Number of reviews soar

A SPECIAL News Corp investigation has exposed the flaws in the Government’s Freedom of Information decision-making, with two-thirds of rejected applications overturned on appeal.

Over the previous three years, FOI reviews on refused applications soared more than 80 per cent.

Of those progressing to formal review by a third party, 70 per cent of the government denials were overturned.

More Australians are questioning government secrecy, with a spike in the number of people seeking documents under FOI laws, up 4441 to 38,879 requests.

There was an even bigger jump in the number of people asking why their requests were being denied — 928 in the past financial year, up by 127.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner revealed the startling trend in its annual report this week. It follows testimony in the Senate’s Press Freedom inquiry that FOI laws had become “incredibly difficult” to navigate, and pointed to a “secrecy obsession” festering in Australian government ranks.

Information Commissioner Angelene Falk said increasing demand for government information demonstrated the importance of organisations remaining open and accountable to the public.

The commission resolved most of the FOI disputes by negotiating with government officials but, of the 60 written decisions it made last year, more than two-thirds of the decisions were changed. Only 31 per cent were upheld.