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Guidance and advice
RSS feedWe've developed these guides to help organisations and agencies understand and comply with the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Agencies and ministers must also have regard to Australian Information Commissioner’s freedom of information (FOI) Guidelines when performing a function or exercising a power under the FOI Act.
IntroductionA third party may have a right to be consulted by an agency before it decides to grant access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to a document containing their personal or business information. The third party may also have a right to seek internal or Information ...
1 December 2013
This series of sample FOI notices has been developed to help agencies and ministers comply with their obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).An agency or minister must send an applicant or a third party a written notice at various points in the processing of an FOI ...
25 January 2013
Statement issued by the Australian Information Commissioner to supplement an amendment to Part 3 of the Guidelines issued by the Australian Information Commissioner under s 93A of the Freedom of Information Act 1982Section 15 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) provides that ‘a person’ may request access ...
3 December 2012
Public holidays can affect an agency’s ability to process freedom of information (FOI) requests under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) within the statutory timeframes, particularly between Christmas and the New Year when many Australian Government agencies shut down operations.To ensure compliance with the statutory timeframes and make ...
30 April 2012
The right to obtain access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) extends to documents of an ‘agency' and official documents of a minister, other than exempt documents. An ‘agency' is defined in s 4(1) of the FOI Act as:a Department of the Australian Public Service ...
8 September 2011
A person can apply under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) for amendment or annotation of their personal information held in agency records or in the official documents of a minister.This material aims to help decision makers to process requests for amendment or annotation of personal records. You ...
The exemptions and conditional exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) ensure that sensitive information is properly protected. A person has a legally enforceable right of access to a document of an agency or an official document of a minister unless the document is exempt or conditionally ...
Guidance and advice
We've developed these guides to help organisations and agencies understand and comply with the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Agencies and ministers must also have regard to Australian Information Commissioner’s freedom of information (FOI) Guidelines when performing a function or exercising a power under the FOI Act.
25 September 2018
This agency resource explains administrative access, why it may be beneficial for agencies to release information outside the formal FOI request process and how agencies can set up an administrative access arrangement.
Tags: access
Guidance to help decision makers identify the steps in calculating and imposing a charge.
Tags: access
30 April 2012
Which bodies and offices are covered by the FOI Act, and those that are excluded
Position paper which identifies some of the issues agencies should consider when deciding whether to exempt the names and contact details of public servants in response to FOI requests.
30 October 2010
Agencies must take contractual measures to ensure that they receive documents held by certain contractors or subcontractors if a person requests access to those documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
Tags: access
The exemptions and conditional exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 ensure that sensitive information is properly protected. A person has a legally enforceable right of access to a document of an agency or an official document of a minister unless the document is exempt or conditionally exempt.
Tags: exemptions
1 July 2014
How to apply to the OAIC for an extension of time for processing FOI requests.
24 December 2020
A fact sheet for Freedom of Information practitioners to download to provide agency staff with a broad overview of the FOI Act and the steps required to be taken when an FOI request is received.