'A bit fast money, a bit white shoe brigade'? Freedom of Information and Australian History

In the second of our series on Freedom of Information and the Historian, Greg Terrill writes on the impact of Freedom of Information (FOI) upon the writing of Australian history. Historians in Australia have barely engaged with FOI—they do not have a record of being good agitators for their professional interests, and they have never been active campaigners for FOI. This is unfortunate, but need not be repeated in Britain. To forearm the British historian, this article outlines the relationship between FOI and history in Australia, and points to some issues for consideration in Britain.