The Federal Government has put out an open call for ideas on how to manage Australia’s nuclear waste, but none of the responses have been made public.
☢️ The stockpile: Australia stores its radioactive waste at over 100 temporary facilities, including hospitals, universities, research laboratories, and industrial and defence sites.
The main storage site at Lucas Heights in Sydney is nearing capacity, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
A 2012 law set up the process to choose a site for a permanent facility, and in 2021 the government chose a site near Kimba in South Australia.
In 2023, the government abandoned the Kimba plan after the Federal Court set aside the decision in a challenge brought by the Barngarla traditional owners.
In late 2025, the government asked industry and experts for ideas on what to do with the waste. The outcome of those consultations has not been made public.
📈 More waste: The first US Virginia-class submarine is expected to arrive in Australia in 2032 if the AUKUS deal proceeds, and Defence says storage for the submarines' waste won't be required until the mid-2050s.
The Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation have all said they want nuclear power in Australia, which would produce more waste.
📄 The FOI request: On September 10, the National Account used freedom of information laws to access briefings the Resources Minister has been given on what happens next with the waste.
On October 7, the department of Industry, Science and Resources said it had found 735 pages across 28 documents, and it would take staff more than 70 hours to go through them.
To make sure we actually receive the information, we’ve asked the department to narrow the request to just the final versions of the documents, and nothing that was “prepared for the cabinet”.
🔒 Why Cabinet papers stay secret: The Cabinet meeting is often when senior ministers make the government’s biggest decisions. Anything prepared for it is automatically exempt from FOI, so ministers can argue things out in private before they agree.
Not everyone thinks that should stay. The Robodebt royal commission said the rule, section 34 of the FOI Act, “should be repealed.”
The Centre for Public Integrity says the government “should end the blanket approach to confidentiality of Cabinet documents.”
Watch the National Account's Archie Milligan below:
Thumbnail: AAP