Brandis considers his options over Federal Court FOI judgment

George Brandis was last night considering a Federal Court judgment that set a precedent on requests under the FOI Act.

Attorney-General George Brandis was last night considering a Federal Court judgment that set a precedent for agencies and the extent to which they should consider requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

Labor had sought months of the Attorney-General’s official diary but his office exercised an option available under the act to refuse to process the FOI on the basis it was too burdensome.

After Labor had a win in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which ordered the FOI proceed to a decision, Senator Brandis took it to the full bench of the Federal Court, which found nothing wrong with the AAT ruling. While the FOI request is considered unlikely to be successful — Malcolm Turnbull has refused a request for one day of his diary — the precedent could require agencies to make decisions on more complex matters.

Senator Brandis was said to be considering the judgment, its ramifications and the options available to him as Attorney-General.

He can either accept the ­decision, take it to the High Court, or potentially revisit proposals for a legislative cap on ­processing time.