The government is under pressure to scrap “dangerous” reforms to Australia’s freedom of information law after failing to make progress on the legislation in the final week of parliament.
While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese literally took a victory walk to parliament on Friday to celebrate the victory adoption of environmental law reformhe was unable to announce changes to freedom of information (FOI) as a victory before Christmas.
The reforms have been widely criticized since they were announced and passed in the House of Commons in September, which were opposed by the Coalition, Greens and crossbenchers.
The government states that the bill will modernize the system and streamline requests for confidential documents. However, critics say this could reduce transparency and make it harder to publicly access information.
Newly appointed shadow attorney general Andrew Wallace said he had expected the bill to be debated in the Senate this week, but complained it was “going nowhere” because a deal could not be reached.
“It would have turned a culture of openness and accountability in the FOI Act into a culture of secrecy, and we were absolutely opposed to these types of changes,” Wallace told SBS News.
Greens senator David Shoebridge said it was clear the bill had “no friends and no viable path through parliament”.
“Labor needs to read the writing on the wall: withdraw the bill and start this process all over again,” he told SBS News.
The bill is currently before a committee inquiry, with a report expected next week.
What is included in the freedom of information changes?
The proposal introduces mandatory fees for submitting requests. These are currently in effect for all state and territory applications, excluding the ACT.
Attorney General Michelle Rowland says this is necessary to eliminate the “abusive and frivolous requests” that delay genuine requests and take up resources.
They will also remove anonymity to prevent identity fraud and assess security risks, a measure that could discourage whistleblowers, including from within departments.
There are also new ways in which FOIs can be rejected, for example if it takes the department more than 40 hours to provide the information.
It will also lead to an expansion of Cabinet exemptions, giving the government more power to redact certain documentation if it can argue that releasing it could be detrimental to the public interest.
This would ensure that more documents come back with a confidential label on the cabinet.
Independent Senator David Pocock said the “dangerous bill” contradicts recommendations made in the wake of the royal commission into the debt burden, which suggested Cabinet exemptions should be limited, not expanded.
“I will strongly oppose the bill and believe it should be removed from the notices on the first day of parliament’s return next year,” he told SBS News.
“If the government wants to reform the FOI Act, it should do so to increase transparency and make information more accessible to citizens.”
Following the committee’s report, Labor will be given the Christmas break to assess its options, with Parliament adjourned until February 3, 2026.
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