Transparency & accountability · The Barayamal case files
Two Acts. One job: daylight.
Decisions about First Nations people are made in Canberra one day and in Sydney the next — so since 2023 Barayamal has worked both freedom-of-information laws, filing 35 information-access requests with 18 agencies. The Commonwealth requests and five NSW cases run in public on Right to Know; the twelve 2026 NSW applications went directly to the agencies. Different clocks, different fees, different umpires. The same presumption: information belongs to the public. So far it has put four sets of documents on the public record — see what came out.
The Commonwealth wing
Freedom of Information Act 1982
Ministers and agencies of the Australian Government — Treasury, the ILSC, the NIAA, DFAT, Indigenous Business Australia.
The NSW wing
Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009
NSW agencies, ministers, councils, universities, state-owned corporations — and the land rights system.
Which law opens your file?
One question decides it: who holds the document?
Know both laws
The rights are similar; the machinery isn’t. Here’s the working difference.
| FOI Act 1982 · Commonwealth | GIPA Act 2009 · NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it covers | Australian Government ministers and agencies | NSW agencies, ministers, local councils, universities and state-owned corporations |
| To apply | Free, in writing | $30 formal access application, in writing |
| The clock | 30 days, extendable — silence becomes a deemed refusal you can appeal | 20 working days, extendable |
| Charges | Processing charges can apply — contestable, as our NIAA round proved | $30 an hour can apply — halved for hardship or special public benefit |
| If they refuse | Internal review, free | Internal review, $40, within 20 working days |
| The umpire | OAIC — free Information Commissioner review | IPC — free review — or NCAT, which can order release |
| Extra teeth | Disclosure logs of released documents | A statutory presumption in favour of disclosure plus mandatory proactive publication — including the agency’s own disclosure log |
Beyond our files · the wider record
Search the public record
Explore First Nations–related information-access requests and government disclosure logs beyond Barayamal’s own case files.
Official directory · Commonwealth
Federal FOI disclosure logs
Australian Government agencies generally publish information released under FOI, subject to statutory exceptions, in disclosure logs. The OAIC keeps the central agency directory — find logs from the NIAA to Treasury.
Browse the OAIC agency directory ↗Official logs · New South Wales
NSW GIPA disclosure logs
NSW keeps no central register: each agency maintains its own disclosure log on its own website, as the Information and Privacy Commission confirms. Start with the agency that holds the file.
Browse NSW GIPA sources →Community platform · both Acts
Search public requests
Search public requests containing Aboriginal, Indigenous, First Nations or Torres Strait Islander terms. Right to Know covers requests made through its platform, and keyword matches require review.
Run the First Nations search ↗These sources contain publicly available requests and releases, but they are not complete records of every FOI or GIPA application.
The FOI case files
18 requests · 10 agencies · umpire: OAIC4 released · 7 refused · 5 at review · 1 open / other · 1 closedFour investigations run under the Commonwealth Act: a resort sold without explanation, agencies marking their own integrity homework, money labelled “Indigenous” that may never reach Indigenous hands and an economic agency that let the clock run out twice.
The Ayers Rock Resort sale
Bought for around $300 million in 2011, sold to Journey Beyond in 2025 — with the valuations, approvals and FIRB conditions all withheld. Refusals nearly across the board; the FIRB file now sits with the Information Commissioner.
Integrity inside the agencies
How the agencies that decide First Nations outcomes handle their own nepotism, conflict-of-interest and discrimination complaints. NIAA released two binders with redactions after a contested charges estimate; DFAT released its file as edited copies. Creative Australia refused outright.
What came outThe NIAA integrity binder, the NIAA COI templates and the DFAT release — read them yourself. Decision letters and document schedules for each sit on the evidence shelf below ↓.
Who gets the money?
Whether “Indigenous” funding reaches Indigenous-owned and community-controlled organisations. One clean win — Education released the HELP-debt tables in full on internal review. Three files are contested; a new fifth asks who applied to the Community Language Schools round.
What came outRefused at first, released in full on internal review: the HELP tables (XLSX) — figures that weren’t public before. How a $3,760 quote became a free release ↓
Inside Indigenous Business Australia
The agency built to grow First Nations business let both statutory clocks expire without a decision — deemed refusals on its workplace-culture records and on the procurement file behind its TDi and Investible accelerator arrangements. Statements of reasons arrived 25 June 2026. The review round is next.
The GIPA case files
17 requests · 8 agencies · umpire: IPC / NCAT0 released · 4 refused · 4 at review · 7 open / other · 2 closedThe round that started everything. In 2023 our founder asked NSW agencies to explain the administration imposed on his own land council — Red Chief LALC in Gunnedah — under the GIPA Act. Refused or “not held” at nearly every turn. It taught us to ask in public, so the refusals themselves became the record. In 2026 we went back at scale: twelve fresh applications across six NSW agencies, reaching well past the land councils into Closing the Gap money, grant probity, land claims and public housing contracts.
The land council round
Who ordered the administration, on what evidence, at what cost — and how healthy is the democratic base of the land rights system? The paper answers so far: one report “not held”, one list refused, one contract refused, membership figures “not held”.
The 2026 NSW round
Twelve formal access applications filed between March and May 2026 with six NSW agencies. They ask who governs Closing the Gap money, how grant rounds are judged, how Aboriginal land claims are prioritised, how land dealings and s 66A directions get approved, and who wins the contracts in Aboriginal housing. These were lodged directly with each agency by email rather than through Right to Know, so there is no public page to link to — the status below is our own record, updated as decisions land.
