Freedom of Information (FOI) Reform
Introduction
The Australian Government announced as part of its 2007 election policies that it would reform the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) with the principal objects of promoting a pro-disclosure culture across the Government and building a stronger foundation for more openness in government. The reforms are being implemented in two stages.
First Stage – Freedom of Information (Removal of Conclusive Certificates and Other Measures) Act 2009
The Freedom of Information (Removal of Conclusive Certificates and Other Measures) Act 2009 commenced on 7 October 2009. The Act repealed the power to issue conclusive certificates in the FOI Act and the Archives Act 1983. You can view the Act at the ComLaw website. For information about the Bill for this Act, please visit the Parliament of Australia ParlInfo website.
Second Stage – Information Commissioner Bill 2009 and Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Bill 2009
The Government introduced the Information Commissioner Bill 2009 and the Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Bill 2009 into the Parliament on 26 November 2009. You can track the Bills’ progress through Parliament and view information on the Bills at the Parliament of Australia ParlInfo website: Information Commissioner Bill 2009 and Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Bill 2009.
Introduction of the Bills follows the Government’s consideration of public submissions on exposure draft legislation. Public submissions received are posted on the submissions page. A summary of the main changes between the exposure draft and introduced FOI reform Bills is available to download:
- Summary of the main changes between the draft and introducted FOI reform Bills RTF 1.17MB | PDF 96KB
The Bills have been referred to the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee for inquiry and report by 16 March 2010.
Draft Freedom of Information (Fees and Charges) Amendment Regulations
On 24 March 2009 the Government announced proposed reforms to FOI fees and charges, including that no application fees (including for internal review) will apply to access requests; no charges will apply to applicants seeking access to their own personal information under the FOI Act; for all other applications, the first hour of decision-making time will be free (except for journalists and not-for-profit community groups where the first five hours of decision making time will be free); and applications not decided within the statutory time frame will be processed free of charge. The Government also announced that the Information Commissioner will be requested to undertake a comprehensive review of charges within 12 months of the Commissioner’s appointment.
Some of these changes require amendment to the Freedom of Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations 1982. Draft amendment regulations are available to download below. We invite comments on the text of the draft regulations, which should be forwarded by email to foiconsultation@pmc.gov.au by no later than 11 January 2010. Comments will not be displayed as submissions on this website.
The Freedom of Information (Fees and Charges) Amendment Regulations 2009 Exposure Draft document has been made available on this site in Portable Document Format (PDF) for downloading and printing. If you need further assistance with alternative formats, please contact Privacy & FOI Policy Branch within PM&C on telephone (02) 6271 5311 or by email to foiconsultation@pmc.gov.au.
Email Alerts
You can also subscribe to receive email alerts about the FOI reform process.
If you subscribe to receive alerts, your email address will only be used for the purpose of receiving updates relating to the FOI reforms.
Letter to Departmental Secretaries and Agency Heads
On 30 April 2009, the then Cabinet Secretary, Senator the Hon John Faulkner, wrote to departmental secretaries and agency heads asking them to take a lead role in facilitating the Government’s policy objective of enhancing a culture of disclosure. A copy of the letter is available from Cabinet Secretary’s website.
Report on Information and E-Governance in the Australian Government
In February 2009, Dr Ian Reinecke, Principal, Strategies and Solutions Group was engaged by PM&C to provide specialist advice and report on information management issues, including information policy and e-governance. The Report on Information Policy and E-Governance in the Australian Government is now available.Further Information
Further information (such as media releases) is available from the Cabinet Secretary’s website.
If you have questions on the FOI reform process, please contact the Privacy & FOI Policy Branch within PM&C on telephone (02) 6271 5311 or by email to foiconsultation@pmc.gov.au.
Viewing and Downloading Publications
These publications have been made available on this site in Rich Text Format (RTF) and Portable Document Format (PDF) for downloading and printing. If you need further assistance with alternative formats, please contact the Privacy & FOI Policy Branch on telephone (02) 6271 5311 or by email to foiconsultation@pmc.gov.au. Please see our Help Page for assistance with PDF accessibility issues, downloading and viewing files.
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