The FOI Inquiry
On 24 September 2007, the ALRC received Terms of Reference from the Attorney-General of Australia to inquire into Freedom of Information (FOI) laws and practices across Australia.
Two months later, federal elections led to a change in Government. On 21 July 2008, the new Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, wrote to the ALRC revoking the Terms of Reference for the FOI Inquiry and indicating that the Labor Government intended to proceed with reform to FOI laws announced during the election campaign—which largely flow from the ALRC’s report, Open Government: A Review of the Federal Freedom of Information Act 1982 (ALRC 77). This report was released in 1996 after a joint Inquiry with the Administrative Review Council (ARC).
The Attorney-General indicated that the ALRC could play a more useful role in reviewing FOI ‘after the Government’s reforms have been implemented and operating for a reasonable period of time’.
More information on the Open Government report is available on this website. The ALRC also made recommendations about the interaction between FOI and privacy laws as part of its landmark Privacy Inquiry, completed in 2008.
Media releases relating to this Inquiry:
- ALRC's FOI Inquiry deferred pending Government reforms (22 July 2008)
- Attorney-General's media release: Australian Law Reform Commission to Examine FOI Laws