To Attorney-General Michelle Rowland:

We call on you to intervene and ensure costs against FOI applicants are not pursued should Government-initiated appeals succeed.

Australia's FOI system is built on the principle of access at the lowest reasonable cost. A costs threat of this scale deters legitimate challenges, hands the Government a trump card against any decision it dislikes, and undermines the public's right to know – all without any parliamentary debate.

We call on you to act.

The Government recently lost an FOI case brought by FOI advocate Rex Patrick, who sought documents about the Government's plans for AUKUS nuclear waste storage. Rather than hand over the documents, it appealed – and threatened Patrick with potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in Federal Court costs if they win. This is unprecedented.

The FOI system is designed so that ordinary Australians can challenge bad decisions without financial risk. A costs threat at this scale demolishes that principle. A recent Auditor-General report found that when people challenge FOI decisions, 62% of the time they win. This threat is the Government's trump card – designed to ensure that even a win can be reversed by financial pressure.

Already, eighteen crossbench MPs and Senators have written to the Attorney-General – urging her to intervene – in what the press has called an "unlikely alliance" spanning the political spectrum. They include David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie, Andrew Wilkie, Helen Haines, David Shoebridge and Pauline Hanson.

Nine civil society organisations – including Whistleblower Justice Fund, the Human Rights Law Centre, the Australia Institute, Grata Fund and the Alliance for Journalists' Freedom – have separately written to the Attorney-General.

The pressure is building. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has the power to direct government officials to drop the threat. We're asking her to use it.

In opposition, Anthony Albanese promised to end Australia's culture of secrecy – to protect whistleblowers and reform FOI laws "so they can't be flouted by government." In government, he has been labelled "more secretive than Morrison" by anti-corruption advocates and the parliamentary crossbench. And the record shows why.

On this government's watch, war crimes whistleblower David McBride was imprisoned for exposing alleged misconduct by Australian forces in Afghanistan. Tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle faced years of prosecution for exposing unethical debt collection practices that independent inquiries later vindicated. The Government had the power to intervene in both cases. It chose not to. Meanwhile, it has failed to deliver the whistleblower protection reforms it promised.

Australia's FOI system has fared no better. After years of underfunding and chronic delays, the Government's response was to try to make things worse. The FOI Amendment Bill 2025 was the biggest proposed rollback of transparency since FOI laws began in 1982 – widening Cabinet secrecy exemptions, introducing new fees, baking in delays, and allowing bureaucrats to refuse requests without reading a single document. Civil society organisations, the Coalition, and the crossbench united against it, and Labor withdrew the Bill rather than face a public defeat.

This costs threat is the latest chapter in the same story – and the hardest to fight. There's no bill to block and no vote to win. It operates silently, and it could do more damage than anything that's come before.

We're fighting for that to change. Add your name.