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RECORD RADAR · ROTATION 017
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SUN 30 AUG 2026
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— ROTATION 017 / 2026.08.30
Rotation 017 /043
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The new FOI releases from Federal government departments and key agencies from 23 to 30 August 2026 are summarised below. Notable this week: Australia declined to respond to a UN call for input on violence against women despite two departments drafting material, due to internal unease about the "sex-based" framing; the ATO's staff-monitoring regime is extensive and includes capturing 10% of employee screens; Jobseeker obligations paused for holidays but never for heatwaves; and whistleblower disclosures to ASIC nearly tripled to 1,931 this year while just 6% were referred for action. Key companies mentioned: KPMG, Google, Accenture, ANZ, Telstra Health, INPEX, RSM, SEC Newgate, Tamboran Resources, Fifth Domain Pty Ltd , Honda, Santos, Bupa, Verint, TransGrid, RACV. If you've been forwarded this email, you can subscribe here. To find out more about lodging FOI requests, head over to Right to Know. The initial summaries of the documents are produced by AI, but verified and reworked by humans. All feedback is welcome, just hit reply.
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43
Found
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17
Recommended-read
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20
Look
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30%
Avg redact
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DFAT
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7 found · 3 recommended-read · 3 look
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READ
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DFAT
· % REDACTED 40%
Australia drops UN violence submission amid sex-gender terminology clash
Australia decided against responding to the UN Special Rapporteur's call for input on sex-based violence against women and girls, despite the Department of Social Services drafting a response and the Attorney-General's Department agreeing to cover a companion piece on consent. Officials cited being embarrassingly overdue, but internal emails also show unease over the Rapporteur's "sex-based" framing, which conflicts with Australia's position favouring "gender-based violence" and inclusion of gender identity. Redactions: s.22, s.33(a)(iii), s.33(b), s.47C(1), s.47E(d).
See the disclosure →
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READ
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DFAT
· % REDACTED 60%
Whistleblower failures behind KPMG CEO's exit disclosed to DFAT
KPMG Australia formally notified DFAT of a "significant event" after admitting it mishandled a whistleblower and let staff share client documents internally, failings that forced chief executive Andrew Yates and audit head Julian McPherson to resign. KPMG repeatedly assured DFAT that no government contracts or cleared personnel were affected. DFAT pulled its KPMG contract list and weighed whether the letter's confidential marking barred it from briefing Senate Estimates. Redactions: s.22, s.42, s.47F, s.47G.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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DFAT
· % REDACTED 60%
Embassy paid US lobbyist $360,000 for White House access
The Australian Embassy in Washington engaged US consultant Richard Hohlt to advise on macropolitical issues affecting Australia and to help reach senior US officials and the White House, paying USD30,000 a month. The contract, initially USD180,000, was extended six months to October 2026, doubling to USD360,000. An internal briefing said Hohlt would also provide insights on the Middle East crisis. The deal was registered under US foreign-agent law. Redactions: s.22, s.33, s.47F, s.47G.
See the disclosure →
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SKIP
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DFAT
· % REDACTED 90%
Heavily redacted passport manuals release only translation rules
DFAT released three internal Australian Passport Office manuals covering application lodgement, appointment checklists and document policy. Only fragments survive: released passages set out how foreign language supporting documents must be translated. Nearly all procedural detail is withheld. Redactions: s.22, s.47E.
