Transparency & accountability · The Barayamal case files
Follow the paper trail.
Since 2023 Barayamal has used Freedom of Information law to open the files behind decisions made in the name of First Nations people — a resort sold, grants awarded, complaints buried, data withheld. Each case below is a real investigation, running in public on Right to Know.
The Ayers Rock Resort sale
In 2011 the Indigenous Land Corporation bought Ayers Rock Resort for around $300 million. In 2025 the ILSC sold it to Journey Beyond. Who valued it, who approved it, what the Commonwealth knew, and what conditions FIRB attached — none of it has been volunteered. Seven requests across four agencies are prying the file open. So far: refusals nearly across the board, and the matter now sits with the Information Commissioner.
Five requests filed with the ILSC, Finance and the NIAA.
Refused across the board — ILSC and Finance decline release.
Fresh request to Treasury for the FIRB case file on the acquisition.
Internal review upholds Treasury’s refusal.
OAIC review application lodged. The Commissioner decides next.
Integrity inside the agencies
What we asked
How agencies that decide First Nations outcomes handle their own nepotism, conflict-of-interest and discrimination complaints.
Where it stands
NIAA and DFAT released documents with redactions. Creative Australia refused outright.
NIAA nepotism, favouritism & discrimination records
NIAA conflict-of-interest declaration templates
DFAT complaints & whistleblowing records
What came out
After a contested charges estimate, NIAA released document binders on both requests; DFAT released its records under LEX 13418 with exemptions. Read them yourself:
Who gets the money?
What we asked
Whether “Indigenous” funding reaches Indigenous-owned and community-controlled organisations — and the data that would prove it either way.
Where it stands
One clean win: Education released the HELP-debt tables in full. The other three are contested at review or before the OAIC.
What came out
Refused at first, released in full on internal review: aggregate HELP student-debt data by Indigenous status — figures that weren’t public before.
The land council round
What we asked
Records of the administration imposed on Red Chief Local Aboriginal Land Council in Gunnedah — our founder’s own land council — under NSW GIPA law.
Where it stands
Refused or “not held” at nearly every turn. The round that taught us to ask in public.
How an FOI request works
“Public money spent in the name of First Nations people deserves First Nations scrutiny.”
Barayamal Limited is an ACNC-registered charity. We file every request openly, appeal every unjustified refusal, and publish whatever comes back — releases, redactions and all.
⊘ 3 further requests are under embargo while agencies respond. New case files appear here the day they conclude.
Follow the files
Every request lives on Right to Know. Follow to see new documents the moment agencies respond.
righttoknow.org.au ↗RSS feed for journalists DOOR 2Make your own request
FOI belongs to everyone. Pick an agency, ask your question in public, and the law does the rest.
Start a request ↗ DOOR 3Tip the desk
Know a decision that deserves daylight? Tell us what to ask for next — quietly if you need to.
Contact Barayamal →About these requests. Every request in these case files was made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) or the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW), through the public Right to Know platform, by or on behalf of Barayamal Limited — an ACNC-registered charity (ABN 13 618 487 139). Where access is refused, we use the review rights those Acts provide: internal review, then the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. If anything here is out of date or incorrect, contact us and we will fix it.
Statuses sourced from Right to Know · snapshot taken 23 July 2026 · the live record updates there first.