The FOI Act gives you a right to access documents held by State and local government agencies, subject to some limitations. Those limitations mean that an agency can refuse access to documents, or certain information in them, if the information is exempt under the Act. For further information, refer to the FOI Exemptions page.
The type of government documents or records that can be requested extends to all manner of information, however recorded, in the possession or under the control of an agency.
Documents include (but are not limited to) maps, plans, diagrams, graphs, drawings, photographs, videos, audiotapes, CCTV footage and electronic records including emails (see definition of 'document' in the Glossary to the FOI Act).
Note: Your right under the FOI Act is to access documents, not to receive answers to questions.
An agency may be prepared to provide documents to you outside the FOI process. Some agencies have policies that allow them to routinely give people access to particular documents or kinds of documents. The access rights under the FOI Act do not apply to documents that are already publicly available (section 6).
Tip: If you are seeking documents, the best approach is to first talk with someone at the agency that holds the documents, as you may be able to access the documents without a formal application.
Currently, the OIC has a significant backlog of external review matters and the number of new applications for external review received is increasing.
Accordingly, to manage the volume of matters, increase timeliness of outcomes for more applicants and agencies and reduce backlog, priority is being given to certain matters as described in the OIC’s new Queue Management Policy.
Your access rights
The public interest
Show moreIf the agency is required to consider the public interest, this usually means that information that would otherwise be exempt will not be exempt if its disclosure would, on balance, be in the public interest.
So what does the term ‘public interest’ mean?
It is not defined in the FOI Act. It can be a complex legal concept.
Consideration of the public interest under the FOI Act is not primarily concerned with the personal interests of the particular access applicant or with public curiosity. The public interest is a matter benefitting the public at large rather than a particular individual or group of individuals. The question is whether, on balance, giving access to the information would be of some benefit to the public generally.
Deciding whether or not disclosing information would, on balance, be in the public interest involves identifying and weighing the relevant competing public interests for and against disclosure of the information, and deciding where the balance lies.
TIP: In relation to information of a personal nature, the Information Commissioner has consistently found there is a strong public interest in upholding the privacy of individuals. If you are seeking personal information relating to another person, you must show it is in the public interest for that personal information about another individual to be disclosed to you and the public more general (section 102).
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