Albanese’s department among those blocking 80% of FoI requests, scathing report finds

Report finds culture of ‘resistance and delay’ in the Australian parliament with more than 60% of requests having longer response times than mandated 30-day deadline Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A scathing audit report has found nearly 80% of freedom of information requests to Anthony Albanese’s department, Treasury and the infrastructure department were rejected, creating a culture of “resistance and delay” in the Australian parliament. The review of FoI administration found there was no consistent, transparent or accountable decision-making around requests and the pro-disclosure objectives of the law were being flouted. The auditor general considered some of more than 43,000 applications received by the Albanese government in 2024-25, finding the departments did not have appropriate policies and procedures to meet transparency obligations and were not maintaining adequate FoI records. Last financial year, 79% of applications were refused in full or in part and 57% of applications resulted in no documents being released. Department disclosure logs for FoI applications were found to be i