Media statement - report 2 of 2025-26
Published: 30 Jul 2025
The Auditor-General tabled his report to the Legislative Assembly on reviews of 19 social media posts by some Labor members and The NT Greens member.
The reviews were conducted on a request from a member of the Legislative Assembly under the Public Information Act 2010.
The reviews found that the social media posts made by the Opposition did contravene the Public Information Act because they were political, however, the content was factually accurate, not misleading and considered to be in the public interest.
The 11 social media posts by The Greens member were not public information because the member did not use taxpayers’ money to make the posts.
In March 2025, the Auditor-General received 19 requests for review under the Public Information Act. The requests alleged that the referred social media posts breached the Public Information Act because they promoted political agendas and some of the posts included false information.
In his report, Mr Dean noted that in a parliamentary system, effective opposition is essential to ensuring good government. It is the role of the opposition and the crossbench to hold government accountable and to scrutinise its decisions, which may involve a criticism of government’s policies and administration.
‘I do not believe that it was the intent of the Public Information Act to block free debate around the policies of the government and the opposition,’ Mr Dean said. ‘For this reason, I found most of the social media posts that breached the Public Information Act because they were political in nature to be in the public interest as they were shared with the purpose of reporting on the actions or inactions of the government.”
While most of the social media posts appeared to be comments on topical issues at the time rather than statements of facts, the review found that the content of the posts was not misleading and was factually accurate.
Some forms of taxpayer-funded communication are excluded from the Public Information Act, such as media releases or information given by members to their constituents. ‘In this report, I explain how these exclusions apply to social media,’ Mr Dean added, noting that this was probably the last review undertaken by him. There is currently a bill before the Legislative Assembly which would transfer the responsibility for the review of public information from the Auditor-General to the Ombudsman.
‘Transferring the obligation of the Auditor-General to review public information referrals will remove the risk of the role of the Auditor-General being politicised, which was a recommendation in the last strategic review of my office.’ Mr Dean said.
The Auditor-General is a statutory position established under the Audit Act 1995. The Auditor-General and the Northern Territory Auditor-General’s Office assist Parliament to hold government accountable for its use of public resources by providing independent audits.
The Public Information Act 2010 requires the Auditor-General, upon receipt of a written request of a member of the Legislative Assembly or on the Auditor-General’s own initiative, to conduct a review of particular public information to determine whether the Public Information Act was contravened in relation to the information.
Download reports from Auditor-General's reports to Parliament or via Library & Archives NT’s digital repository Territory Stories.
For more information contact:
Jara Dean
Auditor-General
Phone: 08 8999 7155
nt.audit@nt.gov.au
