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Queensland
Right to Information Bill 2009
Queensland
Right to Information Bill 2009
Contents
Page
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Introductory
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3 Object of Act. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4 Act not intended to prevent other publication or access . . . . . . . . 16
5 Relationship with other Acts requiring publication or access . . . . 17
6 Relationship with other Acts prohibiting disclosure of information 17
7 Relationship with other Acts regulating disposal of information . . 18
8 Relationship with Information Privacy Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
9 Act binds State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Part 2 Interpretation
10 Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
11 Meaning of document to which this Act does not apply . . . . . . . . 19
12 Meaning of document of an agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
13 Meaning of document of a Minister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
14 Meaning of agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
15 Local government references for this Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
16 Meaning of public authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
17 Meaning of entity to which this Act does not apply. . . . . . . . . . . . 23
18 Meaning of processing period, revision period and transfer
period ....................................... 23
Chapter 2 Disclosure other than by application under this Act
19 Other ways of accessing information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
20 Requirement for policy documents to be publicly available . . . . . 24
21 Requirement for publication scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
22 Disclosure under publication scheme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Right to Information Bill 2009
Contents
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 1 Right to access
23 Right to be given access to particular documents . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Part 2 Access application
24 Making access application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
25 Making access applications for children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
26 Access application may not be made to commissioner . . . . . . . . 29
27 Application for documents then existing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
28 Application for metadata. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
29 Application not for backup system documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Part 3 Dealing with application
Division 1 Decision-maker
30 Decision-maker for application to agency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
31 Decision-maker for application to Minister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Division 2 Preliminary contact with applicant
32 Application outside scope of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
33 Noncompliance with application requirement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
34 Application for personal information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
35 Longer processing period. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
36 Schedule of relevant documents and charges estimate notice . . 36
Division 3 Contact with relevant third party
37 Disclosure of concern to third party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Division 4 Transfers
38 Transfer of application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Part 4 Refusal to deal with application
39 Pro-disclosure bias in deciding to deal with applications . . . . . . . 41
40 Exempt information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
41 Effect on agency's or Minister's functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
42 Prerequisites before refusal because of effect on functions . . . . . 43
43 Previous application for same documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Part 5 Decision
44 Pro-disclosure bias in deciding access to documents . . . . . . . . . 47
45 Considered decision on access application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
46 Deemed decision on access application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
47 Grounds on which access may be refused. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
48 Exempt information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
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49 Contrary to public interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
50 Contrary to child's best interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
51 Contrary to applicant's best interests--healthcare information . . 52
52 Document nonexistent or unlocatable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
53 Other access available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
54 Notification of decision and reasons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
55 Information as to existence of particular documents . . . . . . . . . . 58
Part 6 Charging regime
Division 1 Preliminary
56 Meaning of processing charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
57 Meaning of access charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
58 Duty in relation to processing charge and access charge . . . . . . 59
59 No processing charge for personal information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Division 2 Payment of charges
60 Requirement to pay charges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
61 Amount of charges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
62 Refund of excess payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Division 3 Waiver of charges
63 Waiver under div 3 only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
64 Uneconomical to charge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
65 Agency or Minister has delayed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
66 Applicant under financial hardship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
67 Financial hardship status for non-profit organisation . . . . . . . . . . 62
Part 7 Giving access
Division 1 Giving access to applicant
68 Forms of access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
69 Time limit for access. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
70 Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
71 Precautions for children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
72 Deferral of access. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
73 Deletion of irrelevant information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
74 Deletion of exempt information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
75 Deletion of contrary to public interest information . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
76 Giving summary of personal information to applicant or
intermediary ................................. 70
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77 Giving relevant healthcare information to applicant's nominated
healthcare professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Division 2 Giving access to others
78 Disclosure logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Part 8 Internal review
79 Definitions for pt 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
80 Internal review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
81 Decisions that may not be reviewed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
82 Applying for internal review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
83 When internal review application to be decided . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Part 9 External review
Division 1 Preliminary
84 Definitions for pt 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
85 External review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
