Prime minister?s department breached FOI laws over release of Brittany Higgins documents

The prime minister’s department breached freedom of information law by dragging out a request for internal documents about the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins, prompting the regulator to warn it to urgently fix its “compliance with the FOI act”.

In April this year, two months after Higgins spoke out publicly about her alleged attack in March 2019, the department of prime minister and cabinet received a targeted FOI request for documents relating to its handling of the case.

The request, made by an anonymous member of the public, asked for emails sent or received by a specific assistant secretary within a two-month window, which contained the keyword “Brittany”.

The FOI captured just 20 relevant documents.

The department, however, complained that the request was “complex and voluminous” and twice asked for an extension to the 30-day statutory timeframe to respond.

It also ran its decision past the prime minister’s office, something departments are not legally obliged to do.

The department was granted the extensions, allowing it until 4 June 2021, but still failed to meet the legally-imposed deadline. That prompted a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).