Australian FoI loophole to deny access to documents closed in ‘transformative’ ruling

A loophole in Australia’s freedom of information laws allowing governments to block the release of documents after a minister has moved on has now been closed after a “truly transformative” federal court ruling.

The audit office had revealed in January 2020 the former Coalition government had handed out $100m in sports grants that were not assessed on their merits in order to favour “targeted” seats at the May 2019 election.

Justice Natalie Charlesworth accepted there may be “very strong political resistance” for outgoing ministers to hand over documents subject to pending FoI requests, particularly if there’s a change of government.

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Isabelle Reinecke, the executive director of Grata Fund, which supported Patrick’s case along with Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, said the decision was “truly transformative”.

A Senate committee found the regime was “dysfunctional and broken” due to funding and resourcing limitations and delays compounded in part by a pro-secrecy culture within the bureaucracy.