Category Archives: Freedom of information

Suella Braverman sent at least 290 government files to her private email

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Tory rightwinger may have breached ministerial code as attorney general between 2021 and 2022

Suella Braverman forwarded government documents to her private email accounts at least 127 times while serving as attorney general, in a potential breach of the ministerial code.

The Tory rightwinger routinely forwarded correspondence, with at least 290 documents attached, when she was the government’s top legal officer between 2021 and 2022, according to a freedom of information request.

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Company linked to Angus Taylor offered ‘generous’ offset calculation after illegal land clearing, FoI letters reveal

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Exclusive: Experts say legislation is ‘broken’ when it’s cheaper for landholders to break the law than it is to apply for permits

A company connected to former federal energy minister Angus Taylor that was ordered to restore critically endangered grasslands was asked to do less than would have been required if it had sought approval before it poisoned them.

The federal environment department’s efforts to reach an agreement with Jam Land to compensate for the 28.5 hectares of clearing on a property in the New South Wales Monaro region are revealed in new documents released to Guardian Australia after a four-year freedom of information battle.

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Former NSW Coalition government was warned recycled soil products posed ‘unacceptable risks’

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Exclusive: Environment watchdog advised in 2021 the material ‘should not be used broadly’, before backing away from proposals to tighten regulations

The New South Wales environment watchdog warned the former Coalition state government that a widely used recycled landscaping product posed “potential unacceptable risks to the environment and the community”.

Guardian Australia revealed in January that the Environment Protection Authority had known for more than a decade that producers of soil fill made from construction and demolition waste – known as recovered fines – were failing to comply with rules to limit the spread of contaminants.

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Labor urges court to bin obligations so it can keep documents secret in event of ministry changes

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Albanese government brings landmark appeal against original ruling on freedom of information that says documents remain official once portfolio changes hands

The Albanese government is urging the federal court to find that ministerial reshuffles wipe out its obligation to release certain documents under freedom of information law, insisting in a landmark appeal case that documents stop being official and are put beyond public reach whenever a minister changes.

On Friday, the court will hear the government’s appeal against a ruling made in March that “official documents of government” do not suddenly become unofficial just because a new minister takes over the relevant portfolio.

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Labor ignored Bonza’s plea for help, as questions linger over what transport officials knew and when

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Exclusive: Documents reveal what transport minister Catherine King was advised to say in public as budget Australian airline headed for collapse

The Albanese government turned down a plea from budget airline Bonza for financial assistance 10 days before it entered voluntary administration and ultimately collapsed, and new documents have questioned what transport department officials knew and when.

Documents obtained by Guardian Australia through freedom of information laws reveal the transport department prepared a brief on Bonza’s financial assistance request for the transport minister, Catherine King, on 20 April. Ten days later the airline’s planes were repossessed and thousands of passengers stranded across the country.

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‘You can expect everything’: what next for Julian Assange and WikiLeaks?

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Site’s edge on whistleblowing is gone and its co-founder must recover, yet their resilience may make revival a possibility

As Julian Assange enjoys his first weekend of freedom in years, there appeared to be no question in the mind of his wife, Stella, about what the family’s priorities were.

The WikiLeaks co-founder would need time to recover, she told reporters after they were reunited in his native Australia, after a deal with US authorities that allowed him to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified defence documents.

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IT expert wins long-running freedom of information court battle over robodebt documents

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Justin Warren first lodged request with the then Department of Human Services in January 2017

The federal court has ruled against a decision blocking access to early robodebt documents drafted under the former Coalition government, as part of one man’s long-running fight to shed light on the scheme’s origins.

Justices Geoffrey Kennett, Anna Katzmann and Shaun McElwaine ruled that a December 2022 decision made by the administrative appeals tribunal (AAT) to keep some robodebt documents exempt, including draft costings and new policy proposals, should be set aside due to procedural unfairness and because the AAT had incorrectly agreed with the cabinet confidentiality exemptions Services Australia applied.

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Flawed immigration detention risk assessment tool can’t be upgraded as ABF data ‘riddled with errors’

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Exclusive: One detainee recorded as being involved in ‘over 3,000 incidents’ in a year – an ‘incredibly unfeasible’ scenario, FOI documents say

The secretive risk assessment tool used in Australia’s immigration detention centres could not be replaced by a better model due to insufficient data collection by Australian Border Force, documents reveal.

The security risk assessment tool is meant to determine whether someone is low, medium, high or extreme risk for escape or violence. It calculates risk ratings based on factors including pre-detention history and episodes that can occur in detention, such as possessing contraband or refusing food or fluids.

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AGL’s use of Centrepay not audited for two years despite allegations it wrongly took $700,000 from vulnerable Australians

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Services Australia says it is also working to retrieve overpayments from Queensland’s Ergon Energy

The federal government has not audited AGL’s use of Centrepay in two years despite revelations that the energy giant wrongly received more than $700,000 in welfare money from its former customers through the government-run debit system.

A Guardian Australia investigation of Centrepay, a system allowing businesses access to welfare payments before they hit recipients’ bank accounts, has revealed significant failings.

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BBC likely to redact some of emails it must release over Martin Bashir scandal

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Broadcaster expected to use Freedom of Information Act to stop full disclosure, tribunal told

The BBC is expected to redact some of the almost 3,000 emails it must release about its handling of the Martin Bashir scandal, a tribunal has heard.

