Vanuatu - June 2025

Vanuatu’s parliament passed an amendment to the 2016 Right to Information Act to exempt decisions and deliberations by the Council of Ministers (the government cabinet). Council-related documents will not be secret by default under the amended law, but the Council will have the authority to make documents and its decisions confidential at its discretion. The law was condemned by media rights advocates, civil society organizations and political opposition for reducing executive transparency and for granting the cabinet the power to hide politically inconvenient or incriminating information from parliamentary or public oversight. Of particular concern is a widely anticipated unpublished report on irregularities in the country’s Citizenship-by-Investment scheme. While the law previously mandated its publication, the amendment means the government will have the option of not doing so without providing an explanation.

Sources: Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Daily Post