Important mandatory requirement information

Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), every person has the right to access information held by the Australian Government and its authorities. Most Australian Government agencies are subject to the FOI Act; however there are certain security intelligence and defence intelligence agencies that are exempt. There are also certain documents that are exempt from access, to ensure that sensitive information, including personal, secret or national security information is properly protected. The FOI Act extends to paper and electronic records.

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) commenced on 1 November 2010. Its FOI functions include merit review of FOI decisions, investigating complaints about FOI administration, publishing guidelines on the FOI Act, promoting awareness and understanding of the FOI Act, conducting training, providing advice and assistance, monitoring agency compliance with the FOI Act, and collecting and publishing information and statistics about FOI matters.

Why must I?

The FOI Act affects Australian Government agencies in three ways:

• Agencies must provide access to documents in their possession unless the document is within an exception or exemption specified in the legislation.
• As part of the Information Publication Scheme (IPS) agencies must publish an agency plan, publish specified categories of information, and consider proactively publishing other government information.
• Agencies (and ministers) must publish, in a disclosure log, information that has been released in response to an access request.

What must I do?

Access requests

Agencies and ministers must acknowledge receipt of an FOI request within 14 days. If an FOI request does not meet the requirements set out in s 15(2) of the FOI Act, an agency has an obligation to assist the applicant to make a valid request. Agencies and ministers must also provide an estimate of the relevant charges as soon as possible. There are no charges for an individual’s request for their own personal information.

Information Publication Scheme

Part 2 of the FOI Act establishes an Information Publication Scheme (IPS) for Australian Government agencies. The IPS commenced on 1 May 2011 and requires agencies (subject to the FOI Act) to:

• publish a plan showing how the agency will comply with the IPS requirements
• publish specified categories of information (for example, information about the agency’s functions and powers, operational information and FOI contact officers)
• consider proactively publishing other government information.

Disclosure log

Agencies and ministers must publish information released under an access request within 10 working days of giving the FOI applicant access to the information (s 11C of the FOI Act), unless the information is of a type that would be unreasonable to publish. This requirement also commenced on 1 May 2011.

How do I?

• The FOI guidelines issued by the OAIC under s 93A of the FOI Act assist agencies to meet their FOI obligations. Agencies must have regard to these guidelines when they are performing a function or exercising a power under the FOI Act.
• Other FOI guidance and resources are available at OAIC Resources and Publications.

Subjects:

• Freedom of information
• FOI
• information
• publication
• IPS
• content,