Access to Information

The Access to information Unit of ODAC is split into three main components of research, advocacy and community interventions.

The Research Unit on a yearly basis conducts the Access to Information in Government Index that assesses the levels of implementation of PAIA in government departments at both the municipal, provincial and national government levels. The research unit is also responsible for the parliamentary work that ODAC engages in with regard to submissions to Parliament on how information laws or Bills before Parliament can be strengthened to promote openness and transparency.

The research unit is the consultancy arm of ODAC that provides institutional support on access to information issues to the advocacy community on the continent. We help our partners in different African countries to develop their Freedom of Information Bills, assist them in developing strategies for the campaign on freedom of information and we conduct research on access to information on specific subject areas.

The Community Intervention component goes out into communities in South Africa to identify the socio-economic needs of people living in these communities and we look for ways of solving their problems through access to information and facilitating communication between the government and the people. We also assist people in these communities through training on how to make requests for information.

Our advocacy component is responsible for training of government officials on how they can improve their level of implementation and compliance on PAIA. We also support the network of Deputy Information Officers across the country to provide a platform for information exchange on best practices on the implementation of PAIA.