86 Decisions that may not be reviewed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
87 Onus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Division 2 Application
88 Applying for external review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
89 Participants in external review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Division 3 After application made
90 Early resolution encouraged. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
91 Agency or Minister to be informed of application for external
review of deemed decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
92 Agency or Minister to be informed before external review of
decision .................................. 79
93 Applications where decision delayed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
94 Information commissioner may decide not to review . . . . . . . . . . 79
Division 4 Conduct of external review
95 Procedure on external review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
96 Requirement to assist during review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
97 Conduct of reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Division 4A Powers of information commissioner on external review
98 Preliminary inquiries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
99 Better reasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
100 Access to documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
101 Access in particular form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
102 Requiring a search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
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103 Requiring information, documents and attendance . . . . . . . . . . . 84
104 Examining witnesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
105 Additional powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
106 Restrictions under other laws not applicable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
107 Information commissioner to ensure proper disclosure and
return of documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
108 Information commissioner to ensure nondisclosure of particular
information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
109 Exception for successful challenge of s 55(2) notice . . . . . . . . . . 88
Division 5 Decision on external review
110 Decision on external review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
111 Correction of mistakes in decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Division 6 Miscellaneous
112 Costs of external review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
113 Disciplinary action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Part 10 Vexatious applicants
114 Vexatious applicants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
115 Declaration may be varied or revoked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Part 11 References of questions of law and appeals
116 Definitions for pt 11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
117 Reference of questions of law to Supreme Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
118 Reference of questions of law to Queensland Civil and
Administrative Tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
119 Appeal to Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal on
question of law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
120 Application to Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal for
review of decision about financial hardship status . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
121 Application to Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal for
review of vexatious applicant declaration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
122 Rules and procedures of Queensland Civil and Administrative
Tribunal ...................................... 96
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 1 General
123 Information Commissioner and office of the information
commissioner ................................. 97
124 Office of the information commissioner is a statutory body . . . . . 97
Part 2 Information Commissioner
125 General power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
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126 Information commissioner not subject to direction . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
127 Control of the office of the information commissioner . . . . . . . . . 98
128 Support functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
129 Decision-making functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
130 External review functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
131 Performance monitoring functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
132 Power to issue guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
133 Budget and performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
134 Appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
135 Procedure before appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
136 Term of appointment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
137 Remuneration and conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
138 Leave of absence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
139 Preservation of rights if public service officer appointed . . . . . . . 103
140 Oath before performing duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
141 Restriction on outside employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
142 Resignation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
143 Acting information commissioner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Part 3 Staff of the Office of the Information Commissioner
144 Staff employed under Public Service Act 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
145 Delegation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
146 Staff subject only to direction of information commissioner . . . . . 106
Part 4 Right to Information Commissioner
147 Right to Information Commissioner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
148 Role and function of RTI commissioner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
149 RTI commissioner subject to direction of information
commissioner .............................. 107
150 Appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
151 Procedure before appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
152 Term of appointment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
153 Remuneration and conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
154 Leave of absence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
155 Preservation of rights if public service officer appointed . . . . . . . 108
156 Restriction on outside employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
157 Resignation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
158 Acting RTI commissioner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
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Part 5 Commissioner may be removed or suspended from office
159 Definition for pt 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
160 Grounds for removal or suspension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
161 Removal on address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
162 Suspension on address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
163 Suspension if Assembly not sitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
164 Acts Interpretation Act 1954 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Part 6 Proceedings
165 Third party proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
166 Costs in proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
167 Information commissioner or RTI commissioner may appear in
proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
168 Intervention by Attorney-General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Chapter 5 Protections and offences
