead focus on the perhaps unusual, but imaginative and constructive notion of 'strategy'.

Our archives deliver us depth of understanding of our business functions. Data protection is for real people, such as agency clients, but also government staff and executives. Pseudonymity is for people-at-risk, not just for crooks. And Freedom of Information is just the negative way of looking at an organisation's publications and public relations policies.

The session will conclude with a quick look at how technology can be applied to the management of an agency's information, in order to contribute to fulfilment of its mission and articulation of its strategic plans.

Contents of References Section

• 1. Scene-Setters
• 2. History - Know It, or Repeat It
• 3. Privacy - Who Needs Protecting?
• 4. FoI - Who Wants It??
• 5. Complaints - Recognise Opportunities
• Other Topics:
  • Financial Management and Administration
  • Security
  • Electronic Transactions Legislation
  • Whistleblowers
  • Knowledge Management

1. Scene-Setters

• The HIH Royal Commission, April 2003
• Report Exposes Hospital Malpractice, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 September 2003
• Police files audit not viable, system's managers say, The Melbourne Age, 4 September 2003
• Australia's Federal Record: A review of Archives Act 1983, Australian Law Reform Commission, Report No 85, 1998, s.3.19
• Recordkeeping Australian National Audit Office, Report 2002/45, May 2002, p.11
• Everyone 'to lie in unison', New Zealand Herald, 29 July 2003
• Report on an Investigation into the Department Of Labour's Management of Information in relation to Mr Ahmed Zaoui, Department of Labour, 28 August 2003

2. History - Know It, or Repeat It

• Archives Advices, National Archives of Australia
• Archives Advice: Providing electronic records in evidence, National Archives of Australia
• Archives Advice: Email is a Record!, National Archives of Australia
• Policy on Electronic Messages as Records, NSW Records Office
• Destruction, National Archives of Australia
• Archives Advice: DIRKS - a strategic approach to managing business information, National Archives of Australia
• Australia's Federal Record : A Review of Archives Act 1983, Australian Law Reform Commission, Report No 85, 1998
• Recordkeeping Publications, National Archives of Australia
• Publications Catalogue, NSW Records Office
• Official Information Act 1982, New Zealand Ombudsman
• Records Management, AS 4390-1996, Standards Australia
• Records Management, AS/ISO 15489-2002, closely modelled on AS 4390

3. Privacy - Who Needs Protecting?

• Submission to the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit - Management and Integrity of Electronic Information in the Commonwealth, Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner, January 2003
• Privacy compliance audit: Commonwealth Government Web Sites, Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner, August 2001
• How to comply with the Privacy Act, Office of the N.Z. Privacy Commissioner
• Codes of Practice, Office of the N.Z. Privacy Commissioner
• Privacy NSW
• Privacy Victoria
• Information Commissioner, Northern Territory, forthcoming at http://www.privacy.nt.gov.au
• AustLII Resources on Privacy - Australia
• AustLII Resources on Privacy - New Zealand

4. FoI - Who Wants It??

• Open government: a review of the federal Freedom of Information Act 1982, Australian Law Reform Commission, Report No 77, 1995
• Freedom of Information, NSW Auditor General, Report 2003/114, 28 August 2003
• AustLII Resources on FOI - Australia

5. Complaints - Recognise Opportunities

• Own motion investigation into Australian Taxation Office (ATO) complaint handling, Commonwealth Ombudsman, July 2003, following an interim report in 1999
• The ATO's Response to the Ombudsman's Report
• Complaints handling , Australian Standard AS 4269-1995
• Reports and Publications, Commonwealth Ombudsman
• ACCC's 'Guidelines for developing effective voluntary industry codes of conduct', in particular pp. 9-12, 28-29
• Good Practice Guide to Complaint Handling, Commonwealth Ombudsman
• Apologies by Public Officials and Agencies, NSW Ombudsman, May 2003
• Report on investigation into conduct of the Rail Infrastructure Corporation and others in relation to Menangle Bridge, N.S.W. Independent Commission Against Corruption, 4 September 2003
• An easy guide to good administrative decision-making, Queensland Ombudsman
• AustLII Resources - Ombudsmen - Australia
• AustLII Resources - Ombudsman - New Zealand

Financial Management and Administration

• Financial Management and Accountability (FMA) Legislation, Australian Department of Finance and Administration, plus the Act itself
• FMA Regulations, Australian Department of Finance and Administration, plus the Regulations themselves
• Financial Management Act 1984 (Vic)
• Australian Public Service Commission
• Civil and Administrative Penalties in Australian Federal Regulation, Australian Law Reform Commission, ALRC 95 , March 2003

Security

• Protective Security Manual, Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department
• Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) s.79 Official secrets
• Review of measures designed to protect classified and security sensitive information in the course of investigations and proceedings, Australian Law Reform Commission, ALRC Background Paper 8, July 2003

Electronic Transactions Legislation

• Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth)
• Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (NSW)
• Might Slow Adaptation of the Law Impede E-Commerce?, R. Clarke, 1999

Whistleblowers

• Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001, Victorian Ombudsman's Guidelines

Knowledge Management

• Knowledge Management Resources, National Office for the Information Economy
• Information Management, Knowledge Management and Recordkeeping, Archives Advices, National Archives of Australia
• Information Management, Information Policy, Knowledge Management and Knowledge Organisations, R. Clarke, 2001

Navigation

Go to the Xamax Consultancy Home-Page.

Send an email to Roger Clarke

Created: 30 September 2003

Last Amended: 2 October 2003, plus a link renewed 14 July 2005

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, ACN: 002 360 456
78 Sidaway St
Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, 6288 6916
Roger.Clarke@xamax.com.au