The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) gives the right of access to official documents of Commonwealth departments and authorities.

The Procedures Advice Manual and all Policy Control Instructions used in the Department of Immigration and Citizenship are available at DIAC's offices. They may be examined free of charge, or copies of the required pages may be purchased. Documents held by DIAC on a particular file, or general files or any other identifiable document, may be requested.

To request documents, write to the Freedom of Information Unit of DIAC, stating that the request is made under the Freedom of Information Act (see: "Contacts" at the end of the chapter for further details). DIAC is required to take all reasonable steps to ensure that a decision is made upon the request as soon as possible, and no later than 30 days after it was received. If it is felt that information so obtained is inaccurate or otherwise may mislead DIAC in its actions, a request may be made to change the record. A form is available from DIAC for this purpose. Currently DIAC charges no fee for personal files (the fee used to be $30).