20321ab7_nformation_Commissioner___OAIC_reedom_of_Information_Act_1982_Issue_description
[FOI Act Part] Part I — Preliminary [FOI Act section] 4(1) [Recommended action] No change: the FOI Act should continue to apply to the Parliamentary Departments, other than the Parliamentary Budget Office. Consideration should be given to the possible need for a similar exemption for research/advice to Members of Parliament provided by the Parliamentary Library. [Issue description] 
Should Parliamentary departments remain covered by the FOI Act as prescribed authorities? They are covered now (except for the Parliamentary Budget Office), but it was thought for years that they weren't: see OAIC Annual Report 2011–12, p 111. The ALRC/ ARC Open Government report also recommended that Parliamentary departments should be subject to the FOI Act. Note that access to information laws in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom apply to Parliamentary departments.
Review of freedom of information legislation| Office of the Australian Information Commissioner - OAIC
Issue description