Faulkner plan to change Australia government culture to disclosure under FOI

Faulkner plan to change government culture to disclosure under FOI

Christian Kerr | March 24, 2009

Article from: The Australian

FREEDOM of information applications will be cheaper and potential embarrassment will no longer be an excuse for keeping government documents secret under a proposal to radically alter the FOI Act.

At the Australia's Right to Know conference in Sydney today, Special Minister of State John Faulkner released two draft bills for FOI reform that he says will promote a new system and culture of pro-disclosure for government information. 

They represent the most significant overhaul of the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act since it began operation in 1982. 

The proposals also include reducing the Archives Act's 30-year rule for access to all documents to 20 years, bringing forward access to Cabinet notebooks from 50 to 30 years, introducing a single, clear pro-disclosure public interest test, and ensuring that factors such as "embarrassment to the government" or "causing confusion and unnecessary debate" can no longer be relied on to withhold access to documents. 

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