See the disclosure →
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READ
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DFAT
· % REDACTED 30%
Australia's draft report to UN racism committee, plus submissions
DFAT released its draft combined periodic report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, alongside the civil society submissions gathered during an October 2025 consultation and the list of organisations invited. Submissions raise Indigenous rights, anti-racism measures and the treatment of migrants and refugees. Redactions: s.47C, s.47F, s.22.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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DFAT
· % REDACTED 50%
Australia backs WTO trade concern over India food-import certificates
Australian trade officials coordinated across agencies on India's tightening food-import rules, including demands for non-GM certification and a new health certificate for meat, dairy and seafood. Australia backed a specific trade concern, raised by the EU at the November 2022 WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Committee. Redactions: s.22, s.33, s.42.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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DFAT
· % REDACTED 95%
DFAT vetted rugby league body before overseas aid funding deal
DFAT commissioned accounting firm RSM to run a due diligence check on the Australian Rugby League Commission before entering an overseas aid (ODA) funding agreement with it. The department had never assessed the commission for aid funds before, though it has an existing non-aid arrangement. Notably, DFAT asked RSM to leave the "past performance" criterion out of the assessment. Redactions: s.22, s.45, s.47.
See the disclosure →
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AEC
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4 found · 2 recommended-read · 2 look
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READ
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AEC
· % REDACTED 55%
Prisoner voting jumps from 274 to 9,729 in 2025
Votes cast in prisons rose sharply at the 2025 federal election, with 79 mobile teams issuing 9,729 votes across 82 correctional centres, up from 274 prisoner votes reported for the COVID-hit 2022 poll. Informal voting averaged 10 per cent but reached 67.5 per cent at one NSW prison. The AEC says it cannot count how many prisoners were eligible, track Indigenous participation, or say how many were fined for not voting. Redactions: s.22, s.47C, s.47F.
See the disclosure →
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READ
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AEC
· % REDACTED 15%
Minister agrees to delay electoral funding, disclosure reforms to 2027
Special Minister of State Don Farrell agreed to defer the new political funding and disclosure reforms from 1 July 2026 to 1 January 2027, on Australian Electoral Commission advice. The AEC warned the Farrer by-election and a technology freeze protecting its ageing, fragile election systems would compromise testing and create cyber security and stability risks. The delay aligns the scheme with a shift to calendar-year reporting. Redactions: s.47C, s.22.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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AEC
· % REDACTED 0%
Venning leads three-candidate count in Grey division tally
A three-candidate-preferred count spreadsheet records Tom Venning ahead on 37,227 votes (41.58 per cent), Karin Bolton on 26,860 (30 per cent) and Anita Kuss on 25,437 (28.41 per cent), from 89,524 formal votes across polling places in the Grey region of SA including Whyalla, Port Augusta, Port Pirie and Kadina. It also breaks down first preferences by booth for eight candidates. Redactions: none.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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AEC
· % REDACTED 20%
AEC warned pro-nuclear group over unauthorised election ads
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) sent Mums for Nuclear, part of pro-nuclear lobby group Nuclear for Australia, a warning letter in March 2025 over newspaper and social media ads lacking required electoral authorisations. Internal emails show the AEC monitored the group and fielded Crikey questions on whether it should have lodged a disclosure return. An attached industry report found the group stopped advertising after the AEC made contact. Redactions: s.22, s.47C, s.47E(d), s.42, s.47F.
See the disclosure →
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DEWR
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4 found · 3 recommended-read · 1 look
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READ
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DEWR
· % REDACTED 45%
Jobseeker obligations paused for holidays but never for heatwaves
Ministerial briefings show the department routinely suspends mutual obligation requirements across all employment programs over the Christmas and New Year period. The same records confirm it has never paused those obligations for extreme heat, despite advice and correspondence urging heatwave pauses. Redactions: s.22, s.42, s.47C, s.47E, s.47F.
See the disclosure →
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READ
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DEWR
· % REDACTED 40%
Rulebook for pausing jobseeker obligations after disasters released on review
This internal-review release sets out the operating procedure department delegates follow to temporarily suspend mutual obligation requirements when emergencies or natural disasters strike. It details the thresholds, decision checklist, suspension durations and agency roles involved, alongside the annual holiday-period pause and 2024-25 Budget changes. Redactions: s.22, s.47C.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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DEWR
· % REDACTED 75%
Fair Work let strikes continue at gas plant supplying Japan
Departmental officials briefed the employment minister's office on protected industrial action at INPEX's Ichthys LNG project in WA. On 14 June 2026 the Fair Work Commission dismissed an application to halt the action, so the strikes continued. Officials noted Ichthys supplies eight to 10 percent of Japan's LNG imports plus condensate to Australian refineries during a fuel crisis. Redactions: s.22, s.47F, s.47G.
