The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) is based on the principle that government information is a national resource to be managed in the public interest.

The FOI Act gives Australians the right to make FOI requests to access Commonwealth Government documents.

The FOI Act also requires each Commonwealth Government agency (with a few exceptions) to:

• Fulfil FOI requests at the lowest reasonable cost; and
• Publish, in an online Disclosure Log, documents released under FOI requests.

In addition to the above obligations, under the Information Publication Scheme (IPS) each agency must:

• Explain through an Agency Plan how it will proactively make information available to the public; and
• Make information available to the public through a statement of IPS information holdings.

Make a request

Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, members of the public can seek access to documents and files held by the agency, such as:

• General correspondence and related records
• Technical papers and reference materials, eg procedure manuals, internal instructions and guidelines, publications and training materials.

FOI requests must be in writing and should be sent to:

The FOI Contact Officer
Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House
PO Box 3934
Manuka ACT 2603

Phone: 02 6270 8192
Fax: 02 6270 8235

Requests may also be lodged via email to MOAD-Governance@moadoph.gov.au. The FOI Contact Officer can be contacted on 02 6270 8192 to discuss any prospective requests.