… it’s a very bad idea to refuse to do so. It only makes people suspect you’ve been misbehaving. Take the case of Australia’s University of Newcastle.
The University of Newcastle has refused to reveal details of how much it is paying senior executives in bonuses and is ignoring a recommendation from the NSW Ombudsman who says there are no grounds for withholding the information.
In his latest report, the Ombudsman, Bruce Barbour, reveals the university refused to release the information sought under a freedom of information request even though it had legal advice it had few grounds to do so.
”Our investigation found that, as part of their internal review, the university had obtained legal advice that most of the FOI exemptions they relied on would be likely to be overturned by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal or questioned by us if reviewed,” he said. ”Despite this, they continued to maintain that the documents were exempt.”
… In an effort to get the information, the Ombudsman wrote to the Department of Premier and Cabinet proposing a change to the reporting regulations but had received no response despite a recommendation of an upper house inquiry into university governance this year that found “the disclosure of this information is in the public interest” .
Last year the Ombudsman again criticised some universities for ”contracting out” of disclosure requirements by including confidentiality clauses in salary packages paid to vice-chancellors to make disclosure of the details a breach of the contract.
After that, all universities apart from the University of NSW disclosed details…
And why doesn’t the University of New South Wales disclose?