The individual's right of access to government information is expressed in these terms:

The key terms, "agency", "document", "document of an agency", "exempt document" and "official document of a Minister" are defined in the FOI Act (Cth) (s.4(1)). Document is widely defined to include:

but it does not include library material maintained for reference purposes or Cabinet notebooks. Access to computer-stored material may, subject to the normal exemptions and exclusions, be given by providing the information on a computer tape or computer disk. Alternatively, access may be given by providing a computer print-out or by similar methods where this is preferred by the applicant.

If you are an employee or former employee of an agency which has established procedures to give employees or former employees access to their own personnel records and you wish to see your own personnel records, you must first use those procedures. If you are dissatisfied with the result, or you are not notified within 30 days of the result of your request, you may then make a request under the FOI Act (Cth).

The above rights of access do not apply to all documents. There is no obligation on an agency to disclose documents of the following kinds:

See Part IV of the FOI Act (Cth).

However, an agency is not bound to refuse disclosure of a document which falls within an exempt category; that is, the exemptions are "permissive" (s.14). More than one exemption may be claimed (s.32).

In addition to the exemptions listed above and applicable to all Commonwealth agencies, some Commonwealth agencies are not subject to the FOI Act (Cth) in any respect, while several have been given exemption in regard to certain special classes of documents. These exclusions are set out in Schedules to the FOI Act (Cth).

The combined effect of the general right of access and the exemption relating to personal privacy is, normally, to limit access to personal documents held by government about an individual to that individual (s.41, especially s.41(2)). Individuals are entitled to seek access to personal documents held by an agency, regardless of the age of those documents (s.12(2)(a)). This right is used by many members of the community, particularly in areas such as social security and veterans' affairs.

However, disclosure to third parties may occur where to do so would not be unreasonable.

The FOI Act (Cth) provides for consultation by agencies with individuals before release of documents containing records of their personal information (s.27A). Where consultation is practicable, an agency must not grant access to that document without first consulting the individual concerned. If the agency still decides to release the documents, those consulted have a right to internal review (s.54(1E)) and appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to oppose release (s.59A).

In certain cases, an applicant may be asked to nominate a "qualified person" (defined in the FOI Act (Cth) to include a medical practitioner, psychiatrist, psychologist, marriage guidance counsellor and social worker) to whom information about the applicant can be provided, rather than the information being provided directly to the applicant (see ss.41(3) to 41(8)). This scheme operates where the agency or Minister believes that disclosure of the information to the applicant might be detrimental to the applicant's physical or mental health or well-being.

If an agency has on its files personal information about you, you may apply to that agency for the amendment of that information if you consider it to be incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading. This is subject to the restriction that the agency holds the information for an administrative purpose.

Alternatively, you may apply for a note recording your views to be added to the information. The procedure is similar to that used for an application for documents under the FOI Act (Cth), but there is no initial application fee. You have the same rights of internal review, application to the Ombudsman (see: Chapter 21*4 Ombudsman) and appeal to the AAT if you are dissatisfied with the agency's decision.

An agency may decide not to amend your personal information as requested by you. If it makes this decision, it must take reasonable steps to enable you to apply for annotation of your personal information. It is not required to add an annotation requested by you if it considers the statement to be irrelevant, defamatory or unnecessarily voluminous.

Agencies are also required under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) to ensure that personal information is relevant, complete and not misleading and, subject to some qualifications including exemptions under the FOI Act (Cth), to give access to that information to the person concerned.

The combined effect of the general right of access and the exemption relating to business affairs etc. is normally to limit access to such records held by the government to the individual or organisation concerned where, for example, disclosure of the information to others would, or could, reasonably be expected to:

The FOI Act (Cth) provides for consultation by agencies with a person, organisation or undertaking before release of documents where the documents may be subject to this exemption (s.27). Where consultation is practicable, an agency must not grant access to that document without first consulting the person, organisation or undertaking concerned. If the agency still decides to release the documents, those consulted have a right to internal review (s.54(1D)) and appeal to the AAT to oppose release (s.59).

To make effective use of freedom of information (FOI) rights, applicants need to have the means of identifying the location of information in which they may have an interest.

This concern is addressed by provisions in the FOI Act (Cth) that require agencies to publish indexes and information in their Annual Reports, outlining the contents of their information systems (s.8).

