MEET OUR HORSE MEAT
LEARN ABOUT THE GREEDY HORSE-KILLING TRADE FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION & HOW YOU CAN HELP HORSES ESCAPE THIS VICIOUS FATE DONATEHOW TO USE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
Australia has had the Freedom of Information Act since 1982.
This act enables members of the public to have access to government records.
This applies to all federal government departments and to statutory authorities.
A statutory authority is a generic term for an authorisation by Parliament given to a person or group of people to exercise specific powers. An example of a statutory authority is the RSPCA or various racing bodies.
WHY WOULD YOU USE FOI?
The information obtained through the Freedom of Information act can be extremely valuable.
For example, if you want to campaign against the shooting of brumbies, or perhaps you are advocating for banning the slaughter of horses in Australia, or maybe you want to help ban the use of 1080 baits. The information you can obtain by using the following steps can be extremely useful.
Journalists and politicians use FOI all the time to access information.
Be warned though that many complain about the length of time it is taking to get results from the government.
HOW TO ACCESS INFORMATION WITH FOI
So the process is relatively simple.
You are accessing information through the
Freedom of Information Act AKA FOI
Each state also has its own legislation and the FOI laws of each state have different names.
In Queensland, it is called
RTI: Right to Information Act
NSW it is:
GIPA: Government Information Public Access
It’s important to note, the Freedom of Information Act operates in conjunction with privacy laws so access to information is limited if it is about a person or private business.
It’s also important to note that you have the right to access your own information held by a government department.
Step 1: Look for a DISCLOSURE LOG
All government agencies are required to publish a DISCLOSURE LOG. This is a list of all the requests for information and if they have been released or denied.
Google: Department of Agriculture Disclosure log
You can see a drop-down menu of all the agencies listed on this Disclosure log.
The middle column refers to what was requested.
The right-hand column has the actual documents that were released.
Step 2: Search the disclosure log
Notice it has a search option where I typed ‘horse’ and it has shown me a request relating to horses in Barmah Forest.
The PDF is no longer there, but you get the idea.
The process now that you know how to get started is actually fairly straight forward.
Again, keep in mind that the information is not immediately available, and again that many have complained about the lag time, so start the process sooner than later.
AND thank you for caring – and working towards making the world a better place!
Join us on social media and become a keyboard warrior.
Whistleblowers are invited to contact MOHM regarding violations occurring during horse slaughter or transport to slaughter. Are you an ex-slaughterhouse employee, a transport driver or a feedlot operator with knowledge of animal abuse, or other violations? Are you a track veterinarian who has evidence of horses “run” on phenylbutazone or other drugs, and then being shipped to slaughter? Do you have pictures/video of horses in transit to slaughter?
Anonymity guaranteed!