The Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Act 2010[5] was passed in May 2010, and came into effect from November 2010.
The object of the Act is 'to increase recognition that information held by the Government is to be managed for public purposes, and is a national resource'.
The office can also provide information and advice on FOI to individuals and agencies, via the OAIC enquiries line.
For example, it covers: The Act also covers more specific matters, such as: The office has a range of responsibilities under other laws, including laws relating to data matching, eHealth, spent convictions and tax file numbers.
[6] The office provides information and advice on privacy to individuals, businesses and agencies via the OAIC enquiries line.
The office has the power to conduct privacy audits of Australian and ACT Government agencies, as well as some other organisations in certain circumstances.
The office has released a set of Principles on open public sector information[7] and an accompanying report.
The office encourages agencies to embed the principles in their internal policies and procedures on information management.