On Thursday 28 September we will join members of the United Nations and Australian states and territories to celebrate International Access to Information Day (IAID).

This annual event recognises the importance of the community’s right to know and to access information from governments around the globe. It also allows us an opportunity to acknowledge and reflect on the role we have in promoting transparency and accountability, and recognise the important role of the hardworking FOI teams across Australian government.

The theme chosen by UNESCO for the 2023 campaign highlights the importance of the online space for access to information.

Australia’s Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), under which we operate, recognises that the information government holds is a national resource and is managed for public purposes, and that public access to it should be prompt and at the lowest reasonable cost. We should also acknowledge that promoting access to information is a whole of agency responsibility, and not confined to specialist practitioners.

In our increasingly digital world, it is imperative that we make government information easily accessible – by all Australians. 

So in thinking about making information available, and accessible, we must also consider what barriers people may face to digital access and inclusion, and factor these into what we do.

The Open by Design principles, launched in 2021 by Australian information access commissioners and ombudsmen, support the proactive release of information and promote open government. In particular, the principles highlight the need (where possible) to make information available via alternative channels so that individuals who do not have access to the internet are not disadvantaged.

Further, the principles discuss the need to ensure that all published information meets current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and supports the needs of people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. We encourage you to read and understand these principles as they play a key role in building a culture of transparency in Australia.

The Information Publication Scheme (IPS) underpins the pro-disclosure approach fostered by the principles. The IPS applies to Australian government agencies subject to the FOI Act, requiring them to publish a range of information on their website and authorising proactive publication of other information. We are currently undertaking a statutory review of agencies’ IPS, in conjunction with the agencies. We welcomed 70 attendees to the first of two information workshops on Thursday 21 September 2023 to discuss this review. We are holding a second workshop for agencies on Thursday 12 October.

For FOI practitioners – we have a range of resources available to support you in your role working for the community in our FOI Essentials toolkit. This toolkit has been designed to help you understand the principles of FOI, the benefits of releasing government-held information and how the OAIC can assist you.

And if you haven’t already, we encourage FOI practitioners to join our Information Contact Officers Network (ICON). Along with our Information Matters newsletter, we send ICON members targeted updates – or ICON alerts – about information access issues and events.

Thank you for your work upholding Australia’s FOI laws and managing information as a national resource. Your dedication contributes to advancing a culture of openness by design and advances our system of representative democracy.

Please join with us to mark IAID as we recognise the importance of access to information.

Acting Freedom of Information Commissioner
Toni Pirani

Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner
Angelene Falk