iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 21/08/2026

In my role I'm so grateful to be able to really see the impact of the work our incredible team does. This is one example of where our collection has been used to inform public policy and decision making. #FOI #OpenGov #DigitalPreservation

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 30/07/2026

If you are a #ruby developer or know of any, we could really use your help with this #opensource project - details below!

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 17/07/2026

So proud of the fantastic work our team achieved in the 2025/26 financial year. If you love what we've been doing, and want us to do more of it, please consider donating: donate.oaf.org.au #auspol #CivicTech

donate.oaf.org.au

OpenAustralia Foundation

We need your help: Make a donation today to support the OpenAustralia Foundation

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 02/07/2026

For a weekly rundown of the most interesting ones, check out Record Radar - it reviews every Australian federal department's FOI releases and surfaces the handful that matter: anilabs.news/recordradar/ #FOI #OpenGov #auspol #transparency

anilabs.news

Record Radar — FOI Weekly

Every Australian Federal Government Department FOI release: reviewed. The handful that matter: surfaced. One weekly read.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 02/07/2026

Want to make a public FOI request? righttoknow.org.au is the place to go. But there's a bigger question: what about all the other documents that get released along the way? #FOI #auspol #transparency

righttoknow.org.au

Make and browse Freedom of Information (FOI) requests

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 06/04/2026

My first funding application was rejected 🥺. Is it possible to get lots of people to commit a little? 🤞 $100 a month = less than $4 a day = less than a cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate per day ❤️ donate.oaf.org.au

donate.oaf.org.au

OpenAustralia Foundation

We need your help: Make a donation today to support the OpenAustralia Foundation

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 18/03/2026

Shouting out to see if this might help - does anyone know how to connect with the folks at #slab, or if they are still operational? If not, can you suggest any alternatives?

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 18/03/2026

I’ve been trying to find an #internal #documentation tool that @oaf.org.au can use for nearly half a year now. I have been looking at (and am really eager) to try slab.com - but I can’t seem to get a hold of anyone either via their LiveChat or via email.

slab.com

Slab - Knowledge Base & Wiki Software

Discover why our easy creation, organization, and numerous integrations, make us so popular with non-technical and tech-savvy teams alike.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 05/03/2026

Has anyone had any experience with #Odoo (www.odoo.com) in Australia at all? Trying to see if it’s worth consolidating a number of functions (timesheets, HRIS, CRM/donor management and knowledge management) into a single platform. #Odoo #HRIS #CRM

odoo.com

Open Source ERP and CRM | Odoo

From ERP to CRM, eCommerce and CMS. Download Odoo or use it in the cloud. Grow Your Business.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 23/02/2026

Awesome. It now says the right thing - I just need to work out why the display is a bit off.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 22/02/2026

Found a few issues, currently rebuilding the database. It’s going to take hours unfortunately 🙁.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 22/02/2026

It’s a bug. Likely caused by our move to Cloudflare to stabilise the service (bsky.app/profile/oaf....). Creating a bug for this now. Cc @oaf.org.au

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 17/02/2026

I’m on the hunt for someone with fundraising experience who cares about services that connect people with democracy. If you know somebody like that, please send them my way ❤️

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 13/02/2026

You deserve to know how your politicians vote in parliament on issues that are important to you. We won’t ever charge for this information. If you care about keeping #TheyVoteForYou trusted and independent, spare some treasure 💰 to cover some of our tech and people: donate.oaf.org.au

donate.oaf.org.au

OpenAustralia Foundation

We need your help: Make a donation today to support the OpenAustralia Foundation

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Reposted by Ben Fairless

OpenAustralia Foundation @oaf.org.au · 13/02/2026

You might want to check out our friends at @politicalgadgets.bsky.social - They have created a few really good tools to make it easier to explore data from various government sources: politicalgadgets.com

politicalgadgets.com

Free tools providing insights into what our politicians stand for

Machinery for democracy. Understand how your representative votes, spends money, talks, and more. Make an informed voting decision.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 13/02/2026

bsky.app/profile/oaf.... It’s important that there is nuance here - draft policies on #TheyVoteForYou are draft for a reason - in this case it didn’t contain votes post-October 2023.

