ART
The Accountability Round Table is a non-partisan group of citizens with diverse backgrounds (journalists, lawyers, academics, former politicians and judges) and extensive experience in parliament, government and the courts. The Round Table is dedicated to improving...
Accountability in crisis – 2020 AGM Address by Chair, Fiona McLeod, AO SC
In the interests of transparency, I must begin with a disclosure. Before my engagement with the Open government partnership and ART (and for a time Transparency International Australia) I had very limited exposure - I thought – to issues of accountability, except that...
Witness K and Bernard Collaery: An Unjust Prosecution Gets Even Worse, Spencer Zifcak
The prosecution of former ACT Attorney-General, Bernard Collaery, and his client, Witness K, continues to play itself out before the ACT Supreme Court. This is a legal fiasco of the first order. The prosecution should never have commenced. This is Commonwealth...
Premier Berejiklian; ‘I don’t need to know’, not good enough
On ABC Radio National this morning ART Chair, Fiona McLeod SC, said: That statement - I don’t need to know - does suggest she [Gladys Berejiklian] is seeking to distance herself from information that might compromise her and the problem is that when politicians do...
Our AGM – 21 Oct
The Accountability Round Table will hold its AGM on Wednesday 21 October - 5 pm for ART members and 5.30 pm for those who would like to join for the address by ART Chair, Fiona McLeod SC AO. She will give us her insights on: Accountability in a time of crisis. The...
Our Public Service, Our Future – ART commentary on Government response
There is much in this report that is useful in summarising the state of the Australian Public Service, both its strengths and weaknesses. It also reflects recent disquiet about secrecy, abuse of process, and public mistrust. Most recommendations are rather bland, at...
Bernard Collaery’s case threatens freedom of expression
Professor Zifcak says: The real problem for Witness K and Collaery is that section 39 of the Intelligence Services Act has no public interest defence, in other words, they can’t argue that disclosing the confidential information was done in the public interest, and...
Senate Select Committee on COVID-19. ART Submission
This submission to the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19 was made by Accountability Round table on 27 May 2020. It addresses the absence of independent scrutiny of government actions during the period of the Covid19 crisis. In particular, the exclusion of...
Petitions to the House of Reps and the Senate
ART Media | ART launches petitions calling on all Australian Parliaments to sit through the Covid-19 crisis The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the greatest expansion of executive power in generations. Yet the evidence supporting these powers and the decisions...
McKenzie sacrificial lamb but corruption runs deeper – Stephen Charles
McKenzie sacrificial lamb but corruption runs deeper By Stephen Charles AO QC, former Victorian Court of Appeal judge and director of The Centre for Public Integrity. Published online in the Canberra Times February 7 2020 - 4:30AM...
A Government’s first duty is to protect its citizens – a letter
David Harper, Former Supreme Court Judge and now Secretary and Director of ART writes to his local Federal member,The Hon Michael Sukkar, Assistant Treasurer. We should all do this.... ____________________________________ Dear Michael, Drought, hot weather and...