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History of the Act

The Freedom of Information Act started with a white paper entitled "Your right to know" in 1997. The paper states that the Freedom of Information Act is:

As proposed in the White Paper, a Freedom of Information Act would give everyone a legal right to see information held by national, regional and local government and some other organisations working on behalf of government. It would also mean that more information would be published as a matter of course. The aim is to open up public organisations and make the whole of government more accountable to people.

The Freedom of Information Act is in use in Ireland, especially concerning the Irish Government Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. In the United States, congress passed the Freedom of Information act in 1966. Based on the premise that openness in government will assist citizens in making the informed choices necessary to a democracy. In Canada they have the Access to Information Act which is different in different states. Australia has a Freedom of Information Act which is primarily based upon the United States' legislation and New Zealand have the Official Information Act.