Follow these tips for better practice under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). Government information is a national resourceGovernment information is for public access and use. Remember there is a presumption of openness in the FOI Act. Give access outside the Act wherever you can (for example, through ...

An agency or minister may impose a charge in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) and the Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019 (Charges Regulations). The charge should fairly reflect the work involved in providing access to documents and cannot be used to discourage someone from ...

IntroductionPart 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) establishes an Information Publication Scheme (IPS) for Australian Government agencies subject to the Act. The IPS requires agencies to publish a broad range of information on their websites, and to make it available for downloading where possible (s 8(2)). ...

IntroductionThis guidance updates guidance issued by the Australian Information Commissioner in March 2011, Guidance for Agency Websites.A key objective of the 2010 reforms to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) was to facilitate and promote disclosure of information held by government promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost ...

Required to publish… Not required to publish… Comments AGENCY PLAN Agency Plan ss 8(1) & 8(2)(a) An Agency Plan showing: what information the agency proposes to publish (both required information (s 8(2)) and optional information (s 8(4)) how, and to whom, the information is going to be published other ...

Since 1 November 2010, agencies must take contractual measures to ensure that they receive documents held by certain contractors or subcontractors if a person requests access to those documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act). This document explains this requirement and provides a model clause for ...

Executive summaryThe key principles underlying the development of ideas outlined in the position paper are:Transparency and accountability are fundamental to Australian democracy and to the Australian public service. Public servants should be accountable for their decisions, their advice and their actions in the service of the Commonwealth. Public servants also ...

This fact sheet is designed for Freedom of Information practitioners to provide agency staff with a broad overview of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) and the steps required to be taken when an FOI request is received. Download the fact sheet Overview of the Freedom of Information ...