The Australian Government announced as part of the 2014–15 Budget that the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) will be disbanded from 31 December 2014.

The OAIC has issued a statement setting out how it will deal with Information Commissioner reviews and freedom of information (FOI) complaints until 31 December 2014.

The OAIC’s current functions will be split between four agencies. These changes will require legislative amendment to be passed by Parliament.

The changes announced by Government mean that from 1 January 2015:
•the Privacy Act 1988 will continue to be administered by the Privacy Commissioner and supporting staff from a new office based in Sydney
•freedom of information policy advice, guidance and annual statistics will be administered by the Attorney-General’s Department
•the right to external merits review of FOI decisions by government agencies and Ministers will lie directly to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)
•complaints about FOI administration by government agencies will lie directly to the Commonwealth Ombudsman
•unresolved FOI review applications and complaints before the OAIC will be transferred to the AAT and the Commonwealth Ombudsman.