Thanks Pelican

I rang to get some info from DEEWR, was told it was 'available via FOI' and to go to the AG for FOI access to it.

I rang AGs.

They said they no longer do FOI, to ring PM and Cabinet.

They have people allocated to each dept, who deal with FOI requests.

Look, it may be a better deal, who knows?

But Rudd has a track record in Qld, and in his role as PM, and it is not a good one.... in my view at least.

I see there is a snippet on this in the Oz, p.2 bottom right.

TBC
I am sure PM&C will steer you in the right direction.

I have dealt with some FOI requests in regard to the area I was working in. Not sure about Rudd, but I believe Faulkner and then followed by Ludwig were both committed to greater government transparency. It is rare for documents to be denied nowadays unless it relates to national security, defence, international relations or Cabinet documents. There are some State/Commonwealth exemptions as well and some internal working document exemptions (weighted against public interest) but this might be improved under new legislative changes.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman is pretty good too at ensuring the more recalcitrant departments comply.

The section covering exemptions is second down at:

http://www.dpmc.gov.au/foi/guidelines.cfm

Pelican,
i fully appreciate that living in different areas also means different experiences. However, when dealing with various govt dept. everyone has to deal with the same bureaucrats .
I'm talking about calling offices such as for example the Ombudsman & getting Fred this week & he'll look into your case. next month you call about what's going on & you get suzie who has taken over from Fred & she'll call you back. Another month & you call Suzie & Suzie is no longer there but Bill has been assigned to your case. After 12 months of never actually getting to discuss your case you get told that you've reached the statute of limitation & we can no longer pursue your case. Ok, the public servant who cost you your job has got away with white goods etc on his way to yet another promotion & to immediately put all his effort into getting promoted again instead of proving himself in the just acquired position. The other one gets drunk & discharges a firearm & gets promoted out of the community. Another one is drunk & rolls a school bus at 2 o'clock in the morning & his police friends file a report of an incident at 10 am. I could rave on for weeks like this about those hardworking Public servants. Yes the public service provides much needed employment but shouldn't there be some accountability & value for money ?
Where is the value in importing a bureaucrat at a cost of $15,000.-in favour of a competent local & the import lasts seven months. Then another import , then another....

Individual... join a union, get Belly on the job, become more pro-active.

We all suffer from the same issues, you are not alone.

The Blue Cross,
The Union replied that there weren't sufficient prospective members to justify travelling to our area.
Btw. In our area we have public servants who get $500.- per week rental assistance to live in their own houses ! Several have been doing this for more than 10 years. The silly Labor Govt. has sold all its staff housing & is now renting it back at hugely inflated cost which of course has raised the average local rent to insane levels like $1500 per week for a flat. Now that is great economic management. Don't get me started on the travel rorts or on the education rorts or the health dept rorts or, or.....
Australia is always called a free country. Do they mean free for Public servants to rort to no end ?

Individual

The scenario you described where case-managers constantly change applies to any bureaucracy. Tried making an insurance claim? Return an faulty purchase? Redress incompetent maintenance on your car or home?

As for your claim that PS are given $500 rental rebate? Where did you pull that one from? I worked in the State Public service for 11 years and the Federal for 4 - I started on an income of far less than $500 per week, never received assistance with housing. Rental assistance is for unemployed, low-income and having worked as a housing officer, I know it never reached levels of $500 per week.

If you are going to make claims - produce evidence. Present credible arguments.