20321ab7_nformation_Commissioner___OAIC_reedom_of_Information_Act_1982_Issue_description
[FOI Act Part] Part III — Access to documents [FOI Act section] 11B(4)(c) [Recommended action] Section 11B(5) should be amended to provide that the high seniority of the author is irrelevant regardless of the author's agency. [Issue description] 
Section 11B(5) provides that one irrelevant factor (when deciding whether access to the document would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest) is that 'the author of the document was (or is) of high seniority in the agency to which the request for access to the document was made'. Consideration of this factor should not be restricted to circumstances where the author of the document was (or is) in the same agency as that to which the FOI request was made; it should apply to authors in all agencies.
Review of freedom of information legislation| Office of the Australian Information Commissioner - OAIC
Issue description