Six months after its 2025 re-election, the Australian Government faces serious integrity challenges. This report card assesses the Government’s actions – and inaction – across key democratic safeguards: transparency, merit-based appointments, limits on undue influence, strengthening the public service and support for the institutions that hold power to account. The paper urges the Government to...

This report finds Australia's freedom of information (FOI) system is dysfunctional, making it very difficult for Australians to get information out of government. It notes that the changes proposed in the Australian Government’s Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025 would exacerbate problems in the system, concluding that government secrecy is the cause of the problems.

The study measures the Australian public’s awareness of their right to access government information and their experiences and outcomes when exercising that right. The findings suggest a need for increased efforts to raise awareness about the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).

Freedom of information (FOI) is a crucial part of the beneficial information feedback loop between the government and the people. However, this submission finds that Australia's FOI system is broken and cultural and legal changes are needed to fix it. It presents the South Australian FOI review process as a model that could be adopted...

This review of the policies and practices of 22 agencies found messaging apps are an established feature of digital communications in the Australian Public Service, though they are regularly being used without adequate policies and procedures that reflect statutory obligations. The objective of the report is to provide information, advice and assistance to agencies around...