Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), known until 2010 as the Office of the Australian Privacy Commissioner is an independent Australian Government agency, acting as the national data protection authority for Australia, established under the Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010, headed by the Australian Information Commissioner.

The office has three primary functions:

The office is an agency within the Attorney-General's portfolio. The office liaises with the Business and Information Law Branch, part of the Civil Law Division within the Civil Justice and Legal Services Group of the Attorney-General's Department. However, the office is an independent agency and reports directly to the Parliament of Australia, not to the Attorney-General.

The first Australian Privacy Commissioner was appointed in 1989 to the former Office of the Privacy Commissioner, which was the national privacy regulatory body until 2010. Major changes to federal freedom of information (FOI) law made in 2010 established the present office as the body responsible for FOI, privacy, and information policy. The Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Act 2010 was passed in May 2010, and came into effect from November 2010. This Act introduced fundamental changes to the way information held by government is managed and accessed by members of the public (see Freedom of Information).

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner was integrated into the office at this time.

The office is headed by the Australian Information Commissioner. Despite their titles, all commissioners can exercise the privacy and freedom of information (FOI) functions. However, only the Information Commissioner may exercise the information policy functions.

The office’s responsibilities include:

The office has freedom of information functions, including the oversight of the operation of the FOI Act and review of decisions made by agencies and ministers under that Act. If a person is dissatisfied with the result of an FOI request, they may seek review by the office. A person may also complain to the office if they are unhappy with the manner in which their request was handled by an agency.

The FOI Act has been a feature of Australia's legislative landscape since 1982. The purpose of the FOI Act was to open government activity to public scrutiny, so as to enhance accountability and encourage citizen engagement with public administration. In 2010, the Australian Parliament implemented wide-ranging open government reforms — the most significant FOI reforms in thirty years. The office was established and substantial changes were made to the FOI Act. These reforms simplified the process for accessing government information, tightened the exemptions to information release, strengthened independent oversight and review of FOI administration, promoted proactive publication of government information, and clearly stated the open government object of the FOI Act.

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