A judge told the broadcaster to hand over the material earlier this month, two-and-a-half years after the journalist Andrew Webb used freedom of information (FoI) laws to ask to see it.

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Kerry Packer was proposed as mediator in Thatcher’s fight to stop Spycatcher memoir

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Counsel for ex-MI5 officer Peter Wright suggested role for Australian media tycoon but idea was swiftly rejected

The Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer was suggested as a mediator in the fight by Margaret Thatcher’s government to prevent the publication of Spycatcher, the memoirs of former MI5 officer Peter Wright, according to newly released official papers.

The offer was made by Wright’s Australian counsel – and future Australian prime minister – Malcolm Turnbull as part of a proposed out-of-court settlement, files released by the National Archives show.

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Australia’s freedom of information system ‘dysfunctional and broken’, inquiry finds

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Senate panel’s Labor members disagree with report, saying opposition-led probe failed to acknowledge Coalition’s ‘longstanding attempts to weaken’ FoI laws

Australia’s freedom of information regime has become “dysfunctional and broken” after years of funding and resourcing neglect and chronic backlogs caused in part by a pro-secrecy culture within the bureaucracy, a Senate committee has found.

The recent resignation of the freedom of information commissioner, who was less than 12 months into a five-year term, has also been described as a “symptom” of the troubles faced by the system designed to make federal government processes transparent.

The watchdog has been facing increasing scrutiny in recent years as a result of an ever-growing backlog of requests to review FoI decisions, hampered by bureaucratic and legislative roadblocks.

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Protesters interrupt ANU event – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Victoria bans Nazi salute, symbols and gestures in public

The Victorian government will today introduce legislation to parliament to ban the Nazi salute.

Victorians have zero tolerance for the glorification of hateful ideology. We’re making sure people who use these symbols and gestures to harass, intimidate and incite hate are held accountable for their cowardly behaviour. While we wish making these laws wasn’t necessary, we will always tackle antisemitism, hatred and racism head-on – because all Victorians deserve to feel accepted, safe and included.

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Norfolk and Suffolk police admit breach involving personal data of 1,230 people

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Information about victims of crime, witnesses and suspects included with freedom of information responses, forces say

Two police forces in England have admitted mishandling the sensitive data of victims, witnesses and suspects in cases including domestic abuse incidents, sexual offences, assaults, thefts and hate crime.

Norfolk and Suffolk police said the data of 1,230 people was included in files responding to freedom of information requests and apologised.

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UK banks are closing more than 1,000 accounts every day

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Nigel Farage calls for royal commission as data shows big jump in customers being ‘debanked’

Banks are closing more than 1,000 accounts every working day, according to new data that has fuelled the growing row over so-called “debanking” and prompted Nigel Farage to call for a royal commission to investigate what he said was a scandal.

Hours after the former Ukip leader revealed he was spearheading a website to campaign on behalf of people whose accounts had been shut, data revealed a big jump in the numbers of customers dumped by their bank.

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Rex Patrick to challenge denial of FoI requests based on ministerial portfolio changes

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Court to consider rule that keeps large swathes of government documents secret by denying freedom of information requests

The practice of using ministerial portfolio changes to keep large swathes of government documents secret is severely undermining transparency and accountability, the federal court will hear on Monday.

Rex Patrick, who marked himself as a transparency campaigner during his time in the Senate, is mounting a legal challenge against a common method of denying freedom of information requests for documents held by government ministers.

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Greens, Coalition and entire crossbench unite to force inquiry into ‘broken’ FOI system

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Senate to investigate after resignation of commissioner Leo Hardiman, who cited his lack of powers to make changes to fix delays

The Greens, Coalition and crossbench have teamed up to set up an inquiry into the freedom of information commissioner’s resignation over dysfunction and delays in the FOI system.

The FOI commissioner, Leo Hardiman, announced his resignation earlier in March citing his lack of powers to make changes necessary to improve the timeliness of reviews of FOI decisions.

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BBC accused of ‘hiding’ Oxbridge bias on University Challenge in deepening elitism row

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Corporation rejects freedom of information request from campaigner who claims show is ‘rigged’

The BBC has been accused of “hiding” the extent of its Oxbridge bias on University Challenge in a deepening row about alleged elitism on the show.

The Guardian revealed that Frank Coffield, a Durham-based emeritus professor of education at University College London, is campaigning for fairer entry rules for the show for what he says is a rigged contest.

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Australia’s FOI backlog: 587 cases remain unresolved more than three years on

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Evidence given to federal court reveals extensive delay in the review process, including 42 freedom of information cases languishing for five years

Almost 600 freedom of information cases have languished before the nation’s information commissioner for more than three years, including 42 that are still not resolved after half a decade.

The Office of the Australian Commissioner plays a critical role in the functioning of the FOI system, reviewing decisions made by government departments and ensuring documents are not unlawfully hidden from the public.

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Labour asks why Treasury unit let sanctioned oligarch bring UK libel case

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Key Putin ally, who founded Wagner mercenaries, attempted to ‘subvert sanctions and silence journalist’

The Treasury must explain how the Russian founder of a mercenary army was given permission to circumvent sanctions, to attempt to silence a British journalist, Labour has said.

In a letter to Jeremy Hunt, seen by the Guardian, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Pat McFadden, said that No 11 had to say why it had granted the permission and whether similar allowances had been made for other sanctioned oligarchs to use libel lawsuits.

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