How to File an FOI

The skill governments hope you never learn.

Freedom of Information (FOI) laws give ordinary people the power to ask governments, agencies and public institutions for the records they would rather keep out of sight.

But most people never use them. They assume FOI is complicated, expensive, slow, or only for journalists and lawyers. In reality, a well-crafted request can uncover internal emails, reports, briefing notes, contracts and meeting records and data that shape public life.

In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to identify a story worth pursuing, frame a request that has a better chance of success, avoid the most common reasons requests fail, and draft a real FOI request they can submit after the session. Along the way, you will draw on real investigations and examples of how FOI has been used to reveal information that changed public debates.

By the end of the workshop, you won't just understand FOI. You'll leave with a request ready to send.

What to bring: a laptop or tablet, preferred for drafting requests; one thing you're curious about (e.g. council decisions, policing, transport, housing); and an email address, so you can send your FOI request after the session.

Cam Wilson is an award-winning Australian technology reporter, currently the ABC's national AI reporter, previously at Crikey and BuzzFeed News. He is also the (unofficial) world record holder for the most freedom of information requests filed in a single sitting.

Location: The Ethics Centre, Level 1, 161 Castlereagh St, Sydney 2000. Sessions run for 90 mins and include afternoon tea.