House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

Circulated By Authority of the Cabinet Secretary, Senator the Hon Joe Ludwig

Notes on Clauses

Clause 1: Short title

Clause 1 is a formal clause which provides the citation of the Bill.

Clause 2: Commencement

Clause 2 (table item 1) provides that sections 1 to 3 of the Bill (and anything not covered in the table) will commence on the day the Bill receives Royal Assent. Most other measures in the Bill are dependent on the establishment of the new statutory position of Information Commissioner and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as proposed in the Australian Information Commissioner Bill. Schedules 1, 3 (excluding item 15), 4, 5, 6 and 7 will therefore commence immediately after the commencement of section 3 of the Australian Information Commissioner Act.

The commencement of Schedule 2, which introduces a new Information Publication Scheme for agencies subject to the FOI Act, has a deferred commencement of six months from the commencement of section 3 of the Australian Information Commissioner Act. This deferred commencement is to allow agencies sufficient time to prepare for the introduction of the publication requirements, including the requirement to develop a plan under the Information Publication Scheme.

The commencement of item 15 of Schedule 3, which requires agencies to publish information disclosed in response to an access request, is also deferred by six months from the commencement of section 3 of the Australian Information Commissioner Act. This is to allow agencies sufficient time to prepare for this requirement, such as ensuring agency websites are properly configured (it is intended that information published under this requirement will predominately be published on agency websites).

Clause 3: Schedules

This clause provides for each Act specified in a Schedule to the Bill to be amended in accordance with the items set out in the relevant Schedule.