‘Addiction to secrecy’: opposition and crossbench slam Labor’s ‘undemocratic’ changes to FoI – including charging fees | Freedom of information

The Albanian government’s proposal to impose a fee on freedom of information requests and reduce what documents can be published has been widely criticized by the opposition and senators as “undemocratic” and evidence of Labour’s “addiction to secrecy”.

The Labor-led Senate inquiry published its report on Wednesday recommending the bill pass, but the Coalition, the Greens and senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie presented their own reports condemning the plans.

The changes will introduce fees for requests that are currently free, unless they require a significant amount of work.

It will also impose a 40-hour time limit for processing each request, change the 30-day response period from calendar days to business days, and give FoI officers the power to reject or further redact documents related to the drafting or discussion of ideas and policies.

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The government claims the changes are necessary to combat frivolous, AI-generated demands from online trolls; but no evidence has been publicly provided as to how widespread the problem is in the civil service.

Opposition senators said the government’s proposed changes were “ill-informed” and were concerned they were “unfair and undemocratic”.

“[These changes] It will undermine confidence in the system and weaken the ability to hold governments accountable. Freedom of information is not a privilege granted by the state. “This is a right that every Australian citizen owes,” the coalition’s dissenting report said.

Liberal senator Leah Blyth, vice-chair of the committee, said the current law’s primary goal of balancing transparency and public scrutiny of government with the protection of “essential private interests” and the proper and effective functioning of government “dilutes the fundamental purpose of the FoI”.

The opposition, which had previously said it would not support the bill, added that the government must provide evidence to support its claims about the increase in FoI requests generated through automation and chatbots.

Greens senator David Shoebridge criticized Labor for ignoring evidence presented to the committee and rejecting the changes, calling it “a case study of how arrogance and addiction to secrecy drives politics”.

Pocock said it was a “bad bill that is friendless and will undermine transparency and our democracy”.

“Freedom of information should be available to all Australians, not just those who can afford it,” he said.

For the bill to pass the Senate, the government will need the support of either the opposition or the Greens.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the government would “carefully consider” the report, adding that it was “committed to working across parliament and passing ambitious reforms that will prioritize genuine FoI requests and save taxpayers millions of dollars from anonymous, frivolous and automated requests.”

The bill was initially listed in the final session week but was removed from the notice sheet.

A previous FoI inquiry in December 2023 described the FoI regime as “dysfunctional and broken”, with years of funding cuts, a “lack of results” and a lack of senior pro-disclosure “champions” in the civil service.

The Australian Information Commissioner’s Office, charged with overseeing the regime, reintroduced the three-commission model with the appointment of independent FoI and privacy commissioners in 2024.