See the disclosure →
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READ
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DEWR
· % REDACTED 40%
Employment department's fraud-taskforce data sharing rated high privacy risk
Privacy assessments for the department's role in the ACIC-led Fraud Fusion Taskforce, which targets serious fraud against the NDIS and other Commonwealth programs, concluded the information-sharing poses high privacy risk and required full impact assessments. Officers flagged that it collects personal information without consent or notice and matches unconnected personal data. Redactions: s.22, s.42.
See the disclosure →
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ASIC
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3 found · 2 recommended-read · 1 look
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READ
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ASIC
· % REDACTED 0%
Whistleblower reports to ASIC surge as action rate falls
Whistleblower disclosures to ASIC jumped to 1,931 in 2025-26 to date, nearly triple the annual totals of the previous three years, while the share referred for action fell to 6 per cent, meaning 94% led to no further action. As at 7 July 2026, 167 disclosures were active. Redactions: none.
See the disclosure →
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READ
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ASIC
· % REDACTED 3%
ASIC approved just two of 12 information broker bids as it freezes intake
ASIC has approved just two of the twelve applications it received to become an information broker over the past three years, freezing the rest as it overhauls its registry systems. Nine applications are still sitting in limbo and one rejected or withdrawn, with intake paused entirely under the RegistryConnect program until a new company search service is built. Free search APIs are due mid-2026, but paid search and any onboarding of new brokers will not come until the end of 2026, meaning would-be brokers face a wait of a year or more. ASIC was also asked for its policies on processing times, service standards and assessment criteria for these applications; it produced none. Redactions: contact details.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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ASIC
· % REDACTED 20%
ASIC anticipated scrutiny over Shield, First Guardian and ANZ ahead of parliamentary hearings
ASIC internal emails and briefings show officials preparing senior executives for parliamentary scrutiny in late 2025, focused on the Shield and First Guardian collapses, ANZ enforcement and likely media questions. Staff warned media was examining the “politics” around Shield and First Guardian, while later briefings flagged those funds, ANZ, high-risk super and ASIC’s regulatory powers as key Estimates themes. Emails also show ASIC monitoring court criticism of its proposed ANZ settlement and anticipating media-driven questions. Redactions: internal advice under s.47C, with extensive s.22 deletions and sections withheld under s.46(c).
See the disclosure →
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ATO
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2 found · 1 recommended-read · 1 look
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READ
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ATO
· % REDACTED 25%
ATO monitoring of staff covers calls, screens, internet
Internal ATO guidance sets out how the agency monitors its own staff. Systems include Verint, which records all inbound frontline phone calls and randomly captures 10 percent of screens, alongside tools that log all internet use, including encrypted internet-banking traffic, and can pass email, Jabber and Teams messages to police. The agency's enterprise agreement states monitoring will not be used to count individual keystrokes. Redactions: s.22, s.47E.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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ATO
· % REDACTED 15%
Accenture contractors staff ATO's myGovID identity systems
The contract engages Accenture to supply contractors to the ATO's Digital Identity Services branch, working on core national identity systems including myGovID, the Relationship Authorisation Manager and machine-to-machine authentication. The time-and-materials deal ran from July 2023 for a year, with four six-month extensions available to June 2026, and staff based in Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne. The contract value and pricing are withheld. Redactions: s.47G, s.47E.