Part 1 Protections
169 Meaning of access was required or permitted to be given under
this Act ...................................... 115
170 Access--protection against actions for defamation or breach of
confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
171 Publication--protection against actions for defamation or breach
of confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
172 Access--protection in respect of offences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
173 Publication--protection in respect of offences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
174 Protection of agency, information commissioner etc. from
personal liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Part 2 Offences
175 Direction to act in particular way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
176 Unlawful access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
177 False or misleading information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
178 Failure to produce documents or attend proceedings . . . . . . . . . 120
179 Disclosure or taking advantage of information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous provisions
Part 1 Archival documents
180 Operation of Public Records Act 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
181 Non-official documents in Queensland State Archives etc. . . . . . 121
182 Official documents in Queensland State Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
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Part 2 Operation of this Act
183 Review of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
184 Reports of information commissioner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
185 Report to Assembly on Act's operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
186 Strategic review of office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
187 Conduct of strategic review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
188 Report of strategic review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
189 Functions of parliamentary committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Part 3 Other
190 Power of person acting for another person. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
191 Contents of prescribed written notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
192 Approval of forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
193 Regulation-making power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Chapter 7 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 1 Repeal
194 Repeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Part 2 Transitional provisions
195 Outdated references. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
196 Continuation of appointment as information commissioner . . . . . 129
197 Continuation of appointment as acting information commissioner 129
198 Pre-enactment recruitment process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
199 Applications under Freedom of Information Act 1992 . . . . . . . . . 129
200 Time limit for access under Freedom of Information Act 1992
continues to apply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
201 Statements of affairs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
202 Refusal to deal with application--previous application for same
documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
203 Delayed appeals and applications to QCAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 1 Amendment of Ombudsman Act 2001
204 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
205 Amendment of s 16 (What ombudsman may not investigate) . . . 131
Part 2 Amendment of Public Records Act 2002
206 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
207 Amendment of s 3 (Purposes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
208 Amendment of s 16 (Meaning of restricted access period) . . . . . 132
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209 Amendment of s 18 (Public access to public records) . . . . . . . . . 134
210 Replacement of pt 6, hdg (Transitional and consequential
provisions) ....................................... 134
211 Insertion of new pt 6, div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Division 2 Transitional provisions for Information Privacy
Act 2009 and Right to Information Act 2009
62 Omitted references to Freedom of Information Act
1992 ................................ 135
62A Establishing restricted access period for record
made before commencement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
212 Amendment of sch 2 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Part 3 Amendment of regulations and other Acts
213 Acts and regulations amended. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Schedule 1 Documents to which this Act does not apply . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
1 Security document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
2 Documents under Terrorism (Preventative Detention) Act 2005 . 138
3 Particular documents under Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 . . . 138
4 Particular documents under Police Powers and Responsibilities
Act 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
5 Particular documents under Police Service Administration Act
1990 ......................................... 140
6 Particular documents received or created by integrity
commissioner under Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . 140
7 Document received or created by Prostitution Licensing
Authority ..................................... 141
8 Particular coronial document during investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
9 Root cause analysis document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
10 Particular documents under Workers' Compensation and
Rehabilitation Act 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
11 Particular documents under Biodiscovery Act 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . 142
12 Particular documents under Gene Technology Act 2001 . . . . . . . 142
13 Particular documents under Sugar Industry Act 1999 . . . . . . . . . 142
14 Particular GOC documents created or received before
commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
15 Particular corporatised corporation documents created or
received before commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Schedule 2 Entities to which this Act does not apply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Schedule 3 Exempt information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
1 Cabinet matter brought into existence before commencement . . 147
Page 9
Right to Information Bill 2009
Contents
2 Cabinet information brought into existence on or after
commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
3 Executive Council information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
4 Information briefing incoming Minister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
5 Information revealing particular Sovereign communications . . . . 150
6 Information disclosure of which would be contempt of court or
Parliament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
7 Information subject to legal professional privilege . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
8 Information disclosure of which would found action for breach of
confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
9 National or State security information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
10 Law enforcement or public safety information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
11 Investment incentive scheme information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
