While there has been a particular focus on Cabinet records – including the extension of the period of protection for such records from five to ten years – the high level group also recommended a number of other important measures, including the introduction of up-front fees. Such fees are long overdue. The cost of administering FOI is not reflected in any meaningful way in the existing fee provisions. While mandatory, these provisions have not operated as was originally intended. The original Act clearly states that a fee must be charged for an FOI request unless the request is for personal information or in cases where exceptional circumstances apply. In practice, the opposite has been happening with charges being the exception rather than the rule.