Hmmm .. yr welcome I think, but may I suggest something to U?

B4 I do, of course, within legal limits u r free to conduct yrself howsoever u so choose b4 falling afoul of the law as it is currently,

BUT

being emotional is not going to help u and will inevitabley only weaken u emotionally in the inverse manner as some of the attacks made upon u in this thread.

Be calm about it and realise that the law is as it is. Very often, imperfect and far from the ideals of more than 1 of us. Understand that? Yr not dealing with Cosmic perfection. The likes of the Ombudsman can only do as much as the law permits them, within their "jurisdiction." Another legal word worth looking up.

It may b, that the law itself is flawed, in which case, I would suggest, exhaust all the processes that u r able to and then use that knowledge to lobby.

Re specifics, all u have told us in this thread is that u seek an audit report from a department and thats it. I imagine it would be difficult even in the instance of a specialist in the area to comment with such limited information.

I assumed that u r in NSW as it is the 1st "hit" that came up in the search engine.

There are rules under all FOI legislation to deny the release of certain types of information. Say in the instance of revealing information about a vulnerable victim of crime to someone who may seek to abuse same.

Try to see the following things seperately.
1. The imperfect relevant law as it is &
2. The arguable right of all citizens to have access to the type of information that u seek as a matter founded on the principals of good governance, transparency, healthy democracy etc

All u will get thru judicial review is access to #1. A quick read of the act may save u a lot of time or alternatively give rational clarity to yr claim and a renewed sense of purpose.

Dreamon is quite right. You have to stay unemotional and just stick with the law. I am not getting into your personal case as I don't know you well enough to comment. Dreamon is also correct when he/she states the system is not perfect and each government body involved in FOI or government complaint mechanisms are restricted by jurisdiction and by law cannot help. Even the Ombudsman has limited powers and can only stay within legislated guidelines.

I googled "FOI Guidelines" and "NSW FOI Guidelines" and found these:

http://www.dpc.nsw.gov.au/about_the_department/freedom_of_information
http://www.dpc.nsw.gov.au/about_the_department/freedom_of_information/guidelines_for_using_foi_in_nsw
http://www.pmc.gov.au/foi/legislation.cfm
http://www.pmc.gov.au/foi/guidelines.cfm

The best attack is to look at the best possible reasons for releasing information to you under the law.

You have to make an argument for issues like 'Public Interest' and the fact that someone is holding personal information about you or your family.

The NSW site talks about exemptions under the law. Instead of asking how much ACER is getting paid (through their contract) ask how much DET spends each year running the academic competition.

I would imagine taxpayers have a public interest to know where their taxpayer money is being spent but if it is intricate details of a tender contract I would imagine that Commercial-in-Confidence would come into play.

Why not consult an FOI expert in the legal aid area to assist? Or if not eligible, pay a small amount for an hour of a lawyer's time to come up with best approach and work out best/worst case scenarious etc.

Firstly I would just like to say that although I am passionate about this cause, I am no longer emotional about it except to say that it does make me angry and I worry for my kids and for all kids. I realized a long time ago that the law is an ass and criminals and those who do wrong are the ones who are supported and protected. It took me a while to accept it as I wanted to believe in good and the law but I have gotten over it now. I do not take things personally.

Pelican. Good idea to put to the DET that I do not want the tender details, they can take that out of the contract. I will ask in its place how much the DET spends each year running the academic competition for Opportunity Class and Selective Schools? At the end of the day what I really want is to know how much they spend on this process.

Dreamon - an audit was done on the Selective Schools Unit a over a year ago and 32 recommendations were made. I want to get access to that audit see what the recommendations were made and to check to see if they are being followed as there are serious issues that I have identified and I want to know whether the audit picked them up and the recommendations are being adhered to. They say that if they make audits open to the public then staff will try to paint a glossy picture and not tell the truth. I say that regardless whether they make the audits public or not staff are likely to paint a pretty picture and that open and transparancy is what we should be aiming for in Government Departments.

I am so sick of Government employees running our public services to the ground. Oh and Pelican I tried a Solicitor, they are a farce, they cost a fortune, do nothing and they just take your money. Wouldn’t spend another cent on them in an FOI matter.

Thanks for your help.

"Wow so a good teacher wouldn't want a parent to be involved in their children's education?"

Posted by Jolanda, Tuesday, 21 October 2008 4:37:07 PM

Be involved in your kids education at home.

My father was a teacher for 36 years. Whinging mothers with personal agendas constantly complaining and carrying on like psycho's are what caused him to have a breakdown. He never recovered. Thanks to people LIKE you.

BE involved in your kids education. If only all kids had someone at home nurturing their education, but leave the teachers at school alone, is all I'm saying.

You may not have 'gone' a teacher Re: this issue, but I bet you would, like a Pitbull.

DreamOn may I ask that you do some research?
Jolanda has been part of this forum and others for a long time.
Read her post history.
Then see that those giving her advice here once supported her.
ST G has a very good point teachers have enough to be concerned about.

Belly telling somebody to accept being treated like rubbish and telling them to let the matter go when they have been systematically victimised and discriminated against year after year isn't supporting them.