In addition, certain types of documents held in agencies must be periodically published and made available on request. These are documents used by an agency in making its decisions or recommendations with respect to the rights, privileges or benefits of people under any scheme administered by that agency. In particular, the FOI Act (Cth) specifies that manuals or other documents containing interpretations, rules, guidelines or precedent, including precedents in the nature of letters of advice, must be made available on request (s.9).

Section 15(3) of the FOI Act (Cth) imposes a duty on agencies to take reasonable steps to assist applicants to make their requests comply with the requirements of the Act.

Section 15(4) imposes a duty on agencies to assist applicants to direct their FOI application to the correct agency.

The importance of giving individuals a right of access to these basic documents in the administration of Commonwealth benefits cannot be overestimated.

The first step in applying for release of information is to telephone the FOI Contact Officer at the agency which you believe holds the relevant documents. A list of Commonwealth FoI Contact Officers is available on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet's FOI website at www.pmc.gov.au/foi. After the particulars of your request have been established, the FOI Contact Officer will advise you how best to proceed.

A request for access to documents must then be made in writing. The request can be made electronically (this includes fax and email).

No particular form of application is required but the application must be accompanied by an application fee of $30, except where access is sought to pension or other income-support documents. Other charges for processing an application are given in the table opposite.

Generally, you do not have to pay fees or charges for requests for access to personal income-support documents. For other requests for your own personal information, there are limits on the charges for search and retrieval time and for decision-making time.

Applicants may seek remission of the fee, before or after payment, on any grounds, including financial hardship and public interest (s.30A).

Applicants must be notified of any charges proposed to be made and may ask that they be reduced or not imposed on grounds including financial hardship and public interest. An applicant can decide not to continue with the application after being advised that charges may be made.

If the applicant does not respond to the notification (by agreeing or otherwise) within 30 days, the request is deemed to be withdrawn. There is a right of internal review and appeal to the AAT on the imposition or amount of the charge.

The request must provide such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the agency to identify the document sought. If you have difficulties in suitably framing your request, you should contact the FoI Contact Officer, who will assist you.

Access is usually given by way of copies of documents. A document may be supplied in response to a request with exempt matter deleted, provided that is practicable (s.22).

An applicant may also seek access by way of inspection of documents, either at the agency's premises or at any office of the National Archives of Australia. The office in Melbourne is:

Requests must be dealt with as soon as possible, with a maximum time limit of 30 days (s.15(6)), or 60 days if a person, business, or state government is required to be consulted.

Narrow grounds for deferring access are also provided (s.21).

Where an agency refuses an applicant's request for access to documents or defers access to documents, the decision-maker is required to give written reasons for the decision and to tell the applicant about their rights to have the decision reviewed and to make a complaint to the Ombudsman (s.26). (See: Chapter 21*4 Ombudsman, for further information.)

If the applicant has requested remission of an application fee or a reduction or non-imposition of charges, the decision-maker must also give written reasons for the decision and tell the applicant about their rights to have the decision reviewed and to complain to the Ombudsman (ss.29 & 30A). This requirement also applies where an agency refuses an applicant's request for amendment or annotation of personal records (s.51D).

An individual denied access, or a consulted person, may apply for review of the decision to the agency (internal review). The agency must then review the decision as if the application for review was a fresh request. The internal review is undertaken by a person other than the original decision-maker. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you may lodge an appeal with the AAT. The AAT then considers the merits of the decision made by the agency.

An application fee of $40 is payable for internal review. The application fee for AAT review (except where access is sought to certain pension or benefit documents) is $682 (from 1 July 2008). The AAT application fee is subject to increase on every second anniversary of 1 July 1996 in accordance with a calculation based on the Consumer Price Index.

An applicant may also complain to the Commonwealth Ombudsman on any aspect of the handling of a request (see: Chapter 21*4 Ombudsman, for further information).

General enquiries about the operation of the FOI Act (Cth) can be made to the Privacy and Freedom of Information Policy Branch of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The Privacy and Freedom of Information Policy Branch publishes a pamphlet that gives more information on the operation of the FOI Act (Cth). This pamphlet, and other FoI information and material, is available on the Department's FoI website, or contact the Privacy and Freedom of Information Policy Branch (see: contact details above).