Federal Government to Drastically Limit Freedom of Information

Creeping authoritarianism continues in Canberra, as attorney general Michelle Rowland last week introduced a bill to amend the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), which, if passed, will rein in the capacity to obtain official government documents under freedom of information (FOI) laws, so the content available is drastically limited, which further signals a decline in open government.

Introduced on 3 September 2025, the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025 will serve to expand exemptions for the supply of documents related to cabinet, prohibit the ability to make FOI requests anonymously, limit the viability of requests to those that can be undertaken in under 40 hours, as well as introducing the imposition of a service fee.

The principle of open government is a cornerstone of the nation’s liberal democracy, and FOI permits constituents to scrutinise the decisions of ministers, via the request of federal government documents relating to a particular issue. FOI provides transparency, accountability, as well as citizen and resident participation, while its removal promotes secretive governance.

Rowland explained in her second reading speech on the bill that FOI is essential in “fostering public trust in government”, as it allows citizens to understand decisions and to participate “more effectively in Australia’s civic and democratic processes”. Yet, she then suggested that due to the onset of “digital communications”, the volume of requests has skyrocketed and must be reined in.

But with Labor having promised in 2019 that it would overhaul the much-delayed and convoluted FOI system to ensure that government is not permitted to hide information from the people, the question arising is why Anthony Albanese has taken such an about face, with the most obvious response being that coupled with his recent migration reforms, the PM is taking his cue from Trump.

Curbing the flow of information

“The administrative impost of processing large and complex requests or treating vexatious and frivolous requests with the same procedural rigour, can divert resources and risks inhibiting agencies from providing important and essential government services and delivering on reform priorities that would benefit all Australians,” Rowland set out, in terms of shutting down government transparency.

Indeed, soon after waxing lyrical about FOI being essential, the AG dove straight into a list of reasons why there is an FOI issue, which includes the 40-year-old system being inundated with requests due to advances in technology, while public servants spent up to a million hours processing requests over 2023-24 to the tune of $86.2 million, which was a 23 percent rise on the year prior.

The nation’s chief lawmaker further suggests that there are large numbers of vexatious FOI requests being anonymously made, which the government appears to consider are being generated by AI bots. However, the claims that the public has been messing with the FOI system have not been substantiated by citing any evidence that it is taking place.

The key reforms involve permitting refusals based on substantial diversion of resources, refusal to process requests when considered “vexatious or frivolous”, ending the ability to make anonymous requests or those under a pseudonym, as well as enacting a processing cap of up to 40 hours work on a request and it also empowers the Information Commissioner (IC) to knock back FOI reviews.

In terms of cabinet exemptions, the current prohibition that cover documents marked “consideration of the cabinet” will be extended to incorporate documents marked “cabinet deliberation or decision”, which captures a much greater volume of information. And a service fee in respect of requests amounting to a proposed $30 to $50 is currently being contemplated on top of regular fees.

“Right now, the FOI framework is stuck in the 1980s – before the use of email and other modern technologies became common,” a 3 September Attorney General’s Department press release further explained. “The current laws are not working well for anybody — as evidenced by a doubling of complaints to the OAIC (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner) over the past five years.”

The right to know revoked

“FOI is broken and rather than fixing it, Labor is seeking to make it more expensive and even more impenetrable,” said Senator David Shoebridge in a 2 September release. “Information requests routinely take months or years to process, and documents are then heavily redacted with entire pages blacked out for questionable reasons.”

“Instead of addressing the fundamental secrecy problems inside the government, Labor has instead decided the issue is with the people trying to access information,” the Greens spokesperson for Justice made certain. “That says so much about the Albanese government’s arrogance and contempt for the public’s right to know.”

The senator added that he has had to place FOI requests in the past for information that likely should have been available to the public, and after having to request it, he then had to wait long periods to receive the material and what is often forthcoming is redacted beyond any comprehension, and he warns that Albanese is closing an avenue that makes possible the holding of government to account.

Shoebridge also pointed out that despite overhauling the FOI system, the government is yet to respond to the Senate inquiry into federal FOI, which handed down its final report in December 2023, and it found that the system is “dysfunctional and broken”, that the IC is under-resourced, and instead of recommending a winding back of FOI, it called for the broader supply of resources.

A morphed prime minister

In December 2019, following having lost the federal election earlier that year to the Morrison government, Albanese gave a prominent speech on the value of having an open government and explained how a federal Labor government would progress an agenda of broadening this so that there was a “culture of disclosure”, protection of whistleblowers and an overhauling of FOI.

“Reform freedom of information laws so they can’t be flouted by government,” said the then opposition leader in his late 2019 speech. “The current delays, obstacles, costs and exemptions make it easier for the government to hide information from the public. That is just not right.”

However, since coming to office in 2022, the Albanese of earlier days in opposition has gradually shifted toward an authoritarian character, and this appears to have been motivated due to the fallout that’s been produced by providing unbridled support for Israel in its commission of genocide in Gaza and then since late last year, federal Labor has been increasingly kowtowing to Trump’s influence.

Albanese appointed an antisemitism envoy in July 2024, who is now attempting to progress a Zionist agenda to eradicate support for Palestinians in the population, his ministers have been at pains to facilitate an ever-increasing US military presence in the north, he has recently passed laws that facilitate the mass deportation of refugees, and he’s now narrowing government transparency.

“We can’t afford censorship, persecution, insult or condescension,” the old Albanese of the pre-Trumpian era said, as he envisioned a more open society, which he’s currently attempting to close. “Building a better future for our country starts with a full-blooded assault on the culture of fear, censorship and denial that the Morrison government is trying to foist upon us.”

“It means an end to the now ingrained habit of shouting people down through the culture wars,” the then opposition leader continued in late 2019, prior to changing his mind whilst occupying the prime ministership, and he added that this means all Australians, “listening harder and really trying to understand where each other is coming from.”

The FOI reform bill is now under Senate committee inquiry until early December.