The Review has been told that when an FOI request is made, some agencies' first reaction is to find an exemption to cover it. These exemptions can be abused by agencies claiming them unnecessarily, without adequate justification and then not adequately explaining the reasons for refusing the claim. Undoubtedly there is a need for exemptions to the general right of access to government-held information. Exemptions protect, for example, the privacy of individuals, the commercial interests of businesses and the security of Australia. What is important, however, is that an exemption is only claimed when real harm will be caused by disclosure.
Many exemptions require a consideration of the public interest.
As public interest' can be a difficult concept to identify the Review considered defining it in the Act but concluded that this would not be possible given the extent to which the public interest changes over time. It would benefit both agencies and applicants, however, if some guidance were provided on what constitutes the public interest. The Review heard from a number of applicants who had no idea how to go about arguing a public interest case. Agencies currently have the benefit of memos issued by the Attorney-General's Department. The proposed independent monitor could, for example, issue guidelines on factors that may or may not be relevant to assessing the public interest.