"On the 25th anniversary of the date of assent of the Federal Freedom of Information Act, Attorney General Philip Ruddock today announced that the Government accepted that major reforms to the legislation and the way it has been implemented are long overdue. The Government would act to adopt all recommendations made 12 years ago in a comprehensive report on the Act by the Australian Law Reform Commission, and regretted that it had taken so long to do so. Government policy, with immediate effect, would require disclosure of documents unless real harm to government, commercial or privacy interests would result. Conclusive certificates that enable ministers and departmental heads to protect documents from disclosure will be abolished. An Information Commissioner will have authority and resources to make the Act work to achieve its objective of extending as far as possible the rights of all Australians to gain access to information held by the Government".Just joking.......
The Federal FOI Act was signed into law on 9 March 1982 and commenced on 1 December that year, but the rest, unfortunately is pure fiction.
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