26/05/2022

Principles for nationally consistent approaches to accessing Stolen Generations records – Joint statement by Australian Information Access Commissioners and Privacy Authorities - 26 May 2022

Information Access and Privacy regulators from across Australia have issued a joint statement to mark National Sorry Day (26 May).

Australian Information Access Commissioners and Privacy Authorities recognise the important role of historical records in truth telling and sharing history, intergenerational healing, redress and reparations for Stolen Generation survivors and their families.

The Healing Foundation’s Principles for nationally consistent approaches to accessing Stolen Generations records will inform ongoing discussions about greater national consistency.

We acknowledge that the Principles support implementation of recommendations about access to records from the Bringing Them Home (1997) and Make Healing Happen: It’s time to act (2021) reports.

We are committed to working together with The Healing Foundation and stakeholders to champion timely, easy access to records through informal access schemes wherever possible, with formal access applications required only as a last resort.

Read the statement. (PDF, 306.1 KB)

Signed

Angelene Falk
Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner

Leo Hardiman QC
Australian Freedom of Information Commissioner

Rachael Rangihaeata
Information Commissioner, Queensland

Paxton Booth
Privacy Commissioner, Queensland

Anna Rickard and Katie Shepherd
A/Right to Information Commissioners, Queensland

Catherine Fletcher
Information Commissioner, Western Australia

Richard Connock
Ombudsman, Tasmania

Wayne Lines
Ombudsman, South Australia

Stephanie Coleman
A/Director, State Records, Privacy Committee of South Australia

Sven Bluemmel
Information Commissioner, Victoria

Rachel Dixon
Privacy and Data Protection Deputy Commissioner, Victoria

Joanne Kummrow
Public Access Deputy Commissioner, Victoria

Penny McKay
A/ACT Ombudsman

Elizabeth Tydd
Information Commissioner, New South Wales

Samantha Gavel
Privacy Commissioner, New South Wales

Peter Shoyer
Information Commissioner, Northern Territory

Brenda Monaghan
Deputy Information Commissioner, Northern Territory