Defend our right to know
Our FOI system is a powerful, but lesser known democratic accountability tool, that has enormous ability to expose wrongdoing. Designed to shine a light into even the darkest, most isolated places of government, it functions to protect the most vulnerable, inform us about what is being done in our name, and hold governments accountable to the people they serve.
But exposed misconduct is embarrassing, and the Australian government is increasingly applying aggressive strategies to dodged its obligations under the FOI system.
We have a plan to:
-
Support legal challenges to systemic barriers to FOI targeted in our litigation hit list.
-
Drive attention to the problem through media stories that show how FOI shines a light on the powerful, expose corruption and protects the vulnerable.
-
Put pressure Ministers and government departments through legal cases and public scrutiny to get them to apply FOI laws properly.
-
Work with partners to develop a concrete proposal for FOI reform and advocate for its adoption by Government.
When FOI works, it is incredibly powerful. It can force accountability and lead to rapid change for people suffering human rights abuses, expose environmental misconduct and corruption of our public officials.
The longer FOI laws are dodged, the longer our right to know is being trampled on. It’s a little discussed but profound attack on democracy that we need to stop. Will you donate to help hold our Government accountable to the law?
With your support:
-
$50 could help fund media outreach to publicly scrutinise how the FOI system is being gamed;
-
$100 could help fund research and advocacy for FOI reform;
-
$250 could fund more cases in courts to ensure the current FOI law if being applied properly and Government Ministers and their departments are being help to account.
All donations of $2 and over are tax deductible in Australia. If we raise more than the cost of this campaign, your donation will be used to help cover the cost of ongoing, important Grata work.