Freedom of information

On this page

• Overview
• Open access information
• Apply for access government information
• Application process
• Disputing a decision
• Fees and charges

Overview

The ACT Freedom of Information Act 2016 (the FOI Act) sets out:

• open access requirements for Directorates including Infrastructure Canberra (iCBR)
• gives individuals a range of legal rights to request access to certain types of information.

The FOI Act grants individuals has the legal right to:

• access government information unless access to the information would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest
• make a request for personal information to be changed if it is incomplete, out-of-date, incorrect or misleading
• appeal a decision about access to a document, or a decision in relation to a request to amend or annotate a personal record.

Requests received and actioned by iCBR are published in an FOI Disclosure Log.

To learn more about the FOI process, please contact the iCBR FOI team.

Email: FOI team

Open access information

There are a range of documents that are made available through the Open Access website. Under the FOI Act, iCBR must make available a range of documents on this site. This includes:

• functional information
• information about the work of iCBR tabled in the Legislative Assembly
• policy documents
• budget papers
• information on grants made or administered by iCBR
• FOI disclosure log
• ministerial briefs (incoming ministerial, parliamentary estimates, annual reports and question time) that are five or more years old
• a statement of all boards, councils, committees, panels and other bodies established by the agency for the purpose of advising the agency or responsible Minister, including reports or recommendations prepared by such bodies
• information declared by the ACT Ombudsman to be open access information
• information prescribed by regulation.

Information covering most of these categories is available on our website. Documents are added or updated over time. Certain information is also published on the Open Access website.

Apply for access government information

The FOI Act grants individuals the legal right to apply for access to government information.

To apply for access:

• download the FOI Access Request form (PDF 238KB)
• complete the form
• Send the form to iCBR:
  • Email: FOI team
  • Post: Freedom of Information Requests, Infrastructure Canberra,  GPO Box 158, Canberra, ACT, 2601

Completing your application

Please consider the following when applying to access documents under the Act.

• Have you included enough detail in your application?
• Will the information help us fully understand what government you want to access?
• If seeking access to you own personal information, have you provided evidence of your identity?
• If you are acting on behalf of an applicant, have you provided evidence of your authorisation and your identity.
• You may want to include a statement about how the release of information is in the public interest.

Make sure that you are contacting the correct agency or Minister

You will need to apply to the agency or Minister that has the documents you want to access.

Where documents are held by both the Minister and agency, you will need to:

• submit an access request to the Minister
• submit an access request to the agency.

Where documents are held by multiple agencies, you may need to:

• submit an access request to each agency
• request that a particular agency coordinate the request on your behalf.

Infrastructure Canberra will attempt to have on agency coordinate your request if it is identified that multiple agencies hold information.

You may seek assistance from iCBR if your application is found to be not compliant under section 30 of the Act. Reasonable time can be provided for you to amend your application.

Application process

When you submit your application, the FOI team will review your request. They will check the application to make sure it contains the required information.

You will receive a written acknowledgement of receipt within 10 working days when your application has been officially accepted by the iCBR FOI team.

• If the FOI team require additional information to process your request, you will receive contact within this 10-working day period.
• If you don’t provide additional information if requested, then iCBR may refuse to process your application due to non-compliance with section 30 of the Act.

Notice of decision

Once the FOI team has processed the access request, you will receive a letter setting out the decision and the reasons for the decision. This letter will explain what documents have been located and why access to documents, or parts of documents, have been refused.

Timeframes

Under section 40 of the Act, iCBR have to make a decision on your application within 30 working days from the date of receiving a valid access request.

This period may be extended by 15 business days if another person or agency needs to be consulted as per section 40(2) of the Act.

The FOI team may negotiate an extension with the applicant due to delays in locating documents, staff availability and workload. iCBR may also request an extension of time through the Ombudsman’s Office if:

• an applicant refuses to agree to an extension
• the application contains a large volume of information
• is complex and has potentially conflicting public interest factors.

Disputing a decision

You can dispute a decision if:

• we decide your application is outside the scope of the Act
• we decide your application does not comply with the application requirements
• we decide to release documents contrary to your views (if you are a consulted party)
• you believe we should have taken steps to consult you about the release of the documents
• we refuse to process and respond to your application
• we decide charges are payable (but not the amount of the charge)
• we don’t grant access to the documents either in full or in part
• the documents do not exist or cannot be found
• we don’t waive processing or access charges
• we provide you advice about a deemed decision.

You may also apply to the Ombudsman’s Office for review of a decision.

This request must be made to the Ombudsman’s Office in writing within 20 business days following:

• the decision being published by iCBR in the disclosure log
• the day a deemed decision was taken to have been made
• a decision not to make open access information available because it is contrary to public interest under section 24(2) was published.

Fees and charges

You may be required to pay access to information in accordance with the following schedule:

Waiving charges

iCBR must waive the fee if:

• the information that is the subject of the request was previously publicly available but is no longer publicly available
• the information that is the subject of the access request is of special benefit to the public
• the applicant is a concession card holder and demonstrates a material connection with the information requested
• the applicant is a not for profit organisation and the application relates to the activities or purposes of the organisation
• the applicant is a member of the Assembly.