See the disclosure →
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RBA
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1 found · 1 recommended-read
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READ
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RBA
· % REDACTED 25%
RBA presses auditor KPMG for confidentiality guarantees after scandal
The RBA sought written assurance from its auditor KPMG that Bank information had not been leaked internally, amid KPMG's whistleblower scandal that forced the resignations of its chief executive Andrew Yates and audit head Julian McPherson. Internal emails show senior officials weighing whether to keep using KPMG and fearing Senate Estimates scrutiny of the relationship. KPMG will not renew its FairCall whistleblower contract past December 2026. Redactions: s.22, s.47F.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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PM&C
· % REDACTED 5%
Abuse survivors won right to withhold impact statements from institutions
A 2018 brief sought Scott Morrison's sign-off on letting National Redress Scheme applicants choose whether their abuse impact statement reaches the responsible institution, after advocate Leonie Sheedy warned mandatory sharing re-traumatised survivors. Officials flagged that some volunteer institutions might quit the scheme if they could no longer satisfy insurers, and over 1,500 applications faced review. Morrison noted his minister had already announced the change, making the brief moot. Redactions: s.22.
See the disclosure →
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SKIP
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PM&C
· % REDACTED 0%
PM&C staff took 2,521 full-day absences over two weeks
Daily attendance figures for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet show 2,521 full-day staff absences across the 10 working days from 22 June to 3 July 2026, averaging around 250 a day. Planned leave such as annual and long service made up 1,432, unscheduled leave including personal and carers leave 617, and miscellaneous leave the remaining 472. Redactions: none.
See the disclosure →
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ATTORNEY GENERAL
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1 found · 1 recommended-read
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READ
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ATTORNEY GENERAL
· % REDACTED 40%
Australia works to enforce suppression orders against overseas publishers
Attorney-General's Department papers trace Australia's efforts to make court suppression and non-publication orders enforceable against overseas publishers and online platforms. A 2019 Council of Attorneys-General brief, developed with New Zealand, explored mutual recognition of such orders across comparable countries, citing Google's breach of a name-suppression order in the Grace Millane case and the Cardinal Pell trial. In 2026 the department answered a Commonwealth Secretariat questionnaire feeding a proposed model law. Redactions: s.22, s.33.
See the disclosure →
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SOCIAL SERVICES
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2 found · 1 recommended-read
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SKIP
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SOCIAL SERVICES
· % REDACTED 0%
Planned leave clusters on Fridays in DSS absence data
The Department of Social Services released a daily count of staff leave requests over a fortnight, split into scheduled and unscheduled leave. Unscheduled absences ran highest early in the period, peaking at 253 on Monday 22 June, while planned leave clustered on Fridays, reaching 285 on 3 July, the busiest day overall at 481 requests. Redactions: none.
See the disclosure →
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READ
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SOCIAL SERVICES
· % REDACTED 90%
Domestic violence line 1800RESPECT faced up to four subpoenas fortnightly
A year of fortnightly operational reports for 1800RESPECT, the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling line run by Telstra Health, shows the service received between zero and four subpoenas per reporting fortnight. Redactions: s.22.
See the disclosure →
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EDUCATION
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1 found · 1 look
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LOOK
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EDUCATION
· % REDACTED 10%
Minderoo's First Nations school-readiness grant extended to six years
The Department of Education's Connected Beginnings grant funds Minderoo Foundation to integrate early childhood, health and family support services for First Nations children in three WA communities: Armadale West, Bidyadanga and Central Great Southern. A later variation doubled the term from three to six years, to September 2027, and commits each site to transition to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations. Redactions: s.22, s.47F.