12 Information disclosure of which prohibited by Act . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Schedule 4 Factors for deciding the public interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Schedule 5 Amendment of Acts and Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Biodiscovery Act 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Corrective Services Act 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Corrective Services Regulation 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Education (General Provisions) Act 2006. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Electricity Act 1994. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Electricity Regulation 2006. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Environmental Protection Act 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Environmental Protection (Waste Management) Regulation
2000 ........................................ 176
Environmental Protection Regulation 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Evidence Act 1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Evidence Regulation 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Explosives Act 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Gas Supply Act 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Gene Technology Act 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Geothermal Exploration Act 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Health Quality and Complaints Commission Act 2006. . . . . . . . . 180
Introduction Agents Act 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Legal Profession Act 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Page 10
Right to Information Bill 2009
Contents
Local Government Act 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Lotteries Act 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Mineral Resources Act 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Partnership Act 1891 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Police Service Administration Act 1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Private Employment Agents Act 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Private Employment Agents (Code of Conduct) Regulation 2005 184
Prostitution Act 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Public Service Act 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Queensland Investment Corporation Act 1991. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Terrorism (Preventative Detention) Act 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Tourism Services Act 2003. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Transport Infrastructure Act 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Transport Infrastructure (Rail) Regulation 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Water Act 2000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 . . . . . . . . . 189
Schedule 6 Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Page 11
2009
A Bill
for
An Act about rights to government and other information
Right to Information Bill 2009
Preamble-- 1
Parliament's reasons for enacting this Act are-- 2
1 Parliament recognises that in a free and democratic society-- 3
(a) there should be open discussion of public affairs; and 4
(b) information in the government's possession or under the 5
government's control is a public resource; and 6
(c) the community should be kept informed of 7
government's operations, including, in particular, the 8
rules and practice followed by government in its 9
dealings with members of the community; and 10
(d) openness in government enhances the accountability of 11
government; and 12
(e) openness in government increases the participation of 13
members of the community in democratic processes 14
leading to better informed decision-making; and 15
(f) right to information legislation contributes to a healthier 16
representative, democratic government and enhances its 17
practice; and 18
(g) right to information legislation improves public 19
administration and the quality of government 20
decision-making; and 21
(h) right to information legislation is only 1 of a number of 22
measures that should be adopted by government to 23
increase the flow of information in the government's 24
possession or under the government's control to the 25
community. 26
2 The Government is proposing a new approach to access to 27
information. Government information will be released 28
administratively as a matter of course, unless there is a good 29
reason not to, with applications under this Act being 30
necessary only as a last resort. 31
3 It is Parliament's intention to emphasise and promote the right 32
to government information. It is also Parliament's intention to 33
provide a right of access to information in the government's 34
possession or under the government's control unless, on 35
Page 14
Right to Information Bill 2009
balance, it is contrary to the public interest to provide the 1
information. This Act reflects Parliament's opinion about 2
making information available and the public interest. 3
Page 15
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Introductory
[s 1]
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Chapter 1 Preliminary 2
Part 1 Introductory 3
1 Short title 4
This Act may be cited as the Right to Information Act 2009. 5
2 Commencement 6
This Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation. 7
3 Object of Act 8
(1) The primary object of this Act is to give a right of access to 9
information in the government's possession or under the 10
government's control unless, on balance, it is contrary to the 11
public interest to give the access. 12
(2) The Act must be applied and interpreted to further the primary 13
object. 14
4 Act not intended to prevent other publication or access 15
(1) This Act is not intended to prevent or discourage the 16
publication of information or the giving of access to 17
documents otherwise than under this Act if the publication or 18
giving of access can properly be done or is permitted or 19
required to be done by law. 20
(2) To remove any doubt, it is declared that subsection (1) applies 21
to-- 22
Page 16
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Introductory
[s 5]
(a) the giving of access to documents to which this Act does 1
not apply, exempt documents and contrary to public 2
interest documents; and 3
(b) the publication of information and the giving of access 4
to documents by an entity to which this Act does not 5
apply or to which this Act does not apply in relation to a 6
particular function. 7
5 Relationship with other Acts requiring publication or 8
access 9
Without limiting section 4, this Act does not affect the 10
operation of another Act or administrative scheme that-- 11
(a) requires information concerning documents in the 12
possession, or under the control, of government to be 13
made available to members of the community; or 14
(b) enables a member of the community to access 15
documents in the possession, or under the control, of 16
government; or 17
(c) requires the publication of information concerning 18
government operations; 19
whether or not on payment of a charge. 20
6 Relationship with other Acts prohibiting disclosure of 21
information 22
This Act overrides the provisions of other Acts prohibiting the 23
disclosure of information (however described). 24
Notes-- 25
1 The Parliament considers that, unless the information is personal 26
information of the applicant, information the disclosure of which is 27
prohibited under a provision of an Act mentioned in schedule 3, 28
section 12 is information the disclosure of which would, on 29
balance, be contrary to the public interest--see section 44(2)(a) and 30
schedule 3, section 12. 31
Page 17
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Introductory
[s 7]
2 This information is called exempt information and, under section 1
47(3)(a), an agency or Minister may refuse access to a document to 2
the extent the document comprises exempt information. 3
3 However, an agency or Minister may give access to a document 4
even if this Act provides that access to the document may be 5
refused--see section 48(3). 6
7 Relationship with other Acts regulating disposal of 7
information 8
This Act does not affect the provisions of other Acts 9