Where it standsOne file is already before the Information and Privacy Commission on external review. One ran past the statutory clock into deemed refusal and two more reviews are running past their deadlines. One was refused outright under s 60, and two agencies have asked for processing charges or an advance deposit before releasing anything.
The four doors of GIPA
The NSW Act opens more than one way in — a formal application is the last resort, not the first.
Where GIPA reaches next
The NSW Act covers far more than departments. Anywhere public money moves in the name of First Nations people, GIPA can follow — tell us where to look.
The wider record · weekly source check complete · 7 September 2026
First Nations FOI & GIPA source directory
A curated discovery gateway to official Australian Government FOI and NSW GIPA sources that materially concern First Nations peoples, organisations, Country, programs, funding and public decisions.
Weekly source check complete – 38 of 38 sources checked – 7 September 2026.
3 high-confidence records added. Connected Beginnings grant documents and two NIAA releases on Anindilyakwa Land Council budgets and NATSIHA grant performance are linked in the directory. Source freshness and one canonical link were also refreshed.
Browse the First Nations FOI & GIPA source directory →This is a curated discovery service, not a complete register of every request, decision or released document.
The wins · the primary record, free to download
What came out
Four primary releases from three agencies — about 17 MB of records that were not public before, every page free to download, with the decision letters and document schedules behind them. Agencies quoted charges three times; every release below ended up costing $0.00.
Department of Education RELEASED IN FULL ↓ Download the tables
HELP student-debt tables by Indigenous status
Inside: national annual tables from 2005–06 to the latest year held, split by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status — how many students carry a HELP liability, the loan amounts incurred or deferred each year, the amounts charged and the amounts paid up front.
Why it matters: these figures sat in no published table. It is the first public year-by-year national picture of student-loan debt for First Nations students.
How it came outFiled 26 Mar 2026 → Education called the data purchasable under s 12(1)(c) and treated the request as withdrawn → withdrawal refused, request narrowed → refused again, “no review rights” → internal-review application under s 54B, 5 May → released in full on 3 June, free — the department noted the build would otherwise have cost about $3,760.
Paper trailFull correspondence ↗
NIAA · FOI/2526/033 RELEASED WITH REDACTIONS ↓ Download the binder
NIAA integrity complaints binder
Inside: the agency’s records on nepotism, favouritism, conflict-of-interest and discrimination complaints from 1 January 2023 — released with redactions, alongside a notice of decision and a schedule of the documents.
Why it matters: the NIAA shapes programs and grants across Indigenous affairs. This is the paper on how it polices its own integrity.
How it came outFiled 20 Feb 2026 → a $93.75 charges estimate built on 12.5 hours of search time → contested under s 29 → internal review of the charge → binder released 25 May with the final charge set at $0.00 and the $9.38 deposit refunded.
Paper trailDecision noticeDocument scheduleFull correspondence ↗
NIAA · FOI/2526/034 RELEASED WITH REDACTIONS ↓ Download the binder
NIAA conflict-of-interest declaration paperwork
Inside: the controlled documents and templates NIAA staff use to declare conflicts of interest in recruitment and acting decisions — the versions in force now and on 1 January 2023 — with a statement of reasons and a schedule of the documents.
Why it matters: integrity policy can only be tested when the actual instruments are public. Now they are.
How it came outFiled 20 Feb 2026 alongside the 033 file → charges estimate issued 1 Apr → contested under s 29 → released 3 June with the final charge reduced to $0.00.
Paper trailDecision noticeStatement of reasonsDocument scheduleFull correspondence ↗
DFAT complaints & whistleblowing file
Inside: DFAT’s records on nepotism, conflict-of-interest and discrimination complaints and whistleblowing disclosures from 1 January 2023 — the largest single release on this shelf, issued as edited copies with material redacted under ss 22, 47E(c) and 47E(d).
Why it matters: DFAT runs Indigenous-facing programs too. Its complaint handling is now on the public record.
How it came outFiled 27 Feb 2026 → decision of 22 Apr released the file as edited copies → internal review sought under s 54C → the review decision, LEX 13641, issued 4 June together with a schedule of the documents.
Paper trailDecision noticeReview decisionDocument scheduleFull correspondence ↗
Three refusals are before the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner — the FIRB case file on the Ayers Rock Resort sale, the Multicultural Media grant probity file and the Lowitja Institute funding file. Documents won there land on this shelf first. Watch the review queue →
“Public money spent in the name of First Nations people deserves First Nations scrutiny.”
Follow the files
Every Commonwealth request lives on Right to Know — follow to see documents the moment they land. The 2026 NSW files were lodged direct with each agency; their status is tracked above.
righttoknow.org.au ↗ RSS feed ↗Make your own request
Both Acts belong to everyone. The chooser above picks your law; Right to Know handles agencies in both jurisdictions.
Start a request ↗Tip 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 case file was made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) or the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW), by or on behalf of Barayamal (formerly Barayamal Limited) — an ACNC-registered charity (ABN 13 618 487 139). Commonwealth requests were lodged through the public Right to Know platform, where the full correspondence is published. The 2026 NSW applications were lodged directly with each agency by email, so they have no Right to Know page; we track their status here and publish documents as they are released. Where access is refused, we use the review rights each Act provides: internal review, then the OAIC federally or the IPC and NCAT in NSW. If anything here is out of date or incorrect, contact us and we will fix it.
Sources: 23 case files link to public Right to Know correspondence. The other 12 NSW applications are tracked from Barayamal’s own agency-correspondence records. Case-file review last recorded: 23 August 2026; source-specific verification dates still need reconciliation. Release details last reviewed: 20 August 2026. The separate agency source directory was last checked on 7 September 2026.