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The Commonwealth and Immigration Ombudsman, Professor John McMillan, today released a report on delay by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in dealing with requests under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

The Ombudsman has been monitoring DIAC’s freedom of information (FOI) processing since 2005 following numerous complaints about significant delays.

‘Freedom of information is a key feature of transparency and accountability in public administration’, said Prof. McMillan. ‘The statutory time limits for processing requests and making decisions are an important aspect of FOI.’

‘Complaints to the Ombudsman highlighted a growing problem for DIAC in meeting the FOI time limits. FOI delays can disadvantage members of the public who need official documents in order to exercise other legal rights and opportunities. Delay also undermines the open government objective of the FOI Act.’

The investigation identified numerous causes of the FOI delays in DIAC. These included the increased number of FOI requests to DIAC, the complexity of many requests, the number of locations at which records were held, the diffusion of data across electronic and hard copy files, poor communication between DIAC and FOI applicants, and the centralisation of FOI processing. A major problem highlighted by the investigation was that requests for information which could be dealt with aside from the FOI Act were being dealt with as FOI requests.

The report recommended that DIAC conduct a wide-ranging review of its FOI and information disclosure processes having regard to specific recommendations in the report. The Secretary of DIAC accepted all the Ombudsman’s recommendations, and pointed to strong and steady progress by the Department in improving its FOI processing and in providing helpful guidance to clients and FOI applicants.

Prof McMillan said that this report holds lessons for all Australian Government agencies. ‘Agencies must treat FOI as a core business activity that receives appropriate resourcing and managerial attention. FOI can impose complex demands on agencies that require a concerted and high level response from the agency. There must be a cultural recognition within government that access to information is both an important statutory right of members of the public, and an essential requirement for administrative transparency and open government.’

The report is available online.

See: Department of Immigration and Citizenship: Timeliness of decision making under the Freedom of Information Act 1982

For further information or to arrange an interview with Prof. McMillan contact:

Elizabeth Courtney-Frost
Director, Public Affairs
02 6276 0133
elizabeth.frost@ombudsman.gov.au

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