regulating the disposal of information (however described). 10
Note-- 11
For example, the Public Records Act 2002, section 13 provides-- 12
8 Disposal of public records 13
A person must not dispose of a public record unless the record is 14
disposed of under-- 15
(a) an authority given by the archivist; or 16
(b) other legal authority, justification or excuse. 17
Maximum penalty--165 penalty units. 18
8 Relationship with Information Privacy Act 19
(1) The Information Privacy Act also provides for applications for 20
access to documents of an agency or Minister but only to the 21
extent the documents contain the applicants' personal 22
information. 23
(2) The Information Privacy Act also provides for applications to 24
amend documents to the extent the documents contain the 25
applicants' personal information. 26
(3) If, on its face, an access application purportedly made under 27
the Information Privacy Act should have been made under this 28
Act because the application is for access to a document other 29
than to the extent it contains the applicant's personal 30
information, the Information Privacy Act, section 54 applies. 31
Page 18
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 2 Interpretation
[s 9]
Notes-- 1
1 Under the Information Privacy Act, section 54-- 2
· the applicant is given an opportunity to change the application 3
so it is an application that can be made under the Information 4
Privacy Act or to pay the application fee payable under this 5
Act and have the application dealt with under this Act; or 6
· the application may continue to be dealt with under the 7
Information Privacy Act but is potentially subject to a 8
decision under section 32(1)(b)(i), as applied by the 9
Information Privacy Act, that the application is outside the 10
Act's scope. 11
2 If the applicant pays the application fee payable under this Act, the 12
applicant is taken to have made the application under this Act on 13
the date of the payment--see the Information Privacy Act, section 14
54(4). 15
3 To facilitate this situation, the approved form for an access 16
application under this Act is the same as the approved form for an 17
access application under the Information Privacy Act and agencies 18
will make appropriate administrative arrangements. 19
9 Act binds State 20
This Act binds the State. 21
Part 2 Interpretation 22
10 Definitions 23
The dictionary in schedule 6 defines particular words used in 24
this Act. 25
11 Meaning of document to which this Act does not apply 26
In this Act, a document to which this Act does not apply 27
means a document mentioned in schedule 1. 28
Page 19
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 2 Interpretation
[s 12]
12 Meaning of document of an agency 1
In this Act, document, of an agency, means a document, other 2
than a document to which this Act does not apply, in the 3
possession, or under the control, of the agency whether 4
brought into existence or received in the agency, and 5
includes-- 6
(a) a document to which the agency is entitled to access; 7
and 8
(b) a document in the possession, or under the control, of an 9
officer of the agency in the officer's official capacity. 10
13 Meaning of document of a Minister 11
In this Act, document, of a Minister, means a document, other 12
than a document of an agency or a document to which this Act 13
does not apply, in the possession, or under the control, of the 14
Minister that relates to the affairs of an agency, and 15
includes-- 16
(a) a document to which the Minister is entitled to access; 17
and 18
(b) a document in the possession, or under the control, of a 19
member of the staff of, or a consultant to, the Minister in 20
the person's capacity as member or consultant. 21
Note-- 22
Minister is defined to include a Parliamentary Secretary--see schedule 23
6. 24
14 Meaning of agency 25
(1) In this Act, an agency means-- 26
(a) a department; or 27
(b) a local government; or 28
(c) a public authority; or 29
(d) a government owned corporation; or 30
Page 20
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 2 Interpretation
[s 15]
(e) a subsidiary of a government owned corporation. 1
(2) However, in this Act, agency does not include an entity to 2
which this Act does not apply. 3
Note-- 4
See section 17 for entities to which this Act does not apply. Also, under 5
section 26, an application may not be made to the information 6
commissioner, RTI commissioner or privacy commissioner. 7
(3) For this Act-- 8
(a) a board, council, committee, subcommittee or other 9
body established by government to help, or to perform 10
functions connected with, an agency is not a separate 11
agency, but is taken to be comprised within the agency; 12
and 13
(b) a reference to an agency includes a reference to a body 14
that is taken to be comprised within the agency. 15
15 Local government references for this Act 16
A reference to local government includes a reference to the 17
Wide Bay Water Corporation. 18
16 Meaning of public authority 19
(1) In this Act, public authority means any of the following 20
entities-- 21
Note-- 22
Under the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 36-- 23
entity includes a person and an unincorporated body. 24
(a) an entity-- 25
(i) established for a public purpose by an Act; or 26
(ii) established by government under an Act for a 27
public purpose, whether or not the public purpose 28
is stated in the Act; 29
Page 21
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 2 Interpretation
[s 16]
(b) an entity created by the Governor in Council or a 1
Minister; 2
(c) another entity declared by regulation to be a public 3
authority for this Act, being an entity-- 4
(i) supported directly or indirectly by government 5
funds or other assistance or over which 6
government is in a position to exercise control; or 7
(ii) established under an Act; or 8
(iii) given public functions under an Act; 9
(d) subject to subsection (3), a person holding an office 10
established under an Act; 11
(e) a person holding an appointment-- 12
(i) made by the Governor in Council or Minister 13
otherwise than under an Act; and 14
(ii) declared by regulation to be an appointment the 15
holder of which is a public authority for this Act. 16
(2) A prescribed entity is not a public authority in relation to 17
documents received, or created, by it in performing a function 18
other than a public function given under an Act. 19
(3) A person is not a public authority merely because the person 20
holds-- 21
(a) an office the duties of which are performed as duties of 22
employment as an agency's officer; or 23
(b) an office of member of a body; or 24
(c) an office established under an Act for the purposes of an 25
agency. 26
(4) In this section-- 27
prescribed entity means an entity that is a public authority 28
only because it is given public functions under an Act and is 29
declared by regulation to be a public authority for this Act. 30
Page 22
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 2 Interpretation
[s 17]
17 Meaning of entity to which this Act does not apply 1
In this Act, an entity to which this Act does not apply 2
means-- 3
(a) an entity mentioned in schedule 2, part 1; or 4
(b) an entity mentioned in schedule 2, part 2 in relation to 5
the function mentioned in that part. 6
18 Meaning of processing period, revision period and 7
transfer period 8
In this Act-- 9
processing period, for an application to an agency or 10
Minister-- 11
1 The processing period is a period of 25 business days 12
from the day the application is received by the agency or 13
Minister. 14
2 However, the following periods do not count as part of 15
the processing period-- 16
(a) if the application is transferred to the agency or 17
Minister--the transfer period; 18
(b) if the agency or Minister asks the applicant for a 19
further specified period under section 35(1)--the 20
period during which, under section 35(3), the 21
agency or Minister may continue to consider the 22
application; 23
(c) if the applicant is given a charges estimate notice 24
