In This Section
Under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA), you can access and see a lot of information we hold in Council records (digital and hardcopy).
The GIPA Act commenced on 1st July 2010, it replaced the Freedom for Information Act 1989 and Section 12 of the Local Government Act, 1993.
View:
Our Agency Information Guide explains Council’s approach to the release of information:
GIPA provides four ways you can access information from Council and other NSW government agencies.
Under the GIPA Act information known as ‘open access information’ must be disclosed by us, unless it is not in the public interest to disclose it.
Open Access information includes information provided on our website, free of charge. For instance, information about Council, our policy documents, information about Development Applications and register of government contracts.
Council information can be found at:
Council must also keep a record of the Open Access information (if any) that we do not make publicly available on the basis there is an overriding public interest against disclosure.
Council’s Information and Privacy Officer uses the guides provided by the Information and Privacy Commission together with their extensive knowledge to apply the public interest test.
Where the open access information the Council holds contains personal information, the personal information may not be made publicly available, if the Council considers that there would be an overriding public interest against its disclosure. For example the Council withholds the signatures and principal address information of staff members where they appear on pecuniary interest statements.
(Under section 6(5) of the Government Information (Public Access) Act, the City must keep a record of the open access information (if any) that it does not make publicly available on the basis of an overriding public interest against disclosure. The record is to indicate only the general nature of the information concerned.)
Under the GIPA Act we release information proactively; we are committed to providing as much information as possible for free (no cost) or at a low cost.
A lot of information is easy to access and available to the public on our website.
Need help locating information?
You can informally apply for other information from Council. We can release information if there is no overriding public interest against the disclosure of it.
For instance, you may be entitled to information about yourself but not somebody else.
Information you can usually request this way includes:
As we address your request, we may impose any reasonable conditions on the supply of this information.
For instance, where information is subject to copyright protection, the copyright owners written consent is required to gain copies of these documents.
Or
Include your full contact details and sufficient information for the information requested to be identified.
Council retains discretion to require a formal access application in certain circumstances including:
Information that is not able to be provided via Informal Release can be requested via a Formal Access Application. You have a legally enforceable right to be provided with the information unless there is an overriding public interest against the disclosure of it.
A Formal access application may be required if the information you are applying for involves:
Formal access applications must:
Council has 20 working days to decide on an application (with provision for that time limit to be extended by a maximum of 15 days if records need to be retrieved from archives or third parties need to be consulted). Decisions made by Council about formal access applications can be requested for internal review by Council, or an application for external review by the Information Commissioner and/or the Administrative Decisions Tribunal can also be made.
We aim to publish as much information as we can. We keep several information registers so you can find it easily. This information includes:
You can find many more registers and other Council information at:
Need help?
Council is committed to meeting our obligations under the Copyright Act 1968 and the GIPA Act.
We will not provide copies of documents which are subject to copyright without the express written consent of the copyright owner/s.
If you have lodged a formal application to access Council documents and you disagree with a decision about the release of information, you have a right to have that decision reviewed. Examples of reviewable decisions include a decision:
A complete list of reviewable decisions is set out in Section 80 of the GIPA Act and are also shown on page two (2) of the Internal Review Application.
Generally, you have three (3) options if you want a decision reviewed:
You have 20 working days after the notice of a decision has been given to you to request an internal review.
The review must be carried out by a person who is no less senior than the person who made the original decision and cannot be carried out by the person who made the original decision. The review decision must be made as if it was a fresh application.
If Council’s Chief Executive Officer made the original decision, you cannot ask for an internal review, but you can ask for an external review. There is a $40.00 fee for an internal review application except if the decision is ‘deemed refusal’ and this could occur if your application was not processed within the required time. In this case, you cannot be charged any review fee.
Your application will be acknowledged within five (5) working days of receiving it.
Council must decide the internal review within 15 working days (this can be extended by 10 days if third party consultation is involved or, or by agreement with you).
If you disagree with any of the decisions listed above, you can ask for a review by the Information Commissioner.
If you are the person applying for access to information, you do not have to have an internal review of the decision before asking the Information Commissioner to review it.
If you are not the access applicant, you must seek an internal review before applying for review by the Information Commissioner.
You have eight weeks from being notified of the decision to ask for a review by the Information Commissioner.
On reviewing the decision, the Information Commissioner can make recommendations about the decision to the agency.
