Freedom of information repackaged:

The Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Bill 2009 (Cth) (the FOIR Bill) and the Information Commissioner Bill 2009 (the IC Bill)(Cth), were tabled by the Federal Government in November 2009 and represent the second part of the government’s FOI reform agenda. The FOIR Bill and IC Bill will significantly revise the FOI regime in a number of ways including creating the Office of the Information Commissioner as well as changing the default position to make it clear that information is to be released unless it is contrary to public interest to do so.The introduction of these bills was preceded by the release of exposure drafts Bills earlier in 2009. Only limited changes have been made to the bills since the exposure draft. Overall, PIAC supports the amendments to the FOI Act but contends that, in a number of areas, the reforms did not go far enough, particularly in relation to exemptions and exclusions from the FOI Act.