SYDNEY - Free speech was being whittled away in Australia by a culture of secrecy and censorship, complicated freedom of information laws and manipulation of information by governments and public relations firms, a report said on Monday.

The report, commissioned by major media groups, said information that was once routinely released to the public was now being either withheld, censored or manipulated to avoid media exposure.

It also found a culture of secrecy had spread from police and politicians to churches and community groups to business and the military.

"Australian democracy is not as free, not as open, nor as transparent as it should be. Some of the rights and freedoms we cherish are threatened," said John Hartigan, chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd in Australia and head of a coalition of media groups concerned about free speech. Australia ranked 28 out of 169 countries for press freedom according to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders latest index released in October. In 2002 it was ranked 12th.

The report titled "Australia's Right to Know" found 500 pieces of legislation and at least 1,000 court suppression orders restricting media reporting.

"Many of the mechanisms that are vital to a well-functioning democracy are beginning to wear thin," the report's author, Irene Moss, former chair of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, told a news conference.

"The greatest loss in this battle is not to the media, but to the Australian people and their right to know about important matters that affect them," she said.

Australia had 355 laws with specific secrecy provisions, covering not only security and gaming but also wool, livestock, food and grain. Under these laws information could be withheld merely because the law allows for secrecy.

Freedom of Information laws had become "unworkable" with some requests for information taking months or even years, the report said.

A request for documents about the effect of global warming on the Great Barrier Reef involved 538 hours of "decision making time" at a cost of A$12,718 (US$11,670).

A two-year request for information on a politician's travel was abandoned when a newspaper was quoted a fee of A$1.25 million -- a cost related to contacting everyone the politician met.

The report said new anti-terrorism laws in Australia had prevented the media from reporting details of detention warrants and allowed for the detention and interrogation of journalists believed to have information on terrorist activities.

It also said there was only limited protection for "whistleblowers" and that public servants were intimidated to prevent information leaks.

"The Moss report shows that the slide into censorship and secrecy is evident at all levels of government and among political parties," said Hartigan.

The report said the emergence of big public relations firms, used by both corporations and government to "spin" information, was also eroding access to information.

It called for a reform of laws covering the flow of information from government and the judiciary.