under section 36--the revision period; 25
(d) if the application involves consultation with a 26
relevant third party under section 37--10 business 27
days; 28
(e) if the applicant is given a notice under section 29
42(1)(a)--the prescribed consultation period under 30
section 42. 31
Page 23
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Disclosure other than by application under this Act
[s 19]
revision period, for an application, means the period starting 1
on the date of the first charges estimate notice given under 2
section 36 and ending on the day the applicant confirms the 3
application or, if the applicant narrows the application, 4
confirms the changed application. 5
transfer period, for an application, means the lesser of the 6
following periods-- 7
(a) the period starting on the day the application is received 8
by the agency or Minister who transfers the application 9
and ending on the day the application is transferred; 10
(b) the period of 10 business days. 11
Chapter 2 Disclosure other than by 12
application under this Act 13
19 Other ways of accessing information 14
Information may be accessed other than by application under 15
this Act. 16
Examples-- 17
1 A document may be accessed under administrative arrangements 18
made by an agency, including under its publication scheme or 19
disclosure log or under another Act. 20
2 A document may be available for public inspection under the 21
Public Records Act 2002 or in a public library. 22
3 A document may be commercially available. 23
20 Requirement for policy documents to be publicly 24
available 25
(1) An agency must make copies of each of its policy documents 26
available for inspection and purchase by the public. 27
Page 24
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Disclosure other than by application under this Act
[s 21]
(2) However, nothing in this section prevents an agency from 1
deleting exempt information or contrary to public interest 2
information from a copy of a policy document. 3
(3) A person must not be subjected to any prejudice because of 4
the application of the provisions of an agency's policy 5
document (other than provisions the agency is permitted to 6
delete from a copy of the document) to any act or omission of 7
the person if, at the time of the act or omission-- 8
(a) the policy document was not available for inspection 9
and purchase; and 10
(b) the person was not aware of the provisions; and 11
(c) the person could lawfully have avoided the prejudice 12
had the person been aware of the provisions. 13
21 Requirement for publication scheme 14
(1) An agency, other than an excluded entity, must publish a 15
scheme (a publication scheme) setting out-- 16
(a) the classes of information that the agency has available; 17
and 18
(b) the terms on which it will make the information 19
available, including any charges. 20
(2) However, an agency (the relevant agency) may comply with 21
subsection (1) if another agency publishes a scheme setting 22
out-- 23
(a) the classes of information that the relevant agency has 24
available; and 25
(b) the terms on which the relevant agency or other agency 26
will make the information available, including any 27
charges. 28
(3) An agency publishing a publication scheme must ensure that 29
the publication scheme complies with any guidelines about 30
publication schemes published by the Minister on the 31
Minister's website. 32
Page 25
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 1 Right to access
[s 22]
(4) In this section-- 1
excluded entity means a prescribed entity under section 16. 2
22 Disclosure under publication scheme 3
Without limiting another way an agency may disclose 4
information, it may disclose information under a publication 5
scheme. 6
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application 7
under this Act 8
Part 1 Right to access 9
23 Right to be given access to particular documents 10
(1) Subject to this Act, a person has a right to be given access 11
under this Act to-- 12
(a) documents of an agency; and 13
(b) documents of a Minister. 14
Notes-- 15
1 See part 2 for how to exercise this right to access. 16
2 Exclusions of the right are provided for under part 4 (which 17
provides particular circumstances where an entity may refuse to 18
deal with an application); and section 47 (which provides grounds 19
on which an entity may refuse access). 20
3 A limitation on the right is set out in section 73 (which provides 21
that, in particular circumstances, an entity may delete irrelevant 22
information from a document before giving access). 23
(2) Subsection (1) applies to documents even if they came into 24
existence before the commencement of this Act. 25
Page 26
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 2 Access application
[s 24]
Note-- 1
Section 27 deems an access application to apply only to documents that 2
are, or may be, in existence on the day the application is received. 3
Part 2 Access application 4
24 Making access application 5
(1) A person who wishes to be given access to a document of an 6
agency or a document of a Minister under this Act may apply 7
to the agency or Minister for access to the document. 8
Notes-- 9
1 Minister is defined to include a Parliamentary Secretary--see 10
schedule 6. 11
2 Section 25 provides for access applications by parents for children 12
and section 190 clarifies the powers of those acting for others. 13
3 For an application made for a person, the person (and not the agent) 14
is the applicant--see schedule 6, definition applicant. This may be 15
particularly relevant for section 66 (Applicant under financial 16
hardship). 17
(2) The application must-- 18
(a) be in the approved form and be accompanied by the 19
application fee; and 20
(b) give sufficient information concerning the document to 21
enable a responsible officer of the agency or the 22
Minister to identify the document; and 23
(c) state an address to which notices under this Act may be 24
sent to the applicant. 25
(3) Also, if the application is for access to a document containing 26
personal information of the applicant, the applicant must 27
provide with the application or within 10 business days after 28
making the application-- 29
Page 27
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 2 Access application
[s 25]
(a) evidence of identity for the applicant; and 1
(b) if an agent is acting for the applicant--evidence of the 2
agent's authorisation and evidence of identity for the 3
agent. 4
Examples of an agent's authorisation-- 5
· the will or court order appointing the agent to act as the 6
applicant's guardian 7
· the client agreement authorising a legal practitioner to act 8
for an applicant 9
· if the application is made in reliance on section 25, evidence 10
the agent is the child's parent 11
(4) The application fee mentioned in subsection (2)(a) may not be 12
waived. 13
Note-- 14
However, an application fee must be refunded if a deemed decision is 15
made--see section 46(1). 16
(5) In this section-- 17
evidence of identity means the evidence of identity prescribed 18
under a regulation. 19
25 Making access applications for children 20
(1) Without limiting the ability of persons to make applications 21
for children, an access application may be made for a child by 22
the child's parent. 23
Notes-- 24
1 Section 190 clarifies the powers of those acting for others. 25
2 For an application made for a child, the child (and not the parent) is 26
the applicant--see schedule 6, definition applicant. This may be 27
particularly relevant for section 66 (Applicant under financial 28
hardship). 29
(2) In this section-- 30
child means an individual who is under 18 years. 31
Page 28
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 2 Access application
[s 26]
parent-- 1
1 Parent, of a child, is any of the following persons-- 2
(a) the child's mother; 3
(b) the child's father; 4
(c) a person who exercises parental responsibility for 5
the child, including a person who is granted 6
guardianship of the child under the Child 7
Protection Act 1999 or who otherwise exercises 8