See the disclosure →
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INDUSTRY
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3 found · 2 look
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SKIP
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INDUSTRY
· % REDACTED 20%
Resources minister's lobbyist-meeting diary request yields only two days
A request for the Resources Minister's meetings with lobbyists returned just two diary days. Minister King attended a National Press Club post-budget lunch at Parliament House in May 2026 as a guest of SEC Newgate. Redactions: s.22.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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INDUSTRY
· % REDACTED 15%
Ex-NT treasurer now lobbies resources minister for Beetaloo gas developer
This brief prepared the Resources Minister to meet Tamboran Resources, the Beetaloo Basin gas developer whose government-relations vice-president, Nicole Manison, is a former NT Deputy Chief Minister and Treasurer who joined the company soon after leaving politics in 2024. The department wanted Tamboran kept engaged in designing the domestic gas reservation scheme, which will require exporters to supply the equivalent of 20 percent of LNG exports locally from July 2027. Redactions: s.22, s.47B, s.47G.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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INDUSTRY
· % REDACTED 50%
Cyber skills grant panel lowered its funding benchmark
The committee assessing Round 2 of the $70.3 million Cyber Security Skills Partnership Innovation Fund agreed to lower the benchmark score for applications recommended for funding to 75. It endorsed 18 projects worth $25.4 million, including a $3 million grant to Fifth Domain Pty Ltd for its CYNAPSE platform. Redactions: s.22, s.47C, s.47F, s.47G.
See the disclosure →
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INFRASTRUCTURE
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4 found · 1 recommended-read · 2 look
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READ
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INFRASTRUCTURE
· % REDACTED 40%
Third of department's contractors doing work meant for public servants
An internal analysis found that of 179 contractors engaged by the department as at 31 March 2024, about 37 per cent (66) were doing 'core work' that the Australian Public Service's Strategic Commissioning Framework says should be delivered by public servants. Most filled program and project management, service delivery and policy roles. In June 2025 the department decided to keep its existing definition of core work unchanged for 2025-26. Redactions: s.22.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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INFRASTRUCTURE
· % REDACTED 15%
$60m St Patrick's Cathedral pledge hinges on Victorian sign-off
The Commonwealth's $60 million, three-year pledge to restore Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral would flow through a Federation Funding Agreement with the Victorian Government, not directly to the Catholic Archdiocese, and depends on confirmation at the mid-year budget update (MYEFO). Redactions: s.22, s.47F, s.47G.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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INFRASTRUCTURE
· % REDACTED 10%
Road safety panel rejected Honda, researchers' crash data bids
The Road Safety Data Working Group refused several third-party bids for the national road crash database. Car maker Honda was knocked back partly because the data-sharing agreement bars commercial use of the data. Requests from a road safety research centre and from Austroads were rejected over the risk of re-identifying individuals. Redactions: s.22, s.47F.
See the disclosure →
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SKIP
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INFRASTRUCTURE
· % REDACTED 0%
Infrastructure staff took 3,957 leave days, 1,149 sick
A leave summary shows Department of Infrastructure staff recorded 3,957 days of absence in the fortnight from 22 June to 5 July 2026, including 1,149 sick-leave days and 1,381 on annual leave. Redactions: none.
See the disclosure →
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CLIMATE, ENERGY ETC
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6 found · 1 recommended-read · 5 look
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READ
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CLIMATE, ENERGY ETC
· % REDACTED 5%
Santos Moomba project issued record 614,113 carbon credits
The Clean Energy Regulator told the minister it would issue Santos' South Australian Moomba carbon capture project 614,113 carbon credits, the scheme's largest issuance since 2012 and the first under the carbon capture and storage method. The brief flags that Santos could earn both a Safeguard Mechanism credit and carbon credits for the same activity, and that some stakeholders fear the technology may prolong oil and gas operations. Redactions: s.22, s.47F.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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CLIMATE, ENERGY ETC
· % REDACTED 5%
Government to close carbon neutral certification scheme Climate Active
The Australian Government decided to close Climate Active, the government-backed scheme that certifies businesses' "carbon neutral" claims, and to phase out the term for voluntary use. A consultation paper puts two options to stakeholders and sets a 12 to 18 month transition for certified organisations, which could shift to other schemes. Redactions: s.22(1)(a)(ii).
