My first six months as FOI commissioner: Building trust and promoting good administration

Australia has a rich legislative landscape.  The statute books are filled with statutory realisations of policy and principles.  The Freedom of Information Act 1982 is one of these pieces of legislation.  It is a rich demonstration of an ideal.  It has flaws, like all legislative vehicles, but the objects it espouses are explicit and larger than the words of the Act.  It upholds democratic principles of engaging the people that democracy serves, of allowing debate and informed engagement.

Information asymmetry is one of the greatest means of eroding democratic participation.  Prior to the FOI Act, the presumption was of secrecy and that citizens did not have a right to access government information.  The FOI Act reversed that presumption.

Building trust and enabling public participation

FOI is not an abstract ideal. It underpins public participation, scrutiny and confidence that decisions are being made for the public good.

My role as FOI Commissioner is to build trust in the FOI system and highlight its importance to both the Australian community and the public service.

In almost first six months in this role, I reflect on the complex role that administration of FOI plays.  The volume of FOI decision-making (43,456 applications and 25,211 decisions last financial year) and the rate of review (with the number of IC reviews sought up 21% to 2,134 over the same period), would suggest a highly engaged population.  FOI is fundamental to democracy, enabling people to understand government actions, challenge decisions and participate in civic life.

The Australian Public Service Commission recently released its Trust in Public Services 2025 Annual Report, in which a common theme of those reporting increased trust, was greater transparency and communication.

Transparency is now an accepted principle of the Australian democratic fabric.  This is reflected in the Commonwealth Integrity Strategy which includes FOI metrics under the outcome ‘Transparency and accountability of actions and decisions are improved’.

The objects of the FOI Act are explicit in the intention to promote Australia’s representative democracy.  At a time where information proliferation is endemic, the role of fact checking and getting information from government remains of critical importance. However, these objects are irrelevant in the absence of good administration of the Act.

Commissioner priorities

Carrying on from my predecessor, I have committed to four priorities that guide the OAIC’s work in the FOI space:

1. Promote Open Government to better serve the Australian community.
2. Make FOI compliance easier.
3. Increase OAIC FOI regulatory and case management effectiveness.
4. Uplift agency capability in the exercise of FOI functions.

These priorities reflect something I’ve heard consistently from agencies, practitioners and those using the FOI system in my first few months in the role. That is, improving the FOI systems is not just about meeting statutory obligations, it is about building trusted workable systems, clear processes and practical support. These priorities build on the work agencies are doing to drive administrative excellence of the realisation of this right.

Administrative excellence is key

The mere presence of the FOI Act does not deliver the right, that is done through administration of the FOI Act. The objects of the Act tell us to exercise the powers and functions “to facilitate and promote public access to information, promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost” (section 3(4)).

Good administration of the FOI Act means looking for better and more effective ways to meet its objects in practice.  Reducing the need for FOI requests by proactively publishing information is one of the simplest ways to improve the FOI experience.

By releasing more information proactively, the FOI system will become more efficient and effective for the community and for government, in that it:

• Informs the community, with enhanced transparency and accountability of policy making, decision making and delivery of government services.
• Builds trust and confidence.
• Improves services delivery and promotes efficiency by reducing the administrative impact on departments and agencies. It is also cheaper and faster than engaging with formal access processes.
• Reduces the need for individuals to make formal information access requests.

In my view, the space for access requests under the FOI act should ideally only be information that can’t be released proactively, for example, through the Information Publication Scheme (IPS), administrative access schemes and disclosure log obligations.

Disclosure logs support transparency and efficiency by highlighting information that, when frequently sought under the FOI Act, could be proactively released by agencies. Disclosure logs also continue to be an effective strategy for reducing multiple FOI requests for the same information.

In the coming weeks, the OAIC will launch a disclosure log hub to be hosted on the OAIC website.  The hub will provide easy access to the disclosure logs of over 240 agencies. Practical tools like this, make our system easier to navigate and will continue to enhance the community’s understanding of this right and their ability to use the material released.

Features of good administration

The realisation of the FOI Act objects is entirely dependent on good administration.  So, what does good administration of the FOI Act look like for agencies.  These are features that can be expanded beyond FOI and reflect healthy administrative practices.

I think good administrative practice has these features:

• Leadership and culture - an acknowledgement that FOI is not an option. It is a right that the community has, to request information from government and an obligation to do so within the legal framework.
• Respect for the law - for parliament’s intention in passing legislation to enshrine this right and give it real world work to do.
• Proactive release of information - how these rights can be realised in the most efficient way possible for the community (and for government), by proactively releasing information.
• Innovation - how the public service can work differently, including but not limited to the deployment of new technology and tools, to meet the demands of our community and comply with the law.
• Excellence - how FOI decision-making can be effective and respect the objects of the Act, while working within the resources available.
• Respectful of the human-centred nature of government - engaging with those that seek to exercise the right in a manner that appreciates the inherent power imbalance, that explains government decisions clearly and acknowledges the community wants to understand and may challenge those decisions.
• Investigating issues - when they arise so that issues in administration can be raised and continuous improvement can be achieved. It is collecting and using data to identify roadblocks, sharing what works and targeting our collective effort where it will have the greatest impact.

One of the greatest issues in FOI administration is timeliness.  The FOI Act has timeframes that must be complied with to meet the objects of the Act.  Timeliness is a core part of whether the FOI system feels fair and trustworthy and links directly to the OAIC’s regulatory focus on ensuring timely access to government information.

Expectation for steady and sustainable improvement

Already this year I have engaged with agencies through roundtables, webinars and in 1:1 meetings and have set the expectation for steady and sustainable improvement. I have also committed to continue sharing what’s working in FOI administration, lessons learnt and spotlighting better practice examples. Even sharing small insights and learnings can help others move faster and with more confidence, together, contributing to broader system wide uplift.

Agencies are already working hard across the system to make it better. A great example, as highlighted in our Annual Report for 24-25 is the Department of Veterans Affairs, which experienced a 52% decrease in FOI requests and 29% reduction in IC reviews. From 1,806 in 2023–24 to 873 in 2024–25, DVA identified a major contributor to that decrease being its efforts to encourage the use of administrative access where appropriate. This simple practice delivers outcomes that promote confidence in the agency’s practices but also reduces their FOI request load. Other agencies are having similar success by deploying innovative approaches and using their resources differently. The National Disability Insurance Agency has made changes to the way it manages FOI requests, deploying case management systems, training and lowering delegations for decision-makers to great effect.

This initial months in this role have further impressed upon me the importance of our FOI framework. It has also highlighted the challenges, and opportunities to innovate, in order to administer that framework such that it is realised for the benefit of all Australians.