Footnotes

Chapter 1 - Introduction

[1]        House of Representatives, Votes and Proceedings, No.72, 2 October 2014, p. 875.

[2]        House of Representatives, Votes and Proceedings, No.78, 28 October 2014, pp 939-940.

[3]        Journals of the Senate, No. 63, 30 October 2014, pp 1689-1691.

[4]        Journals of the Senate, No. 63, 30 October 2014, p. 1701.

[5]        Parliamentary Library, Bills Digest No. 44, 2014-15, 27 October 2014, p. 3.

[6]        Parliamentary Library, Bills Digest No. 44, 2014-15, 27 October 2014, p. 4.

[7]        Attorney-General's Department, Review of Freedom of Information Laws, Terms of Reference, at http://www.ag.gov.au/consultations/pages/reviewoffoilaws.aspx.

[8]        Australian Government, Review of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010, July 2013, p. 3.

[9]        Australian Government, Review of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010, July 2013, p.24.

[10]      Australian Government, Review of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010, July 2013, p.36.

[11]      The Hon JB Hockey MP, Treasurer & Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance, Budget Measures: Budget Paper no.2, 2014-15, 13 May 2014, p. 64.

[12]      Senator the Hon George Brandis QC, Attorney-General and Minister for the Arts, 'Streamlined arrangements for external merits review', Media Release, 13 May 2014.

[13]      Explanatory Memorandum, p. 2.

[14]      Senator Richard Colbeck, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Second Reading Speech, Senate Hansard, 30 October 2014, p. 72.

[15]      By agreement between the agencies, the Ombudsman began accepting complaints directly on 1 November 2014, and all complaints received by the OAIC since that date are being transferred to the Ombudsman. Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Submission 26, pp 2-3.

Chapter 2 - Key issues

[1]        Information Consultants Pty Ltd, Submission 2, pp 1-2.

[2]        Mr Michael McKinnon, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 17; Australia's Right to Know, Submission 24, p. 1. The NSW Council of Civil Liberties also indicated that it was not opposed in principle to the removal of merits review to the AAT, but objected strongly to the costs involved: Submission 20, p. 2.

[3]        Mr Peter Timmins, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 13.

[4]        Mr John TD Wood, Submission 8.

[5]        Information Consultants Pty Ltd, Submission 2, p. 2.

[6]        Professor John McMillan, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 26.

[7]        Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Submission 26, p. 9 and Attachment 1.

[8]        Dr James Popple, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 27.

[9]        In addition, a number of submitters expressed negative views about the value of internal review.

[10]      Commonwealth Ombudsman, Submission 14, p. 3; Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Submission 26, p. 7; Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Submission  32.

[11]      Information Consultants Pty Ltd, Submission 2, p. 1.

[12]      Professor John McMillan, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 32.

[13]      Ms Sophie Farthing, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 13.

[14]      Professor Julian Disney, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 18.

[15]      Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 20; Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Submission 15, p. 4.

[16]      Professor John McMillan, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, pp 28-29. See also Mr Peter Timmins, Submission 9, p.3.

[17]      Ms Sophie Farthing, Committee Hansard , 10 November 2014, p.13; Mr Michael McKinnon, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 17; Open Australia Foundation, Submission 11,
p. 1; Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Submission 15, pp 11-12; Mr Daniel Stewart, Submission 27.

[18]      Mr Paul Fletcher MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications, House of Representatives Hansard, 28 October 2014, p. 92.

[19]      Mr Matt Minogue, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 33.

[20]      Mr Matt Minogue, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 38.

[21]      Parliamentary Library, Bills Digest No. 44, 2014-15, 27 October 2014, p. 4; Associate Professor Moira Paterson, Submission 5, pp 6-7; Transparency International Australia, Submission 6; Mr Peter Timmins, Submission 9, pp 1 & 7-8.

[22]      Queensland Integrity Commissioner, Submission 3, p. 1.

[23]      Professor Julian Disney, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 19.

[24]      Professor Julian Disney, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 23.

[25]      Associate Professor Moira Paterson, Submission 5, p. 3.

