18th Jun 2013, 7:28 PM – Senate Parliamentary Service Amendment (Freedom of Information) Bill 2013 — In Committee — Freedom of certain information

The majority voted against an amendment introduced by Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon, which means that it was unsuccessful.

Senator Rhiannon explained that:

This amendment defines the FOI applications that can be made in relation to parliamentary departments and office holders. The amendment is that information relating to the parliamentary departments, office holders' use of public resources and departmental administrative functions should be subject to FOI, while information relating to parliamentary proceedings, matters of political strategy or an MP's activities-for example, when dealing with constituents-are not.(Read Senator Rhiannon's full explanation and the associated debate here, after 7:17 pm. )

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced to amend the Parliamentary Service Act 1999 to restore the exclusion for the parliamentary departments and office holders from the application of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.(Read more about the bill, including its explanatory memorandum, here. ) This affects three parliamentary departments: the Department of the Senate, the Department of the House of Representatives and the Department of Parliamentary Services.(More information about the background to the bill can be found in its bills digest.)