Apply for access to Council documents

Overview

Under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (commonly referred to as the 'GIPA Act'), you can access and see a lot of information we hold in Council records (both digital and hard-copy).

The GIPA Act commenced on 1 July 2010, replacing the Freedom for Information Act 1989 and Section 12 of the Local Government Act 1993.

We aim to publish as much information as we can. We keep several information registers (lists of documents by topic) so you can find it easily.

This information includes registers like:

Our Agency Information Guide explains Council’s approach to the release of information. 

Types of information access

We are currently receiving a high volume of information requests, and as such, the Information Release team deal with requests in order of legislated requirements and by date of receipt. The current average time for completion of a GIPA application is a minimum of 28 business days, depending on the scope of the request. We appreciate your patience in this matter.

When making a request please consider the most appropriate form of access by carefully reading the types of information access below. For more information on forms of access, please contact our Information Release team on 1300 293 111.

The GIPA Act provides a pathway to accessing information in four stages:

Fees and charges

The GIPA Act sets a fee for the lodgement of and processing time for access applications under GIPA Act pt 4 div 5 s64 - Processing charge for dealing with access application.

You can find information on the relevant fees and charges on the tables below. All fees and charges are GST free.

For assistance in understanding the way GIPA fees and charges are calculated, please view the Information and Privacy Commission's GIPA Act fees and charges fact sheet.

Informal access applications

While development applications and related decisions made before 1 July 2010 are no longer considered open access information, they continue to be 'government information' within the meaning of the GIPA Act and can be requested through an access application.

Reference no. Fee name Fee purpose Amount
15841

Informal GIPA Applications including Development Information Documents prior to 2010 and/ or archived records

Hourly processing fee for providing information under informal GIPA application, where the information being requested is development information from 2010 and prior.
$60 per hour
 16406

 Recall Files from Offsite or Storage

 Recall files from offsite or storage   $30 per service 

Formal access applications

Please note that Formal release will likely incur greater costs due to requirements under the GIPA Act around assessment and determination of Formal applications.

Reference no. Fee name Fee purpose Amount
15095 Advance deposit Advance deposit of up to 50% of the estimated cost to process a formal GIPA application Varies per application
14372 Application fee Flat fee for lodging formal information application. Counts towards the first hour of processing $30 per application
14373 Processing charge Charge per hour of processing time for the next 20 hours after the first $30 per hour

Requesting a review of a decision

The GIPA Act sets a fee for the lodgement of an internal review application under GIPA Act pt 5 div 2 s 85 - Fee for internal review. No processing charges apply to review applications.

To learn more about the review process, go to requesting a review of an application decision.

Reference no. Fee name Fee purpose Amount
14376 Application fee
Flat fee for lodging the internal review application. $40 per application

Discounts

As set out in the GIPA Act, an applicant may eligible for a maximum discount of 50% of the processing fee if they are experiencing financial hardship or the information is of special benefit to the general public. The discount can't exceed 50% even if you qualify on both grounds.

50% discounts do not apply to the cost of the application fee, however if applicant is eligible for a discount, the application lodgement fee will pay for two (2) hours of processing time instead of one (1).

If an applicant is applying for their own personal information, or applying on behalf of someone else for that person’s personal information, there is no processing charge for the next 20 hours of processing time after the first.

Information protected by copyright

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.

Requesting a review of an application decision

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:

  • that an application is not a valid access application
  • to refuse to deal with an access application (including a decision that is deemed to have been made)
  • to provide access or to refuse to provide access to information
  • that government information is not held by Council
  • that information applied for is already available to the applicant
  • to refuse to confirm or deny that information is held by Council
  • to impose a processing charge or to require an advance deposit

A complete list of reviewable decisions is set out in GIPA Act pt 5 div 1 s 80 - Which decisions are reviewable decisions, 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:

GIPA Act FAQs