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What is Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) provides a legally enforceable right to request access to government-held documents, including those documents which are held by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Documents the OAIC does not hold
For example, the OAIC do not generally hold documents for:
- Police Records
- Health or Medical records
- Immigration and citizenship records.
Police records
You can request copies of police records by making an application to the relevant state or federal police force:
Australian Federal Police | |
NSW Police | Information Access Application (GIPA Act) - NSW Police Public Site |
VIC Police | |
QLD Police | |
WA Police | Freedom of Information Request Form | Western Australia Police Force |
SA Police | |
NT Police | Freedom of Information | NT Police, Fire & Emergency Services |
Health or Medical records
You can request copies of medical records from local hospitals, or the Department of Health in your state or territory, or through your medical service provider. More information about how to access your health information is available at Access your health information.
Immigration or Citizenship records
You can request copies of immigration or citizenship records from the Department of Home Affairs. More information is available at Department of Home Affairs Freedom of information
How to request records of other Commonwealth agencies
You can request copies of documents directly from other Commonwealth agencies, such as:
Department of Home Affairs | |
Services Australia | |
Department of Veterans Affairs | Freedom of information | Department of Veterans' Affairs (dva.gov.au) |
Australian Taxation Office | |
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (passports) | Freedom of information | Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (dfat.gov.au) |
Transfer of requests to another agency or minister
If your request relates to documents held by another Australian Government agency, we may transfer the request or relevant part of the request to that agency for processing, subject to provisions under section 16 of the FOI Act. If you wish to approach that agency directly, this will generally be a quicker and more efficient process for you. We will let you know if we transfer your request to another agency.
Where to access other agency’s documents not held by the OAIC
If you are seeking documents of another agency, you will need to make your application to the relevant agency directly. If you are not sure where to direct your FOI request, most agencies have contact information on their FOI webpage – search freedom of information (FOI) or FOI request on the relevant agency’s website.
Documents held by the OAIC
The OAIC regulates the Privacy Act 1988- external site (Cth) (the Privacy Act) and the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (the FOI Act). The OAIC has the power to investigate complaints about the alleged mishandling of personal information by Australian and Norfolk Island government agencies and many private sector organisations, as well as the power to review FOI decisions of Australian and Norfolk Island government agencies.
If you have made a complaint to the OAIC or lodged a request for an IC review with the OAIC, we will hold documents in relation to that matter. You can request a copy of those documents and can also lodge a request for documents including policy and guidance material that the OAIC may refer to in its decision. The OAIC does not generally hold documents of Commonwealth agencies.
Submitting an Freedom of Information request to the OAIC
Download the Freedom of Information request form
Updated: 02 October 2025To make an FOI request for documents held by the OAIC, complete the FOI request application form (PDF, 1096 KB) and email the form to foi@oaic.gov.au. Completing the form is generally the quickest process and ensures immediate lodgement of your request.
Application checklist
A valid FOI request:
- Must be in writing
- Must state that the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act
- Must provide information about the document(s) you wish to access so that we can identify the documents
- Must provide an address for reply.
If you are unable to use the application form, you may email the details of your request to foi@oaic.gov.au.
If lodging your request by post, return the printed application form or a letter detailing your request and post it to:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Attention FOI Coordinator
GPO Box 5288
Sydney NSW 2001
Help to apply
If you need us to assist you to lodge your FOI request you can seek assistance with:
- hearing or speech: you can contact us through the National Relay Service
- translation services: you can contact us through the Translating and Interpreting Service.
If you need further help to make an FOI request to the OAIC, please contact us.
Your rights
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) gives any person the right to:
- access copies of documents (except exempt documents) we hold
- ask for information we hold about you to be changed or annotated if it is incomplete, out of date, incorrect or misleading
- seek a review of our decision not to allow you access to a document or not to amend your personal record.
You can ask to access any document we hold. We can refuse access to some documents, or parts of documents that are exempt. Exempt documents may include those relating to national security, documents containing material obtained in confidence and Cabinet documents, or other matters as set out in the FOI Act.
If you are seeking access to documents that do not relate to your personal information, you should review the OAIC’s FOI disclosure log.
Fees and charges
Are there any application fees
There is no application fee to apply for documents under the FOI Act or to apply for an internal review of an FOI decision.
Are there any processing charges
There are no processing charges where you are seeking your own personal information. However, processing charges may apply to requests for non personal information. We will let you know if your request attracts a processing charge.