You cannot ask the Information Commissioner to review a decision that has already been reviewed by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal.
If you disagree with any of the decisions listed above, you can ask for a review by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (ADT).
You do not have to have the decision reviewed internally, or by the Information Commissioner before applying for review by the ADT.
You have up to eight (8) weeks from being notified of the decision to apply to the ADT for review.
However, if you have applied for review by the Information Commissioner, you have four (4) weeks from being notified of the Information Commission’s review outcome to apply to the ADT.
You can access your personal information held by an agency in several ways.
Under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA) NSW the first step is to make an informal request for your information.
Agencies should make every effort to release your personal information in this way. In some circumstances you may need to make a formal access application.
You may apply for access under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act, under:
You may apply for access to your health information under the Health Records Information and Privacy Act.
We only release property owner details if they are a business or corporation. In compliance with privacy laws, we do not release individual ownership details. You can apply for individual property ownership information from NSW Land Registry Services.
Yes.
All NSW government agencies, including government departments, government Ministers and their personal staff, public authorities and offices, local councils and courts have to release information as set out in the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA).
Before releasing government information an agency must compare, the public interest in accessing the information to, the public information in refusing access to that information.
Agencies can only refuse access to information if the public interest against its disclosure outweighs the general public interest in favour of disclosure.
There are limited and specific interests against disclosure that an agency can consider. These are:
There is no limit to the matters an agency may take into account in favour of releasing information when considering the public interest test.
Government information is anything held in a record by an agency, on behalf of an agency by a government contractor, or by the State Records Authority.
A record means any document or other source of information compiled, recorded or stored in written or electronic form.
The Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA) provides a list of excluded information that, in the public interest, must not be disclosed.
The list includes information that is required to be kept restricted under witness protection legislation, information about the identity of jurors, and details on the child protection offenders register.
Agencies can refuse your request if:
There are a range of penalties that can be applied under the GIPA Act for the following conduct:
These offences attract a maximum penalty of 100 penalty units.
Any person can make a formal application for access to information held by an agency.
This should be the last resort, after the informal avenues have been tried.
Agencies have up to five working days from the day they receive your application to consider it and let you know whether or not it is valid.
If your access application is valid the agency will take steps to see if it has the information you want. The agency may need to consult other people, businesses or government bodies to find the information. When the agency has finished consulting, it must provide you with the information unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure (public interest test) or the information is excluded.
If the agency decides your application is not valid it must tell you why. The agency must provide you with reasonable assistance to make a valid application.
If you receive information after making a formal application, and the agency believes that information may of interest to other members of the public, the agency ordinarily records it on the ‘disclosure log’ which is made available on the agency’s website. The disclosure log describes the information that was provided to the applicant and, if it is available to other members of the public, how they can access it. You can object to information being included in the disclosure log if it includes personal information about you or about a deceased person that you personally represent; the information concerns your business, commercial, professional, or financial interests or research undertaken.
If a person has made at least three access applications within two (2) years that lack merit, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) may order the person to obtain NCAT approval before making another access application. If a person is subject to such a restraint order they cannot apply to NCAT for approval to make an access application without first serving notice on the agency concerned and the Information Privacy Commission.
An agency may release information about your business in response to an access application, however, the decision will be subject to the public interest test. If an access application covers your business information, an agency must consult you to see whether or not you object to the information being released. Your objection must relate to one or more of the five public interest considerations against disclosure set out in the Act. If the agency decides that, on balance, the public interests against disclosure outweigh those for disclosure, then they will not release the information. If an agency decides to release your business information, despite your objection, you have a right have this decision reviewed under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA).
There are a range of protections under the GIPA Act.
The IPC is the Information Privacy Commission, their role is to administer and provide independent oversight of the new right to information system. The IPC is strictly independent of other government agencies, with the Joint Parliamentary Committee, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Police Integrity Commission exercising certain oversight functions.
The Information Privacy Commission’s (IPC) role is to promote public awareness and understanding of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA) and provide information, advice, assistance and training to agencies and the public.
The IPC also monitors agencies’ functions and may report to the Minister for GIPA about proposals for legislative or administrative change. The IPC may issue guidelines to assist agencies and the public on various matters, including:
In carrying out these roles, the Commission has broad powers to investigate, including requiring agencies to provide information, and to conduct inquiries.