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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CLIMATE, ENERGY ETC
· % REDACTED 3%
Minister's Germany trip: COP31 launch and diplomatic meetings
The itinerary covers the climate minister's June trip to the Bonn mid-year UN climate talks, where the government launched its action agenda for COP31, the summit Australia is bidding to host. Meetings included Turkish minister Murat Kurum, UN climate chief Simon Stiell and International Energy Agency head Fatih Birol, plus a German e-fuels site visit. Redactions: s.47F, s.33, s.22.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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CLIMATE, ENERGY ETC
· % REDACTED 0%
DCCEEW identifies core roles to cut consultant outsourcing
The department is implementing the Strategic Commissioning Framework, the public service policy requiring agencies to bring outsourced "core work" back in-house and rely less on consultants and contractors. It identifies 12 job families, including policy, legal, finance and science roles, as core work for 2025-26 reporting, and names tasks such as drafting legislation and Cabinet submissions that must stay with public servants. Redactions: none.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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CLIMATE, ENERGY ETC
· % REDACTED 10%
ARENA gave Monash $390,000 for EV, renewables messaging
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency funded a Monash University project, "From Plan to Action", which ran a public communications campaign to promote electric vehicles and renewable energy and counter myths about them. The 2016 to 2018 project received $390,000 from ARENA against a total budget of $930,000, and involved audience research targeting groups such as women and tradespeople, plus engagement with the EV Council, TransGrid and RACV. Redactions: s.47F, s.47G, s.22.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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CLIMATE, ENERGY ETC
· % REDACTED 40%
Australia's COP31 negotiating teams exceed 100 staff
Records detail Australia's role as president of negotiations for COP31, the next United Nations climate summit, covering April to July 2026. Four disclosed teams, spanning negotiations, Pacific partnerships, stakeholder work and a presidency office, together employ about 102 full-time-equivalent staff. Redactions: s.22.
See the disclosure →
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LOOK
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ACCC
· % REDACTED 30%
Bupa repays $3.16m over admitted health-insurance claim breaches
Bupa HI has paid more than $3.16 million to members affected by claims it wrongly assessed, under a June 2025 enforceable undertaking to the ACCC over admitted consumer law breaches involving Mixed Coverage Claims and eligibility checks. Quarterly reports to March 2026 show 1,096 claims required financial remediation, and a Bupa internal audit rated the program effective with no material errors. Redactions: unlabelled black boxes cover several metric rows and the auditor's comments; no exemption codes are marked on the released pages.
See the disclosure →
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NDIS
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1 found · 1 recommended-read
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READ
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NDIS
· % REDACTED 0%
NDIA data shows NDIS appeals missing speed and cost targets
Internal dashboards for the NDIA's Dispute Resolution Improvement Strategy show the agency missing key targets for participant appeals to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. In early 2024, tribunal matters averaged 184 to 204 days against a 150-day goal, fewer than 80 per cent of cases resolved within nine months, and average external legal costs per matter ran as high as $12,865 against an $8,400 target. Redactions: s.22, s.47E.
See the disclosure →
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NDIS COMMISSION
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1 found · 1 skip
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SKIP
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NDIS COMMISSION
· % REDACTED 100%
NDIS Commission staff realignment records not published online
The Commission withheld most records on its 11 May 2026 organisational realignment, partially releasing 21 documents to the applicant and refusing 30 in full. The request sought the structures considered, who was consulted, and staff survey feedback on the restructure, including how concerns were addressed. The documents were not published to the disclosure log; FOI Weekly has requested a copy and will report details in a future edition.
See the disclosure →
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Quiet this rotation · no releases from HOME AFFAIRS, FINANCE, TREASURY, HEALTH, AGRICULTURE, DEFENCE, VETERAN'S AFFAIRS, APRA, AUSTRAC, AFP, SERVICES AUSTRALIA, IP AUSTRALIA, ACNC, OAIC.
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Same rotation Monday · 09:00 AEST
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