Freedom of Information laws have helped the public uncover information governments would prefer to keep secret, but the system is failing.

Strong Freedom of Information laws are critical to Australia’s democracy, but delays and government resistance are undermining people’s faith in the system. On this episode of Follow the Money, former independent Senator for South Australia Rex Patrick and Australia Institute Senior Economist Matthew Grudnoff join Ebony Bennett to discuss why transparency matters and what can be done to improve the dire state of the system.

This episode was recorded on Tuesday 16 April 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

australiainstitute.org.au // @theausinstitute

Guest: Rex Patrick, former Senator for South Australia // @MrRexPatrick

Guest: Matthew Grudnoff, Senior Economist, the Australia Institute // @MattGrudnoff

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebony_bennett

Producer: Jennifer Macey // @jennifermacey

Additional editing: Emily Perkins

Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au.