Parliamentary Special Select Committee will review the Freedom of Information Bill 2026 tomorrow before it is tabled in Parliament, with the committee expected to examine its scope and recommendations following feedback from NGOs and professional bodies, Bernama reported.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the first meeting of the bipartisan committee would examine its terms of reference before recommendations and findings are finalised ahead of the next parliamentary sitting.
“We received bipartisan participation through the Special Select Committee, so tomorrow will be the first meeting and we will examine its terms of reference,” she said.
Azalina said stakeholders had raised concerns over the contents of the proposed law, with NGOs and other groups arguing that the FOI Bill should have a broader scope.
“I think there are many things raised, especially about the contents of this bill. If we look at the comments made by NGOs and stakeholders, they stated that FOI has a wider scope. So, we will evaluate that tomorrow,” she said.
The FOI Bill 2026 proposes a framework for requests to access information held by public authorities. Under the bill, Malaysian citizens aged 18 and above would be eligible to submit written applications for access to official information.
However, the proposed mechanism would retain existing secrecy protections, excluding information covered by the Official Secrets Act 1972 and other documents whose disclosure is prohibited or protected under written law.
