Australia Abandons Freedom of Information Overhaul After Senate Opposition

The government withdrew the bill after failing to win support in the Senate but says it will return with revised reforms.

The Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on June 4, 2024. Jessie Zhang/The Epoch Times

The federal government has withdrawn its controversial Freedom of Information (FOI) reform Bill from the Senate after failing to secure enough support from the opposition or the Greens, effectively shelving the legislation.

Katy Gallagher, Government Business Manager in the Senate, confirmed the Bill would be discharged after it became clear it would not pass the upper house in its current form.

Despite abandoning the current legislation, Gallagher said the government remains committed to reforming the FOI system and will return to parliament with a revised proposal.

“We have an open mind and we’ll continue to engage on the final form on the important reforms that we will bring back to the parliament to get on with fixing the FOI system that I think we all agree needs updating,” she said.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, who introduced the legislation in September last year, described the proposal as the most significant overhaul of transparency rules in more than a decade.

Proposed Changes and Government Rationale

The proposed reforms would have introduced new fees for FOI requests lodged by journalists, politicians, and other third parties seeking access to government documents.

Requests for personal information would have remained free.

The Bill also sought to tighten rules governing access to documents related to cabinet deliberations and advice provided to ministers.

The government argued the changes were necessary to modernise the FOI system and reduce pressure on public servants handling a growing number of requests.

“We are genuinely after reforms that will make the system more efficient and genuine for applicants,” she said.

“Protect the safety of public servants, which is incredibly important, save taxpayers money on frivolous and fictitious requests, and ensure that our FOI laws cannot be exploited by malicious actors.”

She pointed to rising demand for FOI requests across government agencies as evidence the system is struggling to keep pace.

According to government figures, agencies and ministers received 43,456 FOI requests during the 2024–25 financial year and finalised 39,390 of them. That represents increases of 25 percent and 20 percent respectively compared with the previous year.

Processing those requests cost agencies close to $100 million, significantly higher than costs recorded just a few years earlier.

Public servants also spent more than one million hours during the year handling FOI requests.

Senator Gallagher argued the existing legislation, first introduced in 1982, has not kept pace with technological change.

Opposition Claims ‘Win for Democracy’

The Coalition welcomed the government’s decision to abandon the Bill, with Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash describing the move as a victory for transparency.

“What a win for democracy, what a win for transparency, but more than that, what a win for Australian people … the Bill was going to silence Australians, what a disgrace,” Senator Cash said.

She said the Opposition and crossbench had worked together to block legislation they believed would undermine public access to government information.

Cash accused the government of weakening democratic accountability and limiting transparency. The shadow attorney-general said the Coalition supports updating the FOI system but argued the government’s proposal failed to address the real issues.

According to Cash, the major problems with the current system are delays, backlogs, and what she described as “bad faith behaviour.”

“We fundamentally believe FOI is a democratic right, you have the right to access government information. We will support modernisation of the system to make it easier, but the Coalition will never support the Albanese government silencing Australians,” she said.

Crossbench Rejects Government Claims

Greens senator David Shoebridge also welcomed the withdrawal of the legislation, saying the government had finally recognised the lack of support in the Senate.

Shoebridge challenged the government’s claim that FOI requests were overwhelming the bureaucracy.

“We said: show us the evidence. We asked the department: show us the evidence. There is no evidence. Turns out there are no Russian bots trying to break the FOI system. That was the number of lies that Labor has said about the rationale for their FOI campaign,” he said.

Independent Senator David Pocock said the FOI system is outdated and needs reform but criticised the government for failing to properly consult on meaningful changes.

He noted approvals granted in full have fallen from 59 percent to 25 percent, refusals have risen from 12 percent to 23 percent, and review times have stretched from six months to 15.5 months.

Former Labor Senator and now independent Fatima Payman backed his claim, saying while reforms to the FOI system may be necessary, the government’s approach was flawed.