Toni Pirani has been appointed as the Freedom of Information Commissioner.
Ms Pirani begins her 12-month appointment at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioneron 16 August 2024 when the current FOI Commissioner, Elizabeth Tydd, moves into her new role as Australian Information Commissioner.
It comes after the federal government in May 2023 restored the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) with the appointment of standalone Privacy and Freedom of Information (FOI) Commissioners.
Ms Pirani is currently serving as Special Adviser, Freedom of Information Decisions with the OAIC .
She has previously served as acting FOI Commissioner.
In these roles she made an outstanding contribution to the work of the agency in these roles and brings considerable Commonwealth sector experience, Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement.
“I congratulate Ms Pirani on her appointment and thank her for her willingness to serve,” he said.
Ms Pirani has 35 years’ experience in the Australian Public Service and has been responsible for establishing and managing two Royal Commissions, and the office of the Interim National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention.
Ms Pirani, who previously acted as the FOI Commissioner in 2013 and in 2023-24, is likely to have her work cut out for her, with a Senate Committee hearing earlier this year the OAIC faces a backlog of requests to review FOI decisions by agencies and ministers stretching back five years
Commissioner Falk told the estimates hearing that at the end of February there were 2,213 outstanding FOI reviews, of which around half were more than 12 months old, with 67 dating back 2019.
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I wonder if there is any point to all these high paid roles. I was recently told by the education department of Victoria, that they were unable to meet the legislative time frame for my FOI request (which is personal information related to a workcover claim that I really need now) and when I enquired as to how much longer I would have to wait, I was told that they didn’t know. My requests for updates have so far been ignored. I ask you what the point of FOI act is if you are never going to get the information.