Freedom of Information

General Information

​Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, you can ask to see or get copies of:

• Documents about your personal affairs regardless of the age of the documents
• Any other documents which were created on/after 1 January 1989.

The term document includes: Written documents – either printed or electronic, photographs, letters, maps, film, reports and audio and video recordings.

Not all information is automatically available. The Freedom of Information Act allows an agency to refuse access to certain documents or information. These documents or information are called 'exempt' documents. In some cases you may be refused access to an entire document. Alternatively, you may be given access to a document with exempt information deleted. Some documents that you may not have access to include:

• Cabinet documents
• Some internal working documents
• Law enforcement documents
• Documents covered by legal professional privilege (such as legal advice)
• Documents containing personal information about other people
• Documents containing information provided to an agency 'in confidence'
• Documents containing information provided to an agency by a business
• Documents which are covered by secrecy provisions in other legislation.

Costs

There are two costs associated with making a Freedom of Information request:

• The Application cost.
• The Access cost.

The application fee is a fixed cost which in non-refundable. The only exception is for people suffering hardship who can ask for the fee to be waived.

Access charges relate to costs incurred in granting access to the document(s) you have requested. These costs may or may not apply depending on the nature of your request. The following table outlines these costs. All fees and charges are exempt from GST.

Charges are set by Government Regulations. You can access a copy of these regulations and obtain information relating to Freedom of Information at the Freedom of Information Website.

• Freedom of Information Request Form