Freedom of information (FOI)

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) is based on the principle that government information is a national resource to be managed in the public interest.

The Act gives Australians the right to make FOI requests to access Commonwealth Government documents.

The FOI Act also requires each Commonwealth Government agency (with a few exceptions) to:

• fulfill FOI requests at the lowest reasonable cost
• publish, in an online disclosure log, documents released under FOI requests

In addition to the above obligations, under the Information Publication (IPS) each agency must explain through an Agency Plan how it will proactively make information available to the public.