Submission to Inquiry into the operation of Commonwealth Freedom of Information (FOI) laws Alternative formats available on request to PIAC - Contact PIAC
PIAC made a submission to a Senate Committee inquiry into the operation of Commonwealth Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.
Responsive and practical FOI laws are critical for our systems of open government and democracy. But Australia’s FOI system is under-resourced and in desperate need of reform. It can take years for government departments to release requested documents.
Our submission stresses the need for government to urgently inject funding to address the significant backlogs and delays in FOI processing by government departments and FOI reviews by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), and to set time limits for OAIC reviews.
Our submission also explains why the OAIC should be given resources and powers to play a more active role in the FOI system, including by:
- training government agencies in the importance of FOI;
- investigating areas and agencies where FOI systems aren’t working well; and
- providing clearer guidelines about how agencies should apply exemptions to FOI.
We also suggest changes to the law to improve the way FOI works, tightening up possible exemptions to FOI requests and limiting extensions to FOI processing times for agencies. We recommend a Joint Parliamentary Committee be set up to oversee the system and recommend further reforms when needed.