Govt 'puts media before senators': oppn

The opposition says government departments are putting journalists before members of parliament when it comes to releasing information.

Liberal senator Mathias Cormann on Monday told a parliamentary hearing he knew of examples where senators had made formal requests for information - known as orders of the Senate - from government departments and were still waiting for the information.

But when journalists lodged freedom of information (FOI) requests for similar information it was released much more quickly.

"If only the government was true to its word that this would be a new era of openness and transparency," Senator Cormann told a Senate estimates hearing.

Senator Cormann asked Clerk of the Senate Rosemary Laing what she thought of the situation.

"It's very disappointing that the government department are saying that that power (of the Senate to request documents) is almost secondary to the FOI Act," Dr Laing said.

The FOI Act had only been in place since 1992, while the Senate's power to seek information from government was over a century old, she said.

"Public servants should be aware of this and it's very disappointing if they are not.

"There's a very clear distinction between FOI and the underlying and overarching power of the houses (of parliament)."

Dr Laing said the Senate had the power to seek fines or jail terms for government officials who breached contempt of parliament rules.

But the solutions used were often "political", such as asking ministers to explain why they had not produced the information and delaying legislation.