The Public Access to Information Act (PATI) has been in effect 100 days, with Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez saying the period has been marked by progress.

In a statement Mrs Gutierrez said there have been a slow and steady stream of requests for information under the legislation.

“Although there may have been some nervous anticipation of the April 1 enactment date, the floodgates did not open and lead to any chaos,” she said.

“Instead of public authorities being overwhelmed by scores of requests, people have been submitting requests slowly and steadily.

“We have also seen a few notable and highly visible developments, such as the request filed by Take Back Our Park and concerns about requesters’ confidentiality. Each new request or development has given the authorities a chance to make the process work better, has given the public more understanding of the benefits of the PATI Act and has given the ICO an understanding of what needs to be done in the next 100 days.”

Since April 1, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has focused on ensuring compliance with the initial requirements under the PATI Act for public authorities, creating a basic website and information materials for the public, and establishing the internal structure for the new Information Commissioner’s Office.

The ICO made a significant push in April to ensure that every public authority’s “Information Statement” was publicly available because these statements contain the critical information for someone to exercise their rights to information. By the end of April, over two hundred public authorities had identified an “Information Officer” to receive PATI requests and prepared a detailed “Information Statement” explaining what the authority does, how it is structured, how it makes decisions, what records it holds, and how to ask it for records.

The ICO also has been answering inquiries from the public and public authorities about how the PATI Act works, conducting a compliance investigation triggered by an apparent breach of a requester’s confidentiality, presenting education sessions for organisations, and receiving requesters’ applications for review (or appeals) from the decisions of public authorities on PATI requests.

“No matter how ready a public authority is to receive a request, it is the public that makes the entire process work,” Mrs Gutierrez said.

“As the first 100 days rolled by, more and more people learnt about their PATI rights, discovered how to submit a request and had the courage to be some of the first requesters under the new law.

“Looking ahead to the next 100 days, the focus of the ICO will be on educating the broader public on how to use the PATI Act and on developing formal guidances from the ICO to support public authorities’ PATI work.”