International Access to Information Day

Community resources

Across Australia, we all have a right to access government-held information.

Information is a powerful resource which is a key part of every government decision and activity. Freedom of information (FOI) means that we all have a right to access information held by Australian Government ministers and agencies.

Promoting and upholding information access rights is at the core of our work at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) recognises that the information government holds is a national resource and is managed for public purposes, and that public access to it should be prompt and at the lowest reasonable cost.

This International Access to Information Day explore our resources to learn more about your information access rights.


Key resources

How to access Australian government information

You can access information in a range of ways, depending on what information you want and which agency holds it. Our step-by-step tool can help direct you to the right agency or process.

See our tips

Top 5 tips for FOI applicants

The FOI Act gives you a right to access documents held by Australian Government agencies and ministers, unless an exemption applies. Read our tips to help you access documents.

See our tips

Requesting official documents held by a minister

Our website covers your rights to access a minister's documents, what is and is not an official document and your review rights if you disagree with an FOI decision.

Read more

Accessing agency information

You may find the information you want from an Australian Government agency or minister without needing to lodge an FOI request. This may include through disclosure logs or an Information Publication Scheme.

Learn more

Internal review

Under the FOI Act you can ask an agency to conduct an internal review of its FOI decision if you disagree with it.

Find out how

Information Commissioner review

You can ask the OAIC to review an FOI decision by an agency or minister if you’re not happy with the outcome or it hasn’t been made within the required timeframe.

Find out more

Correct your personal information under FOI

If you’ve been given access to your personal information and you think it is incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading, you have the right under the FOI Act to ask for the document to be amended or annotated.

Discover how

FAQs for applicants during the COVID-19 pandemic

See our FAQs about FOI and COVID-19 including information on what to expect when making an FOI request or applying for an Information Commissioner review of an FOI decision during the pandemic.

See our FAQs

You can find more resources on our website.