Submission: Inquiry into the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025
Transparency International Australia (TI Australia) is pleased to provide a submission on the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025.
Effective freedom of Information (FOI) laws and their operation are a cornerstone of Australia's integrity framework. FOI or right to information ensures that citizens, journalists, researchers, and civil society can hold power to account and shine light on decisions made in the public's name.
Australia's FOI system has delivered accountability in some of the most significant governance failures in our history, including the exposure of the Robodebt scheme. Yet it is now in serious decline. TI Australia welcomes the government's Bill before Parliament as opportunity to modernise FOI, but as currently drafted, it risks entrenching secrecy, slowing access, and raising new barriers for those seeking accountability.
TI Australia supports the Committee's work, and urges the Committee to recommend amendments to the Bill to address these risks, to resource the FOI system adequately, and to deliver reforms that restore its original purpose; enabling Australians to know what their government is doing in their name.