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Ben Fairless

@ben.fairless.au

He/Him. Politics, Privacy, FOI, LGBT, Mental Health, Tech. Not a journo, but this still applies: seedisclaimer.com

74 Followers  |  315 Following  |  14 Posts  |  Joined: 19.08.2023  |  1.7566

Latest posts by ben.fairless.au on Bluesky

Thanks for the love. Right to Know is run by a really small group of dedicated people (including me!), and is run by a registered charity.

You can also consider donating - donate.oaf.org.au

16.10.2025 05:48 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

One reasonable change could be for agencies to upload the actual docs that are released on their disclosure log - something that isn’t required currently.

09.09.2025 09:27 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Make and browse Freedom of Information (FOI) requests

This is one of the benefits we promote with righttoknow.org.au.

We also proactively work with agencies to deal with problematic requests, while fiercely advocating for disclosure.

09.09.2025 09:25 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
β€œStrengthening” FOI or sabotaging It? Why we oppose the FOI Amendment Bill 2025 The Albanese Government has introduced the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025, presented as a reform to β€œstrengthen” the FOI framework. According to the Attorney-General’s press release, the…

The FOI Amendment Bill 2025 makes it harder to hold govt to account: bans anonymous requests, adds a β€œtransparency tax” fee, and expands secrecy. Parliament must reject it.

πŸ‘‰ www.oaf.org.au/2025/09/08/2...

#RightToKnow #FOI #auspol

08.09.2025 06:41 β€” πŸ‘ 35    πŸ” 26    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
β€œStrengthening” FOI or sabotaging It? Why we oppose the FOI Amendment Bill 2025

Hey aussies. I think you should make a lot of noise about this

The FOI Amendment Bill 2025 will give government new ways to refuse FOI requests, and also introduce a fee for making the request.

πŸ‘‰ www.oaf.org.au/2025/09/08/2...

#RightToKnow #FOI #auspol

08.09.2025 08:19 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
It is costing taxpayers, in 2023-24, for example, $86 million to deal with processing, around a million hours taken in doing that. That is important, but let me tell your listeners this, Sabra, we've had cases where FOl requests have been generated, sometimes around 600 of them in one instance, going to a small agency, which tied up the services of that agency for over two months. Now, you might think that's not important but let me tell you what that agency was. That was eSafety. That is an organisation responsible for ensuring the safety, particularly of young people, online, getting tied up doing 600 frivolous FOl requests that they are required by law to deal with. This kind of mismanagement, this kind of exploitation of these systems needs to be reined in. We need to prioritise genuine applications, and we need to make sure that the FOl system is fit for purpose.

It is costing taxpayers, in 2023-24, for example, $86 million to deal with processing, around a million hours taken in doing that. That is important, but let me tell your listeners this, Sabra, we've had cases where FOl requests have been generated, sometimes around 600 of them in one instance, going to a small agency, which tied up the services of that agency for over two months. Now, you might think that's not important but let me tell you what that agency was. That was eSafety. That is an organisation responsible for ensuring the safety, particularly of young people, online, getting tied up doing 600 frivolous FOl requests that they are required by law to deal with. This kind of mismanagement, this kind of exploitation of these systems needs to be reined in. We need to prioritise genuine applications, and we need to make sure that the FOl system is fit for purpose.

I figured it was esafety that was getting flooded with FOIs but Rowland confirmed on ABC today.

Wild that attempts to take down tweets could lead to a worse FOI system. (It was a campaign from some free speech org that automated FOI requests)

02.09.2025 23:26 β€” πŸ‘ 55    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 9
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Suppression of Aircraft Data from Third-Party Flight Tracking Platforms - a Freedom of Information request to Victoria Police I am seeking access to documents relating to the removal, suppression, or anonymisation of aircraft data from third-party flight tracking services such as FlightRadar24, PlaneFinder, ADS-B Exchange,…

According to www.righttoknow.org.au/request/supp... @VictoriaPolice are taking 10x as long as the #FOI act allows. #FOIA #vicpol #transparency

23.04.2025 02:04 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

There has been a recent surge in automated suspicious looking traffic. However it wasn't the only reason the site went down yesterday.

30.03.2025 02:02 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Does anyone have any suggestions for simple social media management tools for smaller organisations?

There are so many social media platforms now, finding a simple tool to manage it all would make life so much easier.

Open to self hosted tools if needed.

05.12.2024 22:28 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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Sky Follower Bridge Instantly find and follow the same users from your 𝕏 followers on Bluesky

Just went through and migrated my followers from the bad place.

You can do it too, using this awesome plugin: www.sky-follower-bridge.dev

24.11.2024 01:52 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
A woman who rang ABC Sydney radio said she found out about the Optus outage from her cat.
 
The cat has an automatic wi-fi feeder (connected to Optus) & when breakfast wasn't delivered at 6:10 am, the cat went to the bedroom to lodge a complaint with management.

A woman who rang ABC Sydney radio said she found out about the Optus outage from her cat. The cat has an automatic wi-fi feeder (connected to Optus) & when breakfast wasn't delivered at 6:10 am, the cat went to the bedroom to lodge a complaint with management.

07.11.2023 20:53 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Vote Yes.  It's the right and decent thing to do.

Vote Yes. It's the right and decent thing to do.

#auspol
#VoteYesAustralia
#VoteYes
#VoteYES23Australia
#VoteYes2023

14.10.2023 00:21 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Please vote YES in the upcoming referendum on October 14

17.09.2023 20:27 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
A post on Twitter dated 05 September 2023 1:30 am by Elon Musk. The tweet says β€œTo be super clear, I'm pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind”. The tweet has 4.2M views.

A post on Twitter dated 05 September 2023 1:30 am by Elon Musk. The tweet says β€œTo be super clear, I'm pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind”. The tweet has 4.2M views.

The latest from Space Karen:

β€œI am pro free speech unless it’s speech I personally disagree with. I don’t mind speech that harms other marginalised groups but don’t you dare say something against the state of Israel.”

04.09.2023 18:27 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Viewer Feedback Form - Free TV Project

The β€œDe-Transitioning” episode by Channel 7’s β€œSpotlight” program on the weekend sounds like it was a dumpster fire.

If you’ve watched it and you feel it might have violated the code of practice, you can make a complaint at complaints.freetv.com.au/Submission

04.09.2023 05:12 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I’m voting YES in the Referendum this year. It’s important to recognise our First Nations people in our constitution, and give them a voice on matters that affect them.

#VoteYes #UluruStatement #VoteYesAustralia #yes23

04.09.2023 05:10 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Mugshot of Mr Donald J. Trump, former president of the United States of America. Mr Trump has a scowl on his face. A Fulton County sheriffs office badge can be seen in the top left-hand corner.

Mugshot of Mr Donald J. Trump, former president of the United States of America. Mr Trump has a scowl on his face. A Fulton County sheriffs office badge can be seen in the top left-hand corner.

It’s finally happened! The photo we’ve all been waiting for!

Honestly, it looks like he’s trying too hard with that facial expression.

The only thing I’m disappointed about is they let him wear his suit. I’m pretty sure jail clothes would have looked better.οΏΌ

25.08.2023 01:13 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Is there a way to find people you’re following on #Twitter and automatically follow them on @bsky.app?

21.08.2023 05:03 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

So my first post here! Updating my Twitter with this profile info triggered Space Karen to ask if I was a robot πŸ˜‚

21.08.2023 05:02 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@ben.fairless.au is following 20 prominent accounts