2024 Solomon Lecture

NOTE: This event will be livestreamed. You DO NOT need to register to access the livestream. A link to the livestream will be available at oic.qld.gov.au/iaid2024

The annual Solomon Lecture is a signature event marking International Access to Information Day and this year the keynote will be delivered by Professor AJ Brown AM, a professor of public policy and law in the School of Government and International Relations at Griffith University.

In this role, Professor Brown specialises in public integrity, accountability, governance reform and public trust. He is also Chair of Transparency International (TI) Australia, the world anti-corruption organisation, having served since 2010 on the TI Australia board of directors, and from 2017-2022 on the TI global board.

In 2019-20, Professor Brown led development of TI's worldwide strategy 'Holding Power to Account, 2021-2030'. In 2023, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to the law and public policy, particularly through whistleblower protection.

International Access to Information Day (IAI Day) is celebrated around the world on 28 September every year. It raises awareness of every individual's right of access to government-held information; and the public sector’s responsibility to release information if it is in the public interest to do so. The 2024 UNESCO appointed theme for IAI Day is ‘Mainstreaming Access to Information and Participation in the Public Sector’.

Professor Brown's keynote is titled, ‘Push, Pull and Public Trust: Taking stock of citizens’ rights to know in a ‘Free Assange’ Australia’. A  synopsis is below:

Public trust and participation in government continues to hinge on ready access to official information. Yet the Australian policy landscape is riddled with tensions and mixed messages - from strengthened support for the proactive release of confidential information, to fragility and underfunding in information rights enforcement; from the moral and political victory of Julian Assange's return to Australia as a convicted but free citizen, to the Commonwealth Government's prosecution of public interest whistleblowers such as David McBride and Richard Boyle. This lecture will attempt to make sense of, and some recommendations for, this conflicted policy landscape, with a focus on the lessons of effective information rights enforcement for other areas of the Queensland and national integrity systems, especially the duties and protections applying to the public officials who serve us as primary custodians of public interest information.

The 2024 Solomon Lecture will be followed by a panel discussion. Journalist and media personality, Ms Kendall Gilding, will emcee the event and moderate the panel featuring:

• Ms Elizabeth Tydd, Australian Information Commissioner
• Ms Angela Pyke, Deputy Ombudsman Queensland
• Mr Matthew Cooke, Chairperson, Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council
• Professor AJ Brown, Griffith University.

We look forward to welcoming you in-person or via the livestream.

NOTE: This event will be livestreamed. You do not need to register to access the livestream. A link to the livestream will be available at oic.qld.gov.au/iaid2024