Media Release: Government seek to make broken FOI scheme even more secretive
Media Release: Government seek to make broken FOI scheme even more secretive | Australian Greens Skip to main content Search Get Involved Join Donate Our plan Tax the 1% Tackle the cost of living Healthcare for all Fix the housing crisis Strong climate action Policy principles & aims Our team Federal MPs State/territory MPs Officeholders Media releases Take action Volunteer Donate Issues & campaigns Events Greens Shop Leave a bequest Our movement About the Greens Become a member Jobs Green Magazine All news Get Involved Join Donate Search Our plan Toggle Tax the 1% Tackle the cost of living Healthcare for all Fix the housing crisis Strong climate action Policy principles & aims Our team Toggle Federal MPs State/territory MPs Officeholders Media releases Take action Toggle Volunteer Donate Issues & campaigns Events Greens Shop Leave a bequest Our movement Toggle About the Greens Become a member Jobs Green Magazine All news Media Release: Government seek to make broken FOI scheme even more secretive 2025-09-02 Labor has today announced sweeping changes to Freedom of Information laws that will make it significantly harder for Australians to access government documents, introducing upfront fees and new barriers in what represents the biggest restrictions to FOI in recent memory.
Despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's promise to "bring transparency back into government" after criticising the "secrecy" of the Morrison era, the government will present legislation on Wednesday that directly contradicts this commitment by charging fees for most FOI requests and banning anonymous applications. Senator David Shoebridge, Greens spokesperson for Justice said: “FOI is broken and rather than fixing it, Labor is seeking to make it more expensive and even more impenetrable.
"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. That says so much about the Albanese government's arrogance and contempt for the public’s right to know.
"The changes propose a fundamental shift away from the principle that government information belongs to the public and should be freely accessible. It’s a dark day for democracy that this is even on the table. “I’ve lodged many requests for Government information that should have been public in the first place and had to fight for months, if not years, to get anything provided in response.
“Labor is hiding more information than ever from Parliament and the public, and is now seeking to shut down the one system that allowed them to be challenged in an independent tribunal. "Multiple government-commissioned reports have identified that the FOI system needs proper funding and stronger rules to force agencies to release information. “Making information only accessible to those who can pay sells us all out.
“If you want to target AI bots and foreign actors then first, show us the evidence and second, target them specifically, not the many regular users of this system including whistleblowers, journalists and politicians,” Senator Shoebridge NB The Government still has not officially responded to the December 2023 report into the The operation of Commonwealth Freedom of Information (FOI) law Facebook for the Australian Greens YouTube for the Australian Greens X for the Australian Greens Instagram for the Australian Greens Bluesky for the Australian Greens Privacy Members website Your safety Contact us Our plan Tax the 1% Tackle the cost of living Healthcare for all Fix the housing crisis Strong climate action In your language 2025 policy platform Policy principles & aims Our team Federal MPs State/territory MPs Officeholders Federal portfolios Federal media releases Take action Volunteer Donate Issues & campaigns Upcoming events Greens Shop Leave a bequest Green Magazine All news Our movement About the Greens Become a member Jobs Members website State/territory parties Contact us The Greens acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.
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