Author | Lightnews

Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · 7d

Thanks for the love. Right to Know is run by a really small group of dedicated people (including me!), and is run by a registered charity.

You can also consider donating - donate.oaf.org.au

Potato enthusiast @br3nda.bsky.social · 14d

If you wanted to support Australia's "Right To Know" website right now, something you can do is sign up for their Pro version.

(might even be a business expense for some of you)

www.righttoknow.org.au

Make and browse Freedom of Information (FOI) requests

www.righttoknow.org.au

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Sep 9

One reasonable change could be for agencies to upload the actual docs that are released on their disclosure log - something that isn’t required currently.

jeremynadel8.bsky.social @jeremynadel8.bsky.social · Sep 9

10/12🧵The irony of the Gov blaming sites helping the public access their info + accessing & indexing gov docs is they’re SOLVING not CAUSING the problem: see @oaf.org.au #righttoknow @muckrock.com #StopLAPDSpyingCoalition journos behind #SecretCanada Tom Cardoso & @robyndoolittle.bsky.social

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Sep 9

This is one of the benefits we promote with righttoknow.org.au.

We also proactively work with agencies to deal with problematic requests, while fiercely advocating for disclosure.

Make and browse Freedom of Information (FOI) requests

righttoknow.org.au

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Reposted by Ben Fairless

OpenAustralia Foundation @oaf.org.au · Sep 8

The FOI Amendment Bill 2025 makes it harder to hold govt to account: bans anonymous requests, adds a “transparency tax” fee, and expands secrecy. Parliament must reject it.

👉 www.oaf.org.au/2025/09/08/2...

#RightToKnow #FOI #auspol

“Strengthening” FOI or sabotaging It? Why we oppose the FOI Amendment Bill 2025

The Albanese Government has introduced the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025, presented as a reform to “strengthen” the FOI framework. According to the Attorney-General’s press release, the…

www.oaf.org.au

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Reposted by Ben Fairless

Potato enthusiast @br3nda.bsky.social · Sep 8

Hey aussies. I think you should make a lot of noise about this

The FOI Amendment Bill 2025 will give government new ways to refuse FOI requests, and also introduce a fee for making the request.

👉 www.oaf.org.au/2025/09/08/2...

#RightToKnow #FOI #auspol

“Strengthening” FOI or sabotaging It? Why we oppose the FOI Amendment Bill 2025

www.oaf.org.au

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Reposted by Ben Fairless

Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · Sep 2

I figured it was esafety that was getting flooded with FOIs but Rowland confirmed on ABC today.

Wild that attempts to take down tweets could lead to a worse FOI system. (It was a campaign from some free speech org that automated FOI requests)

It is costing taxpayers, in 2023-24, for example, $86 million to deal with processing, around a million hours taken in doing that. That is important, but let me tell your listeners this, Sabra, we've had cases where FOl requests have been generated, sometimes around 600 of them in one instance, going to a small agency, which tied up the services of that agency for over two months. Now, you might think that's not important but let me tell you what that agency was. That was eSafety. That is an organisation responsible for ensuring the safety, particularly of young people, online, getting tied up doing 600 frivolous FOl requests that they are required by law to deal with. This kind of mismanagement, this kind of exploitation of these systems needs to be reined in. We need to prioritise genuine applications, and we need to make sure that the FOl system is fit for purpose.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Apr 23

According to www.righttoknow.org.au/request/supp... @VictoriaPolice are taking 10x as long as the #FOI act allows. #FOIA #vicpol #transparency

Suppression of Aircraft Data from Third-Party Flight Tracking Platforms - a Freedom of Information request to Victoria Police

I am seeking access to documents relating to the removal, suppression, or anonymisation of aircraft data from third-party flight tracking services such as FlightRadar24, PlaneFinder, ADS-B Exchange,…

www.righttoknow.org.au

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Reposted by Ben Fairless

OpenAustralia Foundation @oaf.org.au · Mar 30

There has been a recent surge in automated suspicious looking traffic. However it wasn't the only reason the site went down yesterday.

CAMERON WILSON @cameronwilson.bsky.social · Mar 30

OpenAustralia's They Vote For You was down last night. There was some speculation that it was an intentional attack.

An OpenAustralian spokesperson says the service is back and that there was "no evidence it was an intentional cyber attack like a DDos"

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Dec 5

Does anyone have any suggestions for simple social media management tools for smaller organisations?

There are so many social media platforms now, finding a simple tool to manage it all would make life so much easier.

Open to self hosted tools if needed.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Nov 24

Just went through and migrated my followers from the bad place.

You can do it too, using this awesome plugin: www.sky-follower-bridge.dev

Sky Follower Bridge

Instantly find and follow the same users from your 𝕏 followers on Bluesky

www.sky-follower-bridge.dev

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Nov 7

A woman who rang ABC Sydney radio said she found out about the Optus outage from her cat.

The cat has an automatic wi-fi feeder (connected to Optus) & when breakfast wasn't delivered at 6:10 am, the cat went to the bedroom to lodge a complaint with management.

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Reposted by Ben Fairless

Australian Democrats @democrats.org.au · Oct 14

#auspol
#VoteYesAustralia
#VoteYes
#VoteYES23Australia
#VoteYes2023

Vote Yes. It's the right and decent thing to do.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Sep 17

Please vote YES in the upcoming referendum on October 14

Australian Democrats @democrats.org.au · Sep 17

We proudly support the Yes campaign and the Uluru Statement From the Heart.

We hope you will join us and vote YES on October 14 2023.

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Sep 4

The latest from Space Karen:

“I am pro free speech unless it’s speech I personally disagree with. I don’t mind speech that harms other marginalised groups but don’t you dare say something against the state of Israel.”

A post on Twitter dated 05 September 2023 1:30 am by Elon Musk. The tweet says “To be super clear, I'm pro free speech, but against anti-Semitism of any kind”. The tweet has 4.2M views.

Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Sep 4

The “De-Transitioning” episode by Channel 7’s “Spotlight” program on the weekend sounds like it was a dumpster fire.

If you’ve watched it and you feel it might have violated the code of practice, you can make a complaint at complaints.freetv.com.au/Submission

Viewer Feedback Form - Free TV Project

complaints.freetv.com.au

Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Sep 4

I’m voting YES in the Referendum this year. It’s important to recognise our First Nations people in our constitution, and give them a voice on matters that affect them.

#VoteYes #UluruStatement #VoteYesAustralia #yes23

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Aug 25

It’s finally happened! The photo we’ve all been waiting for!

Honestly, it looks like he’s trying too hard with that facial expression.

The only thing I’m disappointed about is they let him wear his suit. I’m pretty sure jail clothes would have looked better.

Mugshot of Mr Donald J. Trump, former president of the United States of America. Mr Trump has a scowl on his face. A Fulton County sheriffs office badge can be seen in the top left-hand corner.

Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Aug 21

Is there a way to find people you’re following on #Twitter and automatically follow them on @bsky.app?

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Ben Fairless @ben.fairless.au · Aug 21

So my first post here! Updating my Twitter with this profile info triggered Space Karen to ask if I was a robot 😂

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