parental responsibility for the child under a 9
decision or order of a federal court or a court of a 10
State. 11
2 However, a person standing in the place of a parent of a 12
child on a temporary basis is not a parent of the child. 13
3 A parent of an Aboriginal child includes a person who, 14
under Aboriginal tradition, is regarded as a parent of the 15
child. 16
4 A parent of a Torres Strait Islander child includes a 17
person who, under Island custom, is regarded as a parent 18
of the child. 19
26 Access application may not be made to commissioner 20
An access application may not be made or transferred to the 21
information commissioner, the RTI commissioner or the 22
privacy commissioner. 23
27 Application for documents then existing 24
(1) An access application is taken only to apply to documents that 25
are, or may be, in existence on the day the application is 26
received. 27
(2) However, subsection (1) does not prevent an agency or 28
Minister giving access to a document created after the 29
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[s 28]
application is received but before notice is given under section 1
54 (a post-application document). 2
(3) If the agency or Minister gives the applicant access to a 3
post-application document-- 4
(a) no processing charge or access charge is payable in 5
relation to the document; and 6
(b) the applicant is not entitled to review under this Act of a 7
decision about the document made in relation to the 8
application. 9
28 Application for metadata 10
(1) An access application for a document is taken not to include 11
an application for access to metadata about the document 12
unless the access application expressly states that it does. 13
(2) If an access application for a document expressly states that 14
access to metadata about the document is sought, access to the 15
metadata does not need to be given unless access is 16
reasonably practicable. 17
(3) In this section-- 18
metadata, about a document, includes information about the 19
document's content, author, publication date and physical 20
location. 21
29 Application not for backup system documents 22
(1) An access application, however expressed, for a document 23
does not require an agency or Minister to search for the 24
document from a backup system. 25
(2) However, subsection (1) does not prevent an agency or 26
Minister searching for a document from a backup system if 27
the agency or Minister considers the search appropriate. 28
Note-- 29
While a search for a document from a backup system is not generally 30
required before refusing access on the ground that the document is 31
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[s 30]
nonexistent or unlocatable, a search is required in the particular 1
circumstances mentioned in section 52(2). 2
Part 3 Dealing with application 3
Division 1 Decision-maker 4
30 Decision-maker for application to agency 5
(1) An access application to an agency must be dealt with for the 6
agency by the agency's principal officer. 7
(2) The agency's principal officer may delegate the power to deal 8
with the application to another officer of the agency. 9
(3) Also, for an agency other than a local government, the 10
agency's principal officer may, with the agreement of another 11
agency's principal officer, delegate the power to deal with the 12
application to the other agency's principal officer. 13
(4) The principal officer of the other agency may subdelegate a 14
power delegated to him or her under subsection (3). 15
Note-- 16
Under the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27A(2), a delegation 17
may be revoked, wholly or partly, by the delegator. Accordingly, a 18
delegation may be revoked before a decision is made in a particular case 19
and the delegator may make the decision. 20
(5) However-- 21
(a) a principal officer may not, under subsection (2) or (4) 22
delegate the power to deal with the application to the 23
extent it involves-- 24
(i) making a healthcare decision; or 25
(ii) appointing a healthcare professional under 26
paragraph (b); but 27
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[s 31]
(b) the agency may appoint an appropriately qualified 1
healthcare professional to make a healthcare decision in 2
relation to the application. 3
(6) In this section-- 4
healthcare decision means a decision about any of the 5
following matters-- 6
(a) whether disclosure to the applicant of relevant 7
healthcare information about the applicant might be 8
prejudicial to the physical or mental health or wellbeing 9
of the applicant under section 51; 10
(b) whether to refuse access under section 47(3)(d); 11
(c) whether to give access despite being able to refuse 12
access under section 47(3)(d); 13
(d) whether to give a direction under section 77(2); 14
(e) whether to approve a healthcare professional under 15
section 77(2). 16
31 Decision-maker for application to Minister 17
(1) An access application to a Minister may be dealt with by the 18
person the Minister directs, either generally or in a particular 19
case. 20
(2) However-- 21
(a) the Minister may not direct the person to deal with the 22
application to the extent it involves-- 23
(i) making a healthcare decision; or 24
(ii) appointing a healthcare professional under 25
paragraph (b); but 26
(b) the Minister may appoint an appropriately qualified 27
healthcare professional to make a healthcare decision in 28
relation to the application. 29
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(3) In this section-- 1
healthcare decision see section 30. 2
Division 2 Preliminary contact with applicant 3
32 Application outside scope of Act 4
(1) This section applies if-- 5
(a) a person purports to make an application under this Act 6
to an entity for access to a document; and 7
(b) the entity decides the application is outside the scope of 8
this Act for 1 or more of the following reasons-- 9
(i) the document is a document to which this Act does 10
not apply; 11
(ii) the entity is an entity to which this Act does not 12
apply; 13
(iii) the application is made to the information 14
commissioner, RTI commissioner or privacy 15
commissioner. 16
(2) Within 10 business days after the purported application is 17
received, the entity must give prescribed written notice to the 18
applicant of the decision. 19
33 Noncompliance with application requirement 20
(1) This section applies if-- 21
(a) a person purports to make an access application for a 22
document to an agency or Minister; and 23
(b) the application does not comply with all relevant 24
application requirements. 25
(2) The agency or Minister must make reasonable efforts to 26
contact the person within 15 business days after the purported 27
application is received and inform the person how the 28
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application does not comply with a relevant application 1
requirement. 2
(3) An agency or Minister must not refuse to deal with an 3
application because it does not comply with all relevant 4
application requirements without first giving the applicant a 5
reasonable opportunity to consult with a view to making an 6
application in a form complying with all relevant application 7
requirements. 8
(4) The applicant is taken to have made an application under this 9
Act if and when the application is made in a form complying 10
with all relevant application requirements. 11
(5) If, after giving the opportunity mentioned in subsection (3) 12
and any consultation, an agency or Minister decides the 13
application does not comply with all relevant application 14
requirements, the agency or Minister must, within 10 business 15
days after making the decision, give the applicant prescribed 16
written notice of the decision. 17
(6) In this section-- 18
relevant application requirement, for an access application, 19
means a matter set out in section 24(2) or (3) that is required 20
for the application. 21
34 Application for personal information 22
(1) This section applies if, on its face, an access application made 23
