A report was recently released by ACT Ombudsman Michael Manthorpe on the first full year of operation of ACT's new freedom of information scheme.

It found agencies had "matured" during 2018-19 with only a small percentage of applications missing statutory time frames.

"There is, nevertheless, more to be done to ensure the FOI Act contributes to an open and transparent ACT government, and an engaged and informed ACT community," Mr Manthorpe said. "In a time where there is an increased hunger for transparency and accountability in government, access to information is particularly critical to help restore a sense of trust in our public institutions."

In the past financial year, ACT government directorates received 1015 freedom of information applications, a 17 per cent increase from the previous year. In that time, 840 decisions were made on the applications.

The Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate received the most applications at 351, followed by the Community Services Directorate which received 160. Full access was granted in just 18 per cent of decisions, while partial access was granted in 64 per cent of decisions. Access was refused in 18 per cent of cases. The report said while fewer applications had been entirely refused, this appeared to have transferred into more partial outcomes, as opposed to full access.

"It is of concern that despite the pro-disclosure objectives of the FOI Act, full access outcomes remain low," the report said.

"An analysis of other jurisdictions appears to indicate that applicants in Australia are more likely to be granted access in part than access in full, and this is a growing trend."

The most common reasons for refusing access - either in full or part - were that something was cabinet information (43 per cent), that it would prejudice the economy of the territory (33 per cent) and that it would prejudice trade secrets (26 per cent).

The report also said it was concerning some directorates were not fully complying with the act. The laws require directorates to notify the Ombudsman if it missed a deadline to provide a response. While it was relatively rare for directorates to not provide a response within the obligated period, there were occasions where a directorate failed to notify the Ombudsman.

"It is concerning that some agencies are not meeting their requirements under s39 of the FOI Act," the report said. "The office has alerted the agencies concerned to their obligations and will continue to monitor this issue, particularly in relation to the processes in place to deal with access applications."