Access to information
Access to Information is an initiative of the Office of Australian Information Commissioner to present a single, consistent place for accessing government information across government websites.
We make a range of information available for public access. You can request access to documents we hold under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). Alternately, we can give you certain information if you ask for it through other access arrangements we have set up, as outlined below.
Requesting information or documents
Most requests for information or copies of documents can be dealt with informally and quickly – a phone call or email may be all that is required. Here is a list of contact points within the Commission who may be able to assist with your enquiry.
Personal information – agency clients and customers
You can ask to see or be given a copy of any personal information we hold about you. Please reach out to the People Team as a first step.
Personal information – current and former agency employees
Current and former agency employees can obtain access to their employment record. Please reach out to the people team as a first step.
Section 15A of the FOI Act requires you to use this procedure before making a request under the FOI Act. You may make an FOI request after 30 days if you are not satisfied with our response.
Information Publication Scheme
As required by the FOI Act, we have an Information Publication Scheme entry that provides information on our structure, functions, appointments, annual reports, consultation arrangements, FOI officer, information we routinely release following FOI requests and information we routinely provide to Parliament.
FOI disclosure log
Our FOI disclosure log lists information that has been released in response to requests made under the FOI Act.
Freedom of information requests
This is an excerpt from our wider freedom of information resource. Please see the Freedom of Information page for more information.
Your rights
The 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- ask for information we hold about you to be changed or annotated if it is incomplete, out of date, incorrect or misleading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 from disclosure. Exempt documents may include those relating to national security, documents containing material obtained in confidence and Cabinet documents, or other matters set out in the FOI Act.
How to make an FOI request
Your FOI request must:
- be in writing
- state that the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act
- provide information about the document(s) to assist us to process your request
- provide an address for reply.
You can send your request:
By post:
FOI Officer, Australian Public Service Commission
B Block, Treasury Building,
Parkes Place West, Parkes ACT 2600
GPO Box 3176, Canberra ACT 2601
By email: foi@apsc.gov.au
If you ask a third party to make an FOI request on your behalf, you may need to provide a specific, written authorityfor copies of documents to be released to you, care of that person, or to allow that person to inspect copies of documents containing information about you. If you request copies of documents containing information about you, we may require you to provide proof of identity to ensure we are providing the documents to the correct person.
If you require assistance with your request, please contact us via email on foi@apsc.gov.au, or request a call back by emailing foi@apsc.gov.au with your name (optional), contact number and any relevant information about your enquiry.
Fees and charges
There is no application fee for an FOI request.
There are no processing charges for FOI requests for access to documents containing only personal information about you. However, processing charges may apply to other requests. The most common charges are:
Fees and charges for processing FOI requests
| 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 evidence.
What you can expect from us
We will tell you within 14days that we have received your request. We will also give you an estimate of the charges that apply to your request. We will give you our decision within 30 days unless that time has been extended. If a document contains information about a third party, we will need to consult them and may need to extend the time to give you our decision by another 30 days. We may also seek your agreement to extend the time by up to 30 days if your request is complex.
If you disagree with our decision
When we have made a decision about your FOI request, we will send you a letter explaining our decision and your review and appeal rights.
You can ask for the following decisions to be reviewed:
- if we refuse to give you access to all or part of a document or if we defer giving you access
- if we impose a charge
- if we refuse to change or annotate information about you that you claim is incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading.
A third party who disagrees with our decision to give you documents that contain information about them can also ask for our decision to be reviewed.
Internal review
You can ask in writing that we reconsider our decision (internal review). An internal review will be conducted by another officer in our agency. We will advise you of our new decision within 30 days of receiving your request.
Information Commissioner review
You can ask the Australian Information Commissioner to review our original decision or our decision on internal review within 60 days of the date of decision (or 30 days after you are notified if you are an affected third party). The Information Commissioner can affirm or vary the decision or substitute a new decision. The Information Commissioner may decide not to conduct a review in certain circumstances. More information is available from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Complaints
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request, you can complain to the Australian Information Commissioner who may investigate our actions. More information is available from the OAIC. The Commonwealth Ombudsman can also investigate complaints about our actions. However, the Commonwealth Ombudsman and the Information Commissioner will consult to avoid the same matter being investigated twice.
More information
If you require assistance with your request, please contact the FOI Contact Officer by email at foi@apsc.gov.au.