The Tasmanian Freedom of Information Act commenced on 1 January 1993. It gives people the right to be provided with information held by Government agencies unless the information is exempt from release.
In particular, you now have a right of access to information about your personal affairs and you may have the records amended if the information about you is incorrect, incomplete, out of date or misleading.
If information is refused there is a right to have the decision reviewed by the head of agency. If you are still dissatisfied there is a right of review by the Ombudsman.
Information about your personal affairs of any age can be sought. Otherwise you have a right of access only to information which came into an agency's records after 1 January 1988.
If you are an employee, access to Personal Records information is available on the Department's website.
Information may be in the form of written records, or be stored on computer, or be maps, graphs, photographs and the like.
You will not normally be able to use FoI to access information which can be purchased from an agency or inspected in accordance with another Act.
The request should be sent to the Legal Services Unit, Department of Education, GPO Box 169, Hobart 7001. If you are not sure if the agency holds the required information, you can ask the agency to provide general details of its records.
If the information is jointly held by agencies, your request may be transferred to the agency which is best able to deal with it. You will be notified of the agency to which your request has been transferred.
If you are granted access to the information you may:
This Agency does not generally charge for access to records. If a charge is to be levied you will receive notification of the charge and the amount of the charge before the application is processed.
The Agency may require a deposit before doing substantial work on your request. The deposit is $25 if the expected charge is $100 or less. If the expected charge is greater than $100 then a 50% deposit may be required.
The Agency may also request full payment before providing you with the information.
Normally you will be notified of the decision about your request as soon as practicable and within 30 days of the agency receiving your request.
If your request is partially or fully refused, you will be sent a notice giving reasons for the decision and advising you of your review rights.
An important feature of the FoI Act is that you have access to your personal information held by agencies, you can ensure that it is correct and your personal privacy is protected by restrictions on the release of information about your personal affairs to other persons.
Where a person is deceased, the next of kin has the right to obtain, amend or be consulted about information relating to the deceased person's affairs.
You are entitled to information of any age held by an agency if it relates to your personal affairs. Access to Employee Personal Records information is available on the Department's website. Access to client personal records (e.g. student records, library patron records) is governed by the Personal Information Protection Act 2004. These records are normally accessible through the relevant school or business unit in the first instance
A request for personal information is made in the same way as requests for other information.
Everyone has a right to personal privacy. The FoI Act has an exemption which prevents the unreasonable disclosure of information relating to the personal affairs of another person. If someone requests information about your personal affairs, you will be consulted if at all possible. You will be notified and have the right to appeal against a decision to release your information.
If you believe that information held by an agency about your personal affairs is incorrect, incomplete, out of date or misleading, you may request amendment of the information.
There are no charges for amending personal information.
A request to amend information must:
You should also supply evidence to back up your request.
Amendment of Personal Records information is available on the Department's website.
Even if the amendment is refused, you can require the agency to add a notation to the information setting out your claims as to why you believe the information is incorrect, incomplete, out of date or misleading.
If you are dissatisfied with a decision made by the agency in relation to your FoI request, then you are entitled to have the decision reviewed. The FoI Act uses the term "review" rather than "appeal".
There are two stages to the review process - firstly a review by the head of the agency. This is called "internal review". If this does not resolve the matter then you can seek a review by the Ombudsman who is independent of any agency. This is called "external review".
You can ask for a review of any of the following decisions about your FoI request:
You can ask for a review of any decision made to provide information about your personal affairs (or business information in the case of an undertaking) to another person.
Once you have been notified of the agency's decision, you have 28 days in which to apply for an internal review of that decision.
Your application should be in writing addressed to the Secretary. The head or another authorised person will make a decision on your application and notify you within 14 days.
You are entitled to appeal to the Ombudsman against any decision made in relation to your request. Where a decision is made initially by the head of an agency or a Minister, you can apply directly to the Ombudsman. However in most cases you may only do so after seeking an internal review by the agency as described above.
You should apply to the Ombudsman in writing no later than 60 days after receiving the decision of the head of agency.
If you wish to appeal against the release of your personal information to another person (or the release of business information if you are a business undertaking) then your application to the Ombudsman must be made within 28 days.
The Ombudsman will make a decision on your application within 30 days. This period may be extended if you agree to such an extension.
The Ombudsman will reconsider the agency's decision in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1991. She is bound by the Act, but may nevertheless come to a different conclusion than the agency.
For example, she may decide that although the information you request is confidential it is not exempt because it would be in the public interest to release it.
In coming to her decision the Ombudsman has wide powers to view the information held by the agency. She must inform the agency of her decision and the agency must implement the decision.
The Ombudsman has a number of other powers under the Act including the power to allow an agency further time to deal with a request.
Some of the information held by government must remain confidential, for example:
For further information or assistance in relation to the above matters please contact the Legal Services Unit by ph (03) 6233 7358, fax (03) 6233 7583 or via e-mail: legal.services@education.tas.gov.au
Please note that if your enquiry relates to a legal matter then it is essential that you use the e-mail address: legal.services@education.tas.gov.au. The legal enquiries mailbox is monitored and cleared very regularly throughout the day.
Copies of the Freedom of Information Act and the Freedom of Information (Fees) Regulations can be purchased from:
This page has been produced by the Department of Education
Questions concerning its content may be directed by email to ServiceCentre@education.tas.gov.au or telephone 1800 816 057.
This page was last modified on 9th December 2008. The URL for this page is: http://www.education.tas.gov.au/dept/legislation/foi.
You are directed to the disclaimer and copyright notice and a Personal Information Protection statement governing the information provided.