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Reposted by Ben Fairless

OpenAustralia Foundation @oaf.org.au · 30/01/2026

A late night update to Planning Alerts! 🆕 9 new councils (~98,500 people) 🔧 10 fixed councils (~270,000 people) 📧 Sign up: www.planningalerts.org.au 💰 Donate: donate.oaf.org.au #PlanningAlerts #LocalCouncils

planningalerts.org.au

Planning Alerts

A free service which searches Australian planning authority websites and emails you details of applications near you

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 16/10/2025

Thanks for the love. Right to Know is run by a really small group of dedicated people (including me!), and is run by a registered charity. You can also consider donating - donate.oaf.org.au

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 09/09/2025

One reasonable change could be for agencies to upload the actual docs that are released on their disclosure log - something that isn’t required currently.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 09/09/2025

This is one of the benefits we promote with righttoknow.org.au. We also proactively work with agencies to deal with problematic requests, while fiercely advocating for disclosure.

righttoknow.org.au

Make and browse Freedom of Information (FOI) requests

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Reposted by Ben Fairless

Potato enthusiast 🇵🇸🥔 @br3nda.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Hey aussies. I think you should make a lot of noise about this The FOI Amendment Bill 2025 will give government new ways to refuse FOI requests, and also introduce a fee for making the request. 👉 www.oaf.org.au/2025/09/08/2... #RightToKnow #FOI #auspol

oaf.org.au

“Strengthening” FOI or sabotaging It? Why we oppose the FOI Amendment Bill 2025

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Reposted by Ben Fairless

Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

I figured it was esafety that was getting flooded with FOIs but Rowland confirmed on ABC today. Wild that attempts to take down tweets could lead to a worse FOI system. (It was a campaign from some free speech org that automated FOI requests)

It is costing taxpayers, in 2023-24, for example, $86 million to deal with processing, around a million hours taken in doing that. That is important, but let me tell your listeners this, Sabra, we've had cases where FOl requests have been generated, sometimes around 600 of them in one instance, going to a small agency, which tied up the services of that agency for over two months. Now, you might think that's not important but let me tell you what that agency was. That was eSafety. That is an organisation responsible for ensuring the safety, particularly of young people, online, getting tied up doing 600 frivolous FOl requests that they are required by law to deal with. This kind of mismanagement, this kind of exploitation of these systems needs to be reined in. We need to prioritise genuine applications, and we need to make sure that the FOl system is fit for purpose.

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Reposted by Ben Fairless

OpenAustralia Foundation @oaf.org.au · 30/03/2025

There has been a recent surge in automated suspicious looking traffic. However it wasn't the only reason the site went down yesterday.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 05/12/2024

Does anyone have any suggestions for simple social media management tools for smaller organisations? There are so many social media platforms now, finding a simple tool to manage it all would make life so much easier. Open to self hosted tools if needed.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 24/11/2024

Just went through and migrated my followers from the bad place. You can do it too, using this awesome plugin: www.sky-follower-bridge.dev

sky-follower-bridge.dev

Sky Follower Bridge

Instantly find and follow the same users from your 𝕏 followers on Bluesky

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 17/09/2023

Please vote YES in the upcoming referendum on October 14

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 04/09/2023

The latest from Space Karen: “I am pro free speech unless it’s speech I personally disagree with. I don’t mind speech that harms other marginalised groups but don’t you dare say something against the state of Israel.”

A post on Twitter dated 05 September 2023 1:30 am by Elon Musk. The tweet says “To be super clear, I'm pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind”. The tweet has 4.2M views.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 04/09/2023

The “De-Transitioning” episode by Channel 7’s “Spotlight” program on the weekend sounds like it was a dumpster fire. If you’ve watched it and you feel it might have violated the code of practice, you can make a complaint at complaints.freetv.com.au/Submission

complaints.freetv.com.au

Viewer Feedback Form - Free TV Project

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 04/09/2023

I’m voting YES in the Referendum this year. It’s important to recognise our First Nations people in our constitution, and give them a voice on matters that affect them. #VoteYes #UluruStatement #VoteYesAustralia #yes23

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 25/08/2023

It’s finally happened! The photo we’ve all been waiting for! Honestly, it looks like he’s trying too hard with that facial expression. The only thing I’m disappointed about is they let him wear his suit. I’m pretty sure jail clothes would have looked better.

Mugshot of Mr Donald J. Trump, former president of the United States of America. Mr Trump has a scowl on his face. A Fulton County sheriffs office badge can be seen in the top left-hand corner.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 21/08/2023

Is there a way to find people you’re following on #Twitter and automatically follow them on @bsky.app?

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 21/08/2023

So my first post here! Updating my Twitter with this profile info triggered Space Karen to ask if I was a robot 😂

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