under this Act could have been made under the Information 24
Privacy Act because the application is for access to a 25
document to the extent it contains the applicant's personal 26
information. 27
(2) The agency or Minister must, within 15 business days after 28
the application is received, inform the applicant that-- 29
(a) the application could have been made under the 30
Information Privacy Act without any application fee or 31
processing charge being payable; and 32
(b) the applicant may either-- 33
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[s 35]
(i) ask for the application to be dealt with under the 1
Information Privacy Act; or 2
(ii) confirm the application as an application under this 3
Act. 4
(3) If the applicant asks for the application to be dealt with under 5
the Information Privacy Act-- 6
(a) the applicant is taken to have made the application under 7
the Information Privacy Act on the date of the request; 8
and 9
(b) any application fee paid by the applicant must be 10
refunded as soon as practicable. 11
(4) However, the application continues to be dealt with as an 12
application under this Act if-- 13
(a) the applicant confirms the application as an application 14
under this Act; or 15
(b) the applicant does not, within a reasonable time, either 16
make the request, or give the confirmation, mentioned in 17
subsection (2)(b). 18
35 Longer processing period 19
(1) At any time before a deemed decision is taken to have been 20
made in relation to an access application, the agency or 21
Minister may ask the applicant for a further specified period 22
to consider the application. 23
(2) Additional requests for further specified periods may be made 24
under subsection (1). 25
(3) The agency or Minister may continue to consider the 26
application and make a considered decision in relation to it 27
only if-- 28
(a) the agency or Minister has asked the applicant for a 29
further specified period under subsection (1); and 30
(b) the applicant has not refused the request; and 31
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[s 36]
(c) the agency or Minister has not received notice that the 1
applicant has applied for review under this Act. 2
(4) If a considered decision is made, the considered decision 3
replaces any deemed decision for the purposes of this Act. 4
Note-- 5
The agency or Minister must give prescribed written notice of the 6
considered decision and the considered decision is potentially subject to 7
review under this Act. 8
36 Schedule of relevant documents and charges estimate 9
notice 10
(1) If a person makes an access application to an agency or 11
Minister, the agency or Minister must-- 12
(a) consider whether a processing charge or access charge is 13
payable in relation to the application; and 14
(b) before the end of the processing period for the 15
application, give the applicant-- 16
(i) a schedule of relevant documents for the applicant 17
unless the applicant waives the requirement; and 18
(ii) a charges estimate notice. 19
(2) After receiving a charges estimate notice, the applicant may 20
consult with the agency or Minister with a view to narrowing 21
the application to reduce the applicable charges. 22
(3) If the applicant does not confirm, narrow or withdraw the 23
access application within the prescribed period, the applicant 24
is taken to have withdrawn the applicant's application at the 25
end of the prescribed period. 26
(4) If the applicant narrows the access application within the 27
prescribed period, the agency or Minister must, before the end 28
of the processing period for the application, give the applicant 29
a new charges estimate notice. 30
(5) No more than 2 charges estimate notices may be given in 31
relation to an access application. 32
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(6) Also, subsections (2) to (4) do not apply if a decision is made, 1
under part 6, division 3, to waive charges. 2
(7) In this section-- 3
charges estimate notice, for an access application, means a 4
written notice stating the following details-- 5
(a) if a request has been made to an agency or Minister for 6
waiver of charges--the agency's or Minister's decision 7
on whether charges will be waived under part 6, division 8
3; 9
(b) the agency's or Minister's estimate of the amount of any 10
processing charge or access charge; 11
(c) the basis on which the estimate is made; 12
(d) the day the decision was made; 13
(e) the name and designation of the person making the 14
decision; 15
(f) the effect of subsections (2) and (3); 16
(g) any rights of review under this Act in relation to the 17
decision, the procedures to be followed for exercising 18
the rights and the time within which an application for 19
review must be made. 20
prescribed period-- 21
1 The prescribed period is 20 business days from the date 22
of the charges estimate notice or any longer period 23
agreed under paragraph 2. 24
2 The applicant and the agency or Minister may agree to 25
extend the prescribed period. 26
schedule of relevant documents-- 27
1 For an access application, a schedule of relevant 28
documents is a schedule that-- 29
(a) sets out and gives a brief description of the classes 30
of documents relevant to the application in the 31
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possession, or under the control, of the agency or 1
Minister; and 2
(b) sets out the number of documents in each class. 3
2 However, an agency or Minister is not required to 4
include any exempt information or contrary to public 5
interest information in the schedule. 6
Division 3 Contact with relevant third party 7
37 Disclosure of concern to third party 8
(1) An agency or Minister may give access to a document that 9
contains information the disclosure of which may reasonably 10
be expected to be of concern to a government, agency or 11
person (the relevant third party) only if the agency or 12
Minister has taken the steps that are reasonably practicable-- 13
(a) to obtain the views of the relevant third party about 14
whether-- 15
(i) the document is a document to which this Act does 16
not apply; or 17
(ii) the information is exempt information or contrary 18
to public interest information; and 19
(b) to inform the relevant third party that if access is given 20
to the document because of an access application, access 21
may also be given to the document under a disclosure 22
log. 23
(2) If disclosure of information may reasonably be expected to be 24
of concern to a person but for the fact that the person is 25
deceased, subsection (1) applies as if the person's 26
representative were a relevant third party. 27
(3) If-- 28
(a) the agency or Minister obtains the views of the relevant 29
third party and the relevant third party considers-- 30
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(i) the document is a document to which this Act does 1
not apply; or 2
(ii) the information is exempt information or contrary 3
to public interest information; but 4
(b) the agency or Minister decides-- 5
(i) the document is a document to which this Act does 6
apply; or 7
(ii) the information is not exempt information or 8
contrary to public interest information; 9
the agency or Minister must-- 10
(c) give prescribed written notice of the decision of the 11
agency or Minister to the applicant and the relevant third 12
party; and 13
(d) defer giving access to the document until after-- 14
(i) the agency or Minister is given written notice by 15
the relevant third party that it does not intend to 16
make any application for review under this Act; or 17
(ii) if notice is not given under subparagraph (i) and no 18
application for review under this Act is made by 19
the end of the review period--the end of the review 20
period; or 21
(iii) if an application for review under this Act is made 22
by the end of the review period--the review has 23
ended (whether because of an informal resolution 24
or because of a decision of the entity conducting 25
the review). 26
(4) The agency or Minister must give