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When the first freedom of information (FOI) legislation was introduced in Australia, its basic objectives were said to be ‘simple’: to make public the structure, functions and rules applied by government, and entitle members of the public to access government documents unless there are special reasons not to. Over 30 years later, the introduction of the ‘most significant overhaul of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) since its commencement’ referred to the same basic objectives, attempting to ‘deliver more effective and efficient access to government information and promote a culture of disclosure across government’. This chapter explores the development, interpretation and operation of the FOI Act over the intervening 30 years. It examines the role of the FOI Act within the broader legal framework regulating access to government information to assess its impact on government policy at the Commonwealth level. It suggests that achieving the objectives of the FOI Act has proven anything but simple. This chapter considers how effective the FOI Act has been in attaining its stated and unstated objectives. It describes the development and operation of the FOI Act, outlining the application of the major provisions of the legislation and the basis for calls for their reform. It explores the various tensions within the legislation, including the need to encouraging disclosure generally without entrenching the means for restriction of access; recognising the role of the public service as agents both of the government and the public generally; protecting the interest of the individual in the context of the collective benefits of disclosure; and balancing the long- and short-term costs and benefits of any access regime. Beyond these inherent tensions, however, this chapter also considers whether there might indeed be a more fundamental concern over the introduction and operation of the FOI Act: the focus in the FOI Act on providing a right to access to government information reinforces the separation between government and individual rather than enhancing the engagement of both in the process of policy-making.

Assessing Access to Information in Australia: The impact of freedom of information laws on the scrutiny and operation of the Commonwealth government