Legislation Review Act
-    Function of the Leg Review Committee
-    Has to review all the legislation of the agencies and disallow legislation that doesn’t comply with objectives

Delegated Legislation (handout)
-    Notification and publication: Rules must be open, prospective and clear
-    Tabling in Parliament
-    Sunsetting
-    Parliamentary Committees
-    Consultation and Regulatory Impact Statement : No common law duty to consult, but may be a statutory duty.
-    Judicial Review

4.    Informal Rule/Policy Making

What is Policy?
-    In some jurisdictions, making of policy is brought under same as rule making
-    Policy making is internal only
-    It is ‘a general plan of action designed to advance or protect some collective goal of the community as a whole, as distinguished from individual or group rights
-    E.g. National policies, Ministerial/Cabinet policy, Departmental policies

Who should make policies?
-    Legislature – democratic mandate - statute
-    Ministers – ministerial responsibility
-    Administrative Officials – policy/administration dichotomy
-    Judges – statutory interpretation?

Benefits of Policy
-    Focus attention on purpose to be achieved
-    Guides, not controls, admin decision making  otherwise there is a ground of review: inflexible application of policy
-    Integrity of decision making tested against policy
-    Diminishes inconsistencies
-    Fairness and continuity
-   
It is a powerful way of structuring agency decision making
-    Why isn’t policy subject to consultation  so the public can have some political input

No Common law obligation to disclose policy
-    curious given rules for procedural fairness that adverse material be made available to the affected individual
-    no stat duty to consult

Freedom of Information Legislation
Requires publication of
-    statement of functions of agencies describing decision-making powers
-    clause saying the agency must tell the public that that they have policy documents
-    Must publish statements of categories of documents held by the agency, including policy documents
-    No duty to release policy information in advance
-    Policy is very hidden from the public eye
-    No opportunity to participate
-    Courts don’t require agencies to disclose policy
-    We wont even know that policy exists or will be made
-    Look at theory question in Admin Law Exam 2001 Q1  Looks at theory of participation

Freedom of Information 1982 (Cth) s9 and s10

s9 – the section applies to documents provided by the agency for the use of the agency in making decisions or recommendations.  The documents may include (i) manuals or other documents containing interpretations, rules, guidelines, practices or precedents; (ii) documents containing particulars of a scheme, (iii) documents containing statements of the manner of administration or enforcement of such an enactment or scheme; (iv) documents describing the procedures to be followed in investigating breaches or evasions of possible breaches of the law relating to such a scheme.

s10 – if a document was not made available (when it should have been) and a person did something or omitted to do something; that person shall not be subjected to any prejudice by applying the rule, guideline or practice in relation to the thing done or omitted if he could have avoided it if he had been aware of the rule, guideline or practice.