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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
Freedom of Information (Open
Government--Disclosure of
Contracts) Amendment Bill 2007
Queensland
Freedom of Information (Open
Government--Disclosure of Contracts)
Amendment Bill 2007
Contents
Page
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 Amendment of s 7 (Definitions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 Insertion of new pt 2, div 1 hdg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5 Insertion of new pt 2, div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Division 2 Information concerning government contracts
20A Definitions for div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
20B Publication of information concerning government
contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
20C Publication of information concerning material
variations of government contracts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
20D Limitations on publication requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
20E Where information must be published . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6 Amendment of s 45 (Matter relating to trade secrets, business
affairs and research). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2007
A Bill
for
An Act to amend the Freedom of Information Act 1992 to
require the publication of information concerning particular
government contracts
s1 4 s3
Freedom of Information (Open
Government--Disclosure of Contracts) Amendment
Bill 2007
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Clause 1 Short title 2
This Act may be cited as the Freedom of Information (Open 3
Government--Disclosure of Contracts) Amendment Act 2007. 4
Clause 2 Act amended 5
This Act amends the Freedom of Information Act 1992. 6
Clause 3 Amendment of s 7 (Definitions) 7
(1) Section 7, definition agency-- 8
omit. 9
(2) Section 7-- 10
insert-- 11
`agency-- 12
(a) has the meaning given by section 8; but 13
(b) for part 2, division 2, see section 20A. 14
agency concerned, for part 2, division 2, see section 20A. 15
class 1 contract see section 20A. 16
class 2 contract see section 20A. 17
class 3 contract see section 20A. 18
commercial-in-confidence provisions, of a government 19
contract, for part 2, division 2 and section 45, see section 20A. 20
contractor, for a government contract, see section 20A. 21
government contract, for part 2, division 2 and section 45, see 22
section 20A. 23
private sector entity see section 20A. 24
publish, for part 2, division 2, see section 20E.'. 25
s4 5 s5
Freedom of Information (Open
Government--Disclosure of Contracts) Amendment
Bill 2007
Clause 4 Insertion of new pt 2, div 1 hdg 1
Part 2, before section 18-- 2
insert-- 3
`Division 1 Information concerning affairs of 4
agencies'. 5
Clause 5 Insertion of new pt 2, div 2 6
Part 2, after section 20-- 7
insert-- 8
`Division 2 Information concerning government 9
contracts 10
`20A Definitions for div 2 11
`In this division-- 12
agency does not include-- 13
(a) a GOC, or a subsidiary of a GOC within the meaning of 14
the Government Owned Corporations Act 1993; or 15
(b) a local government. 16
agency concerned, in relation to a government contract, 17
means the agency that entered into the contract. 18
class 1 contract means any government contract under 19
which-- 20
(a) the total estimated value of the project; or 21
(b) the total estimated value of the goods or services over 22
the term of the contract; or 23
(c) the value of the real property transferred; or 24
(d) the rent for the term of the lease; 25
is likely to be $150000 or more. 26
class 2 contract means a class 1 contract in relation to which 27
any of the following paragraphs apply-- 28
s5 6 s5
Freedom of Information (Open
Government--Disclosure of Contracts) Amendment
Bill 2007
(a) there has not been a tender process, the proposed 1
contract has not been made publicly available and the 2
terms and conditions of the contract have been 3
negotiated directly with the contractor; 4
(b) the proposed contract, whether or not made publicly 5
available, has been the subject of a tendering process 6
and the terms and conditions of the contract have been 7
substantially negotiated with the successful tenderer; 8
(c) the obligations of 1 or more parties under the contract to 9
maintain or operate infrastructure or assets could 10
continue for 10 years or more; 11
(d) the contract involves a privately financed project 12
undertaken under the State's policy about public private 13
partnerships; 14
Editor's note-- 15
As at the commencement of this section, information on the 16
policy is available at . 18
(e) the contract involves a transfer of a significant asset of 19
the agency concerned to another party to the contract in 20
exchange for the transfer of an asset to the agency. 21
class 3 contract means a class 2 contract under which-- 22
(a) the total estimated value of the project; or 23
(b) the total estimated value of the goods or services over 24
