Contacts
AGS has a depth of expertise second to none in all aspects of government information law. Our dedicated national team advises on freedom of information (FOI) and privacy issues across all agencies every day. We advised on the design and drafting of the relevant legislation. Our understanding of this important area of public law is deep, and core to what we do.
There can be few other areas of law where a whole-of-government approach and understanding of common issues could be more critical.
Our FOI and privacy advice is robust and defensible, because we have visibility into best practice across all agencies and insight into the expectations of regulators. This enables an holistic, strategic and consistent approach that is unmatched in the legal marketplace.
We help clients process thousands of FOI requests and have refined our operational methodology which embeds efficiencies and provides cost-effective, easily scalable solutions. We help our clients make decisions and prepare statements of reasons that are detailed and legally defensible. We have security clearance to handle the most sensitive and high-profile legal issues.
AGS designs privacy policies, conducts Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and makes representations to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and Privacy Commissioner. We can help clients understand the sometimes complex arrangements between secrecy and privacy regimes.
Because we have worked with key agencies for over 20 years in some cases, and many of our people have direct outpost experience with our clients, we really partner with our clients and understand their drivers and the frameworks within which they operate.
We have advised clients on proposed covert operations, data-matching, handling personal information in an online environment, records management and archival policies, and social media tools. We also regularly advise on privacy issues in a range of contracts and agreements.
AGS is a thought leader in this field, providing valued guidance and training. Our experience in working with contentious issues across multiple agencies means we can spot issues before they arise and proactively deal with them. We facilitate engagement between agencies where necessary to ensure our clients can leverage off the best practice across the whole of the Commonwealth.