The broad objective of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) is to give the public the right to access documents held by the Australian Government. As a prescribed authority under the FOI Act, Housing Australia is required to comply with this Act.
The FOI Act gives members of the public the right to:
- access copies of documents (except exempt documents) held by Housing Australia;
- ask Housing Australia to change or annotate information if it is incomplete, out of date, incorrect or misleading (where the information relates to the person making the request); and
- seek a review of a decision not to allow access to a document or not to amend their personal records.
While a member of the public can ask to access any document held by Housing Australia, Housing Australia can refuse access to some documents, or parts of documents that are exempt. Under Division 1, Part II of Schedule 2 of the FOI Act, documents in respect of Housing Australia’s commercial activities are exempt from the operation of the FOI Act. Exempt documents may also include documents relating to national security or documents containing material obtained in confidence.
An FOI request may be made to Housing Australia via:
- an email referring to the FOI Act sent to contact@housingaustralia.gov.au or
- by a letter referring to the FOI Act, sent to Level 23, 420 George Street Sydney NSW 2000
Housing Australia processes FOI requests in accordance with the FOI Act and guidelines from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
There is no application fee for an FOI request made to Housing Australia. However, in some instances, processing charges may apply. If this is the case, the FOI applicant will receive a written estimate prior to processing.
Housing Australia makes information available at the lowest reasonable cost and will reduce the cost of public access by publishing information on its website, especially information that is routinely sought by the public. Further details on Housing Australia’s compliance with the Information Publication Scheme is available here.
FOI applicants have the right of a review of FOI decisions made by Housing Australia. The following options are available:
Further information will be provided to FOI applicants in the FOI decision letter issued.
Once an FOI decision has been provided to the applicant, the request and any documents released will be made available on the Housing Australia’s FOI Disclosure Log - see below.
The disclosure log sets out Housing Australia’s compliance position under section 11C of the FOI Act.
The disclosure log is not exhaustive. For example, it does not include:
- documents of a personal or commercially valuable nature released under FOI where publishing that information would be unreasonable
- documents where access has been refused or which are exempt from release under FOI
- documents released outside the FOI framework
Documents published in response to an FOI requests may include internal working papers. The views expressed in these documents should not be considered as representing Housing Australia’s views or advice to government.
FOI Contact
Housing Australia’s FOI team can be contacted via email contact@housingaustralia.gov.au or written correspondence addressed to the FOI Officer, Level 23, 420 George Street Sydney NSW 2000.
FOI Number | Release date | Subject of FOI request | Description of information released | Further information |
FOI2024-2412-LP | 24/02/2025 | Any related documentation to the implementation of the project management software monday.com within the organisation. These could include any form of documentation such as:
| The release contained three documents with information out of scope and section 47(1)(b) – Information having a commercial value – redactions applied and information subject to s7(2) of the FOI Act not released | Available on request to the FOI Officer 1800 549 767 or email contact@housingaustralia.gov.au |
FOI2024-0508-BR | 11/12/2024 | Access to any correspondence / emails / communications between HESTA Super Fund and Housing Australia regarding the Housing Australia Future Fund since 21 May 2022 | The release contained 16 documents, with information out of scope redacted and subject to s7(2) of the FOI Act not released | Available on request to the FOI Officer 1800 549 767 or email contact@housingaustralia.gov.au |
FOI2024-1309-AB | 25/11/2024 | Any correspondence, emails or communications between Housing Australia and the following entities about disbursements from the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) between 1 November 2022 and 12 September 2024:
| The release contained three documents, with information out of scope redacted and subject to s7(2) of the FOI Act not released | Available on request to the FOI Officer 1800 549 767 or email contact@housingaustralia.gov.au |
FOI2024-2309- TW | 22/11/2024 | information related to the recruitment of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr.
| The release contained 14 documents, with five documents in full and nine released in part with information subject to section 22, section 47E(c), section 47F and section 42 redacted | Available on request to the FOI Officer 1800 549 767 or email contact@housingaustralia.gov.au |
FOI2024-2106-AB | 05/11/2024 | Any correspondence/emails/ communications between CBUS Super Fund and Housing Australia regarding disbursements from the Housing Australia Future Fund, between November 2022 and 19 July 2024 | The release contained two documents, with information out of scope redacted and subject to s7(2) of the FOI Act not released | Available on request to the FOI Officer 1800 549 767 or email contact@housingaustralia.gov.au |
FOI2024-1807-JQ | 19/08/2024 | Any correspondence (excluding duplicates) received by Housing Australia from the Office of Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Department of Treasury or Housing Minister Juile Collins pertaining to the Future Made in Australia agenda from March 1 2024 to 18 July 2024 | The release contained four documents, with section 47F(1) public interest – conditional exemption – personal privacy redactions applied | Available on request to the FOI Officer 1800 549 767 or email contact@housingaustralia.gov.au |
FOI2024-2504-AP | 27/05/2024 | Housing Australia Style Guides/Brand Guides/Writing Guides | The release contained one document – the Housing Australia Brand Toolkit | Available on request to the FOI officer 1800 549 767 or email contact@housingaustralia.gov.au |
FOI2024-0126-JT | 14/03/2024 | Government responses to the Royal Commission on the Robo-debt Scheme | The release contained six documents, all edited to remove irrelevant information | Available on request to the FOI officer 1800 549 767 or email contact@housingaustralia.gov.au |
FOI2022-02 | 02/2023 | Housing Australia’s Senate estimates briefs for the October and November 2022 Budget Estimates | The release contained 11 documents, with five documents in full and six modified to remove exempt agency information | Available on request to the FOI officer 1800 549 767 or email contact@housingaustralia.gov.au |