Australians could be left with no appeal rights against government secrecy by the end of this year with the Senate set to block crucial changes to the Freedom of Information Act. <\/p>\n
The act urgently needs amendment after the Government's surprise May budget decision to cut funding for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) by the end of this year. <\/p>\n
Under the current FOI Act, appeals have to be lodged with the OAIC. However, the Government's amendment will allow challenges to go direct to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). <\/p>\n
But the Greens have decided not to support the amendment and the ABC understands both the Opposition and Palmer United Party (PUP) are also looking to block passage of the amendment in the Senate. <\/p>\n
With only three sitting weeks for the Senate remaining and without cross-bench support, failure to amend the FOI Act will mean Australians will be without any appeal options against decisions to keep information secret for the first time since the FOI Act was introduced in 1982. <\/p>\n
FOI laws provide a legal right of access to government information and recognise that politicians control information and tend to hide political and policy failures, mismanagement and corruption from voters. <\/p>\n
Under the then-Labor government's reform of the FOI Act in 2010, an Australian Information Commissioner was created aimed at improving government transparency and openness. <\/p>\n
But the OAIC was taking up to 220 days before even looking at an appeal, leaving applicants facing lengthy delays. <\/p>\n
The OAIC also made decisions allowing increased government secrecy which also damaged support for the agency. <\/p>\n
A spokesman for the Attorney-General George Brandis said the 2010 reforms had \"created an unnecessarily complex system\" with multiple levels of external merits review for FOI matters. <\/p>\n
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See the article here:<\/p>\n
Freedom of Information Act amendments set to be blocked in Senate, nation could lose appeal rights<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Australians could be left with no appeal rights against government secrecy by the end of this year with the Senate set to block crucial changes to the Freedom of Information Act. The act urgently needs amendment after the Government's surprise May budget decision to cut funding for the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) by the end of this year Continue reading