A parliamentary committee says the public does not know enough about the Federal Government’s scheme for data-matching between agencies, the LEAN scheme.
LEAN stands for Law Enforcement Access Network. It aims to enable agencies to link data held by other agencies in an attempt to combat fraud. The main two databases are land titles and company information. These can be accessed by the public, but the LEAN scheme will enable agencies to access them in more comprehensive ways. Searches can be done matching people’s names, not just on land or company description.
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Banking, Finance and Public Administration said in a report tabled this week (week ends sat dec19) that it “”has some major qualifications about the facility and the way in which it is being developed”.
It recommended that the Attorney-General’s Department adopt a more open approach to giving out information on LEAN. It called for legislation on its used to be put in place within two years. Existing proposals would result in substantial delays in the public getting amendments to incorrect records.
It recommended procedures to ensure people had a right to comment on the LEAN data being used by an agency to make a decision about them before any adverse decision, such as cutting off a benefit, became final.
It said the security of the system could only be assessed when it was operational.
The original proposal for something like LEAN came in 1987, before the Privacy Act was proclaimed. The Attorney-General announced in October, 1991, that LEAN would go ahead. The committee recommended that if there was any further substantial delay in getting LEAN running, the cost-benefit of it should be reviewed with major public consultation. It thought that as time elapsed there was less and less evasion of capital gains tax, one of the main reasons for setting up LEAN.
The committee called for a rationalisation of secrecy provisions of Federal Government agencies.
a more invasive was privacy and costs have not bee has criticised elements of the LEAN scheme