[26]      Mr Peter Timmins, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 9, 11; Open Australia Foundation, Submission 11, pp 3-4 & Attachment 1.

[27]      Assistant Professor Bruce Baer Arnold, Submission 12, p. 4. See also Australian Privacy Foundation, Submission 17, pp 4-5 and Pirate Party Australia, Submission 19, pp 2-3.

[28]      Ms Sophie Farthing, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 14. See also Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Submission 15, p. 13.

[29]      Public Law and Policy Research Unit, Submission 10, p. 4.

[30]      Professor Julian Disney, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 19.

[31]      Mr Matt Minogue, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, pp 36-37.

[32]      Mr Peter Timmins, Submission 9, p. 6.

[33]      Associate Professor Moira Paterson, Submission 5, p. 2.

[34]      Guardian Australia, Submission 18, p. 3.

[35]      Mr Peter Timmins, Submission 9, p. 10.

[36]      Mr Peter Timmins, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 9.

[37]      Mr Matt Minogue, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 35.

[38]      Australian Human Rights Commission, Submission 22, p. 1.

[39]      Professor Gillian Triggs, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 4.

[40]      Australian Human Rights Commission, Submission 22, p. 2; Professor Gillian Triggs, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, pp 6-7.

[41]      Mr Timothy Pilgrim, Privacy Commissioner, Additional Information provided to the committee on 12 November 2014, pp 1-2.

[42]      Australian Privacy Foundation, Submission 17, p. 6.

[43]      Mr Timothy Pilgrim, Privacy Commissioner, Additional Information provided to the committee on 12 November 2014, p. 1.

[44]      Mr Matt Minogue, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 34.

[45]      Mr Matt Minogue, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, pp 39-40.

[46]      Associate Professor Moira Paterson, Submission 5, p. 5; Mr Peter Timmins, Submission 9,
p. 10.

[47]      Mr Peter Timmins, Submission 9, p. 12; Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Submission 15, p. 5.

[48]      Professor Julian Disney, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 19.

[49]      Mr Edward Santow, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 9.

[50]      Information Consultants Pty Ltd, Submission 2, p. 3.

[51]      Mr Paul Fletcher MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications, House of Representatives Hansard, 28 October 2014, p. 93.

Dissenting report by Labor Senators

[1]        Mr Mark Dreyfus MP, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business, House of Representatives Hansard, 28 October 2014, p. 85.

[2]        Professor Richard Mulgan, 'How the FOI watchdog was starved to death', Canberra Times, 3 June 2014.

[3]        Associate Professor Moira Paterson, Submission 5, p. 2.

[4]        Mr Michael McKinnon, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 20.

[5]        Australian Government, Review of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010, July 2013, p.3, 36.

[6]        Australian Law Reform Commission & Administrative Review Council, Open Government – A Review of the Federal Freedom of Information Act 1982, ALRC Report 77, 20 January 1996.

[7]        See for example Transparency International Australia, Submission 6.

[8]        See Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Submission 26, Attachment 1, which is extracted from the OAIC Annual Report 2013-14.

[9]        Information Consultants Pty Ltd, Submission 2, p. 3.

[10]      Liberty Victoria, Submission 21, p. 3.

[11]      Professor John McMillan, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 29.

Dissenting report by the Australian Greens

[1]        Mr Peter Timmins, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 13.

[2]        Mr John TD Wood, Submission 8.

[3]        Dr James Popple, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 27.

[4]        Mr Peter Timmins, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 9.

[5]        Ms Sophie Farthing, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 13.

[6]        Professor Julian Disney, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 18.

[7]        Guardian Australia, Submission 18, p. 4.

[8]        Open Australia Foundation, Submission 11, pp 3-4 & Attachment 1.

[9]        Assistant Professor Bruce Baer Arnold, Submission 12, p. 4.

[10]      Ms Sophie Farthing, Committee Hansard, 10 November 2014, p. 14. See also Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Submission 15, p. 13.

[11]      Mr Timothy Pilgrim, Privacy Commissioner, Additional Information provided to the committee on 12 November 2014, pp 1-2.