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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29 April 2026 | A guide to applying s 47F (5) of the FOI Act – release of personal information to a qualified person

In some circumstances, an FOI decision maker may be concerned about releasing certain material to an FOI applicant, due to the impact the disclosure of the material may have on that applicant's health or well-being.

28 April 2026 | A guide to applying s 38(2) of the FOI Act - allowing disclosure of an applicant's own personal information where secrecy provisions would otherwise apply

When considering the disclosure of information protected by a secrecy provision under s 38 of the FOI Act, an FOI decision maker may have to release information which would otherwise be exempt, where it is the personal information of the FOI applicant themselves.

27 April 2026 | Case Note - 'AZV' and Commonwealth Ombudsman (Freedom of information)

This Information Commissioner review decision concerns a decision of the Commonwealth Ombudsman and discussed the application of ss 24A and 47E(d) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).

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.

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