For example, we will generally not charge you for giving you access to information about a complaint you may make to our office. However, processing charges may apply to other requests. More information about processing charges is here:
Activity item | Charge |
|---|---|
Search and retrieval: time we spend searching for or retrieving a document | $15.00 per hour |
Decision making: time we spend in deciding to grant or refuse a request, including examining documents, consulting with other parties, and making deletions | First five hours: Nil Subsequent hours: $20 per hour |
Transcript: preparing a transcript from a sound recording, shorthand or similar medium | $4.40 per page of transcript |
Photocopy | $0.10 per page |
Inspection: supervision by an agency officer of your inspection of documents or hearing or viewing an audio or visual recording at our premises | $6.25 per half hour (or part thereof) |
Delivery: posting or delivering a copy of a document at your request | Cost of postage or delivery |
If we decide to impose a charge, we will give you a written estimate and the basis of our calculation. Where the estimated charge is between $20 and $100, we may ask you to pay a deposit of $20, or where the estimated charge exceeds $100, we may ask you to pay a 25% deposit before we process your request.
You can ask for the charge to be waived or reduced for any reason, including financial hardship or on the grounds of public interest. If you do so, you should explain your reasons and you may need to provide some evidence.
What to expect from us
We will tell you within 14 days that we have received your request. We will give you our decision within 30 days unless that time has been extended.
We will let you know if the time is extended, including if a document contains information about a third party. We may also seek your agreement to extend the time by up to 30 days if we need more time to process your request.
Further information on extensions of time is available at Extension of time under the FOI Act.
Your personal information
Details of how we will handle your personal information can be found in the OAIC Privacy policy.
Personal information we collect for the FOI request
We will collect personal information when you submit the FOI request. We may need to collect further information from you to manage and process your FOI request. If you do not provide this information to the OAIC, it may affect how we handle your FOI request.
If you have questions about the personal information we collect when you lodge your FOI request and how we will handle it, please read our privacy policy or complete an Enquiry form.
What will we do with your information
We will use the information you provide us to assess your FOI request. If you lodge an application for review of the FOI decision such as with the Administrative Review Tribunal, we may need to disclose some of your personal information to the review body.
To make an FOI request for documents held by the OAIC, complete the FOI request application form (PDF, 1096 KB) and email the form to [Email protected]. Completing the form is generally the quickest process and ensures immediate lodgement of your request.
You can make an FOI request on behalf of another person. (For example, if you are a legal representative seeking access on behalf of a client). If so, that person’s recent and written consent or authorisation must be provided with the FOI request.
Yes. You may request information from the OAIC through an administrative process. Administrative access is a less formal process than making an FOI request, and may often be dealt with informally and more quickly.
Further information is available at administrative processes.
Documents published by the OAIC
Most Australian government agencies are subject to the FOI Act and are required to publish documents released in response to an FOI request in accordance with section 11C of the FOI Act. This is known as a disclosure log. The documents you seek may already be publicly available. The OAIC FOI disclosure log provides copies of documents released in response to FOI requests.
The OAIC also makes corporate information publicly available under the Information Publication Scheme. The OAIC takes a proactive approach to publishing the following types of information:
- Our agency plan which outlines how the OAIC will implement the IPS requirements
- Who we are including, information about the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and our legislative functions
- Our annual reports and corporate information
- Our operational information and accountability reporting
- Details of any public consultation processes open for contribution, and how you can engage with us as part of our regulatory functions
- Our FOI disclosure log.
Access to data and statistical information
The OAIC regularly publishes a range of data and statistical information which is accessible here Freedom of information statistics for the OAIC
Freedom of Information statistical information
The Australian Government FOI statistics dashboard presents key freedom of information (FOI) data over the last 5 years, as reported by Australian Government agencies and ministers to the OAIC under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Further information and data is available here Australian Government freedom of information statistics.
The dashboard is an interactive presentation of data published in the OAIC’s annual reports and also on data.gov.au and is updated quarterly.
Privacy and Data Breach datasets
The OAIC also publishes a range of statistics and data relating to the Privacy Act 1988, including Notifiable data breaches statistics under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.
You can also search the OAIC Disclosure Log for access to other types of published statistical information or datasets.
I want access to information about other people
If you or another person want to access documents containing personal information about another person, even if a relative, friend or employer, we will generally need to consult that person/entity before deciding whether we can provide the documents to you. Further information is available at when an FOI request affects you.
If you disagree with our decision
If you disagree with our decision on your FOI request you have the right to apply for internal review of that decision. An internal review will be conducted by another member of our staff who did not make the original decision. If you wish to apply for internal review, you must do so in writing within 30 days of receiving notice of our decision. You have the right to ask for a of the decision if you disagree with it.
A third party who disagrees with our decision to give you documents which contain information about them can also ask for our decision to be reviewed. Further information is available at OAIC FOI reviews and complaints.
Information Commissioner (IC) review of OAIC decisions
If you are not satisfied with your FOI decision, you may lodge an application for an IC review. To make an application for an IC Review, visit Freedom of information reviews, or visit the contact us page for further information.
If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your FOI request, you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner or you can lodge a complaint through the Commonwealth Ombudsman..
