Machinery of government changes and documents of a Minister – updated view

The Full Federal Court handed down its decision in Attorney-General (Cth) v Patrick [2024] FCAFC 126 (Patrick) on 25 September 2024.

Patrick considered when the status of a document as an official document of a Minister is established under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth). The Court concluded that the status of a document as an official document of a Minister was established at the time a request for access was made.

Patrick has necessitated an update to the OIC’s view on the status of Ministerial documents under the Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) (RTI Act) and Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) (IP Act) when there is a change of Minister without a change in government.  Specifically, documents which were documents of a Minister on the day the Minister received a valid application will remain documents of a Minister. The new Minister will become the responsive Minister for the application and any review or appeal.

We have updated the Ministerial applications and machinery of government changes guideline to reflect our updated view and decision makers can contact the Enquiries Service for more information on 07 3234 7373 or enquireis@oic.qld.gov.au.