Professor McMillan will head the new OIC, which will incorporate the well-established Office of the federal Privacy Commissioner as well as a new Freedom of Information Commissioner.

The three agencies will between them oversee a soon-to-be revamped Privacy Act and the new FOI laws, shaped to deal with the challenges of information management, security and access in the digital age.

Cabinet Secretary Joe Ludwig said the government “has acted early in appointing Professor McMillan”, and he will be responsible for ensuring the new OIC is fully operational “as soon as practical after the passage of legislation”.

The government’s Freedom of Information law reform package is currently before the Senate. The agency was slated to start early this year, but the necessary legislation was only introduced in November.

However, the proposed model of three commissioners has been criticised in submissions to the Senate inquiry, and it is unclear whether the Bill will pass without amendments.

Last year, Senator Ludwig said $20 million had been allocated over four years to set up the OIC, which will operate independently to oversee the new FOI regime and include the separate appointment of an FOI Commissioner, as well as broader responsibilities for the Privacy Commissioner, Karen Curtis.

Senator Ludwig acknowledged the government was getting ahead of itself, saying the appointment was based on an assumption Parliament would support the Bill.

“As soon as the Information Commissioner Bill is enacted, I will recommend to the Governor-General that she appoint Professor McMillan as the Information Commissioner,” he said.

“As the commissioner-designate, Professor McMillan will have a significant role in implementing the government’s information policy reforms, and in leading a pro-disclosure culture across government.”

Professor McMillan has taken leave from his position as Commonwealth Ombudsman and will assume the new Information Commissioner Designate role from March 8.

“The combination of privacy and FOI in a new office headed by the Information Commissioner, supported by the Privacy and FOI Commissioners, will transform information management in Australian government,” Professor McMillan said. “This package is the most significant reform of administrative law in over 20 years.

“There will be an irreversible change in government culture. The ground rules for information disclosure and publication are being rewritten.”