The Briefing Or Document Held By The Department And Produced In 2025 That Refers To Any Evidence That FOI Requests Are Being Made At Scale By Foreign Powers Or Foreign State Actors.

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The Attorney-General's Department engaged with the National Intelligence Community (including ONI and ASIO) regarding concerns that Australia's Freedom of Information scheme could be exploited by foreign adversaries to obtain seemingly innocuous government information for intelligence purposes. Internal correspondence from August 2025 reveals the department prepared public talking points acknowledging these risks while protecting classified intelligence assessments. The agreed position—developed for public communications—states that while detailed analysis cannot be disclosed due to classification, foreign adversaries commonly exploit legitimate government processes like FOI to gather information contrary to national interest. The department proposed that removing anonymity from FOI requests might deter such activity. Substantial redactions under legal professional privilege and cabinet confidentiality protect the underlying classified intelligence products and further policy development regarding AI use in FOI systems.