Monthly FOI update :: Sparke Helmore

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) provides the public with a legal right to access documents and information held by Commonwealth Government and Ministers, subject to the application of exemption provisions. Our brief monthly update will keep you informed about recent FOI decisions of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) and Federal Court of Australia (FCA). We will also share our insights on FOI trends and some practical FOI processing tips, which we hope will assist agencies in navigating the processing of FOI requests.

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30 March 2026 | Minor updates to the FOI Guidelines in February 2026

The FOI Guidelines were recently updated and are now dated as of March 2026. We have summarised the changes in a table for ease of reference and providing a short summary of the substantive changes.

25 March 2026 | FOI Commissioner Linacre reflects on her first six months

Alice Linacre has recently reflected on her the first six months in her role as Australia's Freedom of Information Commissioner.

24 March 2026 | Kline and the Registrar Administrative Review Tribunal (Freedom of information)

This review decision concerns a decision of the Registrar of the Administrative Review Tribunal on an access refusal decision made under the Freedom of information Act.

23 March 2026 | Case note: 'AZJ' and Australian Federal Police (Freedom of Information)

The applicant in this matter sought access under the Freedom of Information Act to documents held by the Australian Federal Police relating to employment suitability assessments for AFP roles.

25 February 2026 | What's new in the Administrative Review Tribunal's 2026 FOI Practice Direction

The 2026 Direction makes some changes to how Freedom of information reviews are conducted in the Administrative Review Tribunal, and are examined in this article.

23 February 2026 | Consideration of Bachelard s 47F commentary by the Freedom of Information Commissioner

We report on two recent FOI Commissioner Cases, which refer to the Tribunal’s recent characterisation of s 47F. In the remitted Tribunal matter of Australia Federal Police (Freedom of Information) [2025] ARTA 2416 (Bachelard), Justice Kyrou found that in order for s 47F to apply, the information must be 'about' an individual, rather than simply refer to them.

20 February 2026 | Automated decision-making and public reporting under the Freedom of Information Act

On 21 January 2026 the OAIC released a report, which explores the prevalence of appropriate disclosure of the use of automated decision-making agencies under the FOI Act.

29 January 2026 | Case note: 'AZG' and Services Australia (Freedom of information)

This Information Commissioner review concerned whether a practical refusal reason existed in relation to a request for documents held by Services Australia relating to the Applicant.

23 January 2026 | When will an agency be required to generate a document in response to an FOI Request? Section 17 of the FOI Act explained

The FOI Act provides every person with a legally enforceable right to obtain access to documents of an agency or a Minister. Generally, this does not require an agency to give information or to answer questions.

22 January 2026 | Case note: 'AVH' and Prime Minister of Australia (Freedom of Information)

This interesting IC review matter explored what constitutes 'an official document of a Minister'. Excitingly, this IC review matter involved the world's favourite pop sensation – Taylor Swift!

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