the term of the contract; or 25
(c) the value of the real property transferred; or 26
(d) the rent for the term of the lease; 27
is likely to be $5m or more. 28
commercial-in-confidence provisions, of a government 29
contract, means any provisions of the contract that disclose-- 30
(a) the contractor's financing arrangements; or 31
(b) the contractor's cost structure or profit margins; or 32
(c) the contractor's full base case financial model; or 33
s5 7 s5
Freedom of Information (Open
Government--Disclosure of Contracts) Amendment
Bill 2007
(d) any intellectual property in which the contractor has an 1
interest; or 2
(e) any matter the disclosure of which would place the 3
contractor at a substantial commercial disadvantage in 4
relation to other contractors or potential contractors, 5
whether at present or in the future. 6
contractor, for a government contract, means the person with 7
whom an agency has entered into the contract. 8
government contract-- 9
(a) means-- 10
(i) a contract entered into between an agency and a 11
private sector entity under which the agency or 12
private sector entity agrees-- 13
(A) to undertake a stated project; or 14
Example-- 15
a construction, infrastructure or property 16
development project 17
(B) to provide stated goods or services; or 18
Example-- 19
information technology services 20
(C) to transfer real property to the other party to 21
the contract; or 22
(ii) a lease of real property entered into between an 23
agency and a private sector entity; but 24
(b) does not include a contract of employment. 25
private sector entity means an entity that is not an agency. 26
`20B Publication of information concerning government 27
contracts 28
`(1) Subject to section 20D, within 45 days after a government 29
contract becomes effective, the agency concerned must 30
comply with this section. 31
s5 8 s5
Freedom of Information (Open
Government--Disclosure of Contracts) Amendment
Bill 2007
`(2) If it is a class 1 contract, the agency must publish each of the 1
following particulars of the contract-- 2
(a) the contractor's name and business address; 3
(b) particulars of-- 4
(i) any related body corporate, within the meaning of 5
the Corporations Act, of the contractor; or 6
(ii) any other private sector entity in which the 7
contractor has an interest; 8
that is to be involved in carrying out any of the 9
contractor's obligations under the contract or is to 10
receive a benefit under the contract; 11
(c) the date on which the contract became effective and the 12
duration of the contract; 13
(d) particulars of the project to be undertaken, the goods or 14
services to be provided or the real property to be 15
transferred or leased under the contract; 16
(e) the estimated amount payable to the contractor under 17
the contract; 18
(f) a description of any provisions under which the amount 19
payable to the contractor may be varied; 20
(g) a description of any provisions about renegotiating the 21
contract; 22
(h) if the contract resulted from a tendering process, the 23
method of tendering and a summary of the criteria 24
against which the various tenders were assessed; 25
(i) a description of any provisions under which it is agreed 26
the contractor is to receive payment for providing 27
operational or maintenance services. 28
`(3) If it is a class 2 contract, the agency must publish each of the 29
following particulars of the contract-- 30
(a) particulars required to be published for a class 1 contract 31
under subsection (2); 32
s5 9 s5
Freedom of Information (Open
Government--Disclosure of Contracts) Amendment
Bill 2007
(b) particulars of future transfers of significant assets to the 1
State at no or nominal cost to the State, including the 2
date of their proposed transfer; 3
(c) particulars of future transfers of significant assets to the 4
contractor, including the date of their proposed transfer; 5
(d) the results of any cost-benefit analysis of the contract 6
conducted by the agency; 7
(e) the components and quantum of the public sector 8
comparator, if used; 9
(f) if relevant, a summary of information used in the 10
contractor's full base case financial model; 11
Example-- 12
the pricing formula for tolls or usage charges 13
(g) if relevant, particulars of how risk, during the 14
construction and operational phases of the contract, is to 15
be apportioned between the parties, quantified, if 16
practicable, in net present-value terms and stating the 17
major assumptions involved; 18
(h) particulars of any significant guarantees or undertakings 19
between the parties, including any guarantees or 20
undertakings about loan agreements entered into or 21
proposed to be entered into; 22
(i) particulars of any other key elements of the contract. 23
`(4) If it is a class 3 contract, the agency must publish-- 24
(a) each of the particulars of the contract required to be 25
published for a class 2 contract under subsection (3); 26
and 27
(b) a copy of the contract. 28
