The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has made Freedom of Information statistics available in a machine-readable format, the federal agency revealed today.
It's the first time FOI statistics have been published in an open data format, according to the OAIC.
Files containing the FOI data are available from the federal governments' data.gov.au open data repository.
The files include 2012-13 data on FOI requests, outcomes of FOI applications, whether the FOI timeframes were complied with, details about charges and costs, and the u se of exemption.
Also included are 2011-12 data and a dataset covering total FOI requests and charges levied 1982-2013 period.
"The statistics were released before the national Govhack event on 11-13 July 2014, which challenges participants to reuse government data in new applications," an OAIC statement said.
"The OAIC supports Govhack as a practical example of the value of providing open access to government data as a default position."
The federal government revealed earlier this year in the budget that the OAIC will be closed down. From the start of 2015 a new organisation called the Office of the Privacy Commissioner will take over the Privacy Act related functions of the OAIC.
The OAIC's Freedom of Information review powers will be handed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; FOI complains will be handled by the Commonwealth Ombudsman. The OAIC's current role in publishing FOI guidelines and compiling FOI statistics will be rolled into the Attorney-General's Department.