Information & Ethics committee  Those legal constraints are strong and important in Australia. As you say, the obstacles to a climate in which there is much greater disclosure and re-used circulation of government information include the privacy act, the copyright principles, national security, and other secrecy provisions.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you very much. I think for the cultural change to be fully effective, probably four elements are required. First is a strong government commitment to and sponsorship of open government reform. That has occurred at both the national and the state or provincial levels within Australia.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good morning to the members of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. It's a pleasure to speak to you about Australian experience. Australia has been in the fortunate position over the years of being able to learn a great deal from Canada in the area of freedom of information and privacy protection.