`(5) If an agency does not publish a copy of the class 3 contract as 29
required under subsection (4) or publishes only some of the 30
provisions of the contract under subsection 20D, the agency 31
must publish-- 32
(a) the reasons why a copy of the contract or the 33
unpublished provisions have not been published; and 34
s5 10 s5
Freedom of Information (Open
Government--Disclosure of Contracts) Amendment
Bill 2007
(b) a statement as to whether it is intended a copy of the 1
contract or the unpublished provisions will be published 2
at a later date and, if so, the likely publication date; and 3
(c) if some but not all of the provisions of the contract have 4
been published, a general description of the types of 5
provisions that have not been published. 6
`(6) For this section, a government contract becomes effective-- 7
(a) unless paragraph (b) applies--when the contract is 8
entered into by or for the agency concerned; or 9
(b) if the contract contains a provision to the effect that 1 or 10
more conditions are to be met before the obligations of 11
the parties under the contract are enforceable--when the 12
condition or conditions have been met. 13
`20C Publication of information concerning material 14
variations of government contracts 15
`(1) Subject to section 20D, if a material variation is made to a 16
government contract that would affect the particulars that are 17
required to be published under section 20B in relation to the 18
contract, the agency concerned must amend the published 19
particulars to reflect the variation within 45 days after the 20
variation becomes effective. 21
`(2) Also, subject to section 20D, if a material variation is made to 22
a class 3 contract a copy of which is required to be published 23
under section 20B(4), the agency concerned must publish the 24
variation, or the varied provisions of the contract, within 45 25
days after the variation becomes effective. 26
`(3) For this section, a material variation becomes effective-- 27
(a) unless paragraph (b) applies--when the variation of the 28
contract is entered into by or for the agency concerned; 29
or 30
(b) if the variation of the contract contains a provision to the 31
effect that 1 or more conditions are to be met before the 32
obligations of the parties under the variation of the 33
s5 11 s5
Freedom of Information (Open
Government--Disclosure of Contracts) Amendment
Bill 2007
contract are enforceable--when the condition or 1
conditions have been met. 2
`20D Limitations on publication requirement 3
`(1) Sections 20B and 20C do not require an agency to publish any 4
of the following or particulars about any of the following-- 5
(a) commercial-in-confidence provisions of a government 6
contract; 7
(b) details of any unsuccessful tender relating to a 8
government contract; 9
(c) anything that could reasonably be expected to affect 10
public safety or security; 11
(d) a copy of a contract, a provision of a contract or any 12
other information in relation to a contract, that is of a 13
nature that its inclusion in a document would cause the 14
document to be an exempt document. 15
`(2) Sections 20B and 20C do not apply to a government contract 16
entered into by or for an agency before the commencement of 17
section 20B. 18
`(3) An agency is required to publish information under section 19
20B or 20C only to the extent the agency has the information 20
or it is reasonably practical for the agency to obtain the 21
information. 22
`20E Where information must be published 23
`(1) Information concerning a government contract required to be 24
published under section 20B or 20C must be published on the 25
website authorised by the Premier for the purpose. 26
`(2) The information must be kept on the website mentioned in 27
subsection (1) for the longer of the following periods-- 28
(a) 45 days; 29
(b) the period ending when-- 30
s6 12 s6
Freedom of Information (Open
Government--Disclosure of Contracts) Amendment
Bill 2007
(i) the project the subject of the contract is complete; 1
or 2
(ii) the goods or services the subject of the contract are 3
provided under the contract; or 4
(iii) the real property the subject of the contract is 5
transferred; or 6
(iv) the term of the lease the subject of the contract 7
expires. 8
`(3) Subsection (1) does not prevent the Minister responsible for 9
the agency concerned from approving additional publication 10
of the information in another way.'. 11
Clause 6 Amendment of s 45 (Matter relating to trade secrets, 12
business affairs and research) 13
(1) Section 45(1)-- 14
insert-- 15
`(aa) its disclosure would disclose commercial-in-confidence 16
provisions of a government contract; or'. 17
(2) Section 45(1)(b)(i), after `trade secrets'-- 18
insert-- 19
`or commercial-in-confidence provisions of a government 20
contract'. 21
(3) Section 45(1)(c)(i), after `trade secrets'-- 22
insert-- 23
`, commercial-in-confidence provisions of a government 24
contract'. 25
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