Information access and use policy (IS33)

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to outline Queensland Government's approach to government information access, exchange and licensing.

This policy:

• supports the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI) which established a 'push' model as a default position for the proactive release of government information, including data, to be embedded in the administrative practices and organisational culture of the public service
• supports the Queensland Governments Open Data Policy Statements commitment to releasing data and allowing it to be freely used
• supports maintaining the integrity, currency and accuracy of information released under RTI, through the Publication Scheme, Administrative access schemes, the open data portal and as business as usual
• supports the Information Privacy Act 2009 which recognises the importance of protecting personal information, sets rules for how personal information must be handled and creates a right for individuals to access and amend their own personal information, and a mechanism for individuals to make a privacy complaint if they believe their personal information has not been handled in accordance with the privacy principles
• supports the requirements of Information security policy and the Queensland Government Information Security Classification framework to assign a security classification to all official information and ensure information to be released to the public is appropriately classified as PUBLIC
• supports the Cabinet-endorsed Queensland Public Sector Intellectual Property Principles as high-level policy for the management of intellectual property by Queensland Government department
• supports the Queensland Government Enterprise Architecture Information Principles.

Policy statement

The Queensland Government is committed to proactively providing re-usable government information to the public, free of charge and will share information within and across government to make better decisions.

Policy benefits

Implementation of this policy will:

• improve accountability and transparency of government
• improve community ability to access, use and re-use government information and participate in government
• generate initiatives with social and economic benefits through re-use of government information reduced costs of government information collection and management across government
• improve opportunities for proactive service delivery to the community.

Applicability

This policy applies to all Queensland Government departments (as defined by the Public Sector Act 2022). Accountable officers (not already in scope of the Public Sector Act 2022) and statutory bodies under the Financial and Performance Management Standard 2019 must have regard to this policy in the context of internal controls, financial information management systems and risk management. Please see the Applicability of the QGEA for further information.

Policy requirements

Policy requirement 1: Departments must provide government information to the public to the maximum extent possible

The Queensland Government recognises the importance of providing government information to the public. Departments must routinely and proactively provide government information to the public to the maximum extent possible, subject to legislative and policy requirements (e.g. confidentiality, privacy, information security, open data policy) by:

• establishing an authorising and accountability environment for the release of government information
• taking all reasonable steps to make government information easily available by using open formats for data, and ensuring information is accessible to people disadvantaged geographically, socio-economically or because they have a disability
• releasing government information administratively wherever required or possible so that formal application under the Right to Information Act 2009 or the Information Privacy Act 2009 is a last resort.

Policy requirement 2: Departments must support the exchange of government information with other government entities where there is a business need

Accurate and complete information is essential for governments to provide efficient and effective services. Departments must support the exchange of government information with other government entities where there is a business need, subject to legislative and policy requirements (e.g. confidentiality, privacy, information security). While privacy and security requirements must be met, they must not inhibit shared access to government information when it is permissible.

Policy requirement 3: Departments must provide government information free of charge to the maximum extent possible

The Queensland Government aims to provide access to government information at the lowest cost possible to maximise its innovative use across the community. Departments must provide government information free of charge, to the maximum extent possible.

Policy requirement 4: Departments must apply a consistent information licensing framework to government information

Departments must apply a consistent licensing framework, to government information made available to the public, where copyright is owned by the State of Queensland. Queensland Government departments must apply Creative Commons licenses. When applying Creative Commons licenses to government information or reviewing existing licences departments should use the version 4.0 (international licence). The least restrictive Creative Commons licence, CC Attribution BY is the default licence of preference. Section 1.3 (b) of the Queensland Public Sector intellectual property principles gives examples of when departments might depart from the default position and select one of five other Creative Commons licences.

Advice

Implementation advice for this policy is available within the:

• Information access and use guideline
• Predetermining the release status of information
• Queensland Public Sector intellectual property principles
• Creative commons licensing.

Issue and review

Issue date: 22 January 2018
Next review date: January 2020

This QGEA policy is published within the QGEA which is administered by the Queensland Government Customer and Digital Group. It was developed by the Queensland Government Chief Information Office and approved by the Queensland Government Chief Information Officer.

Implementation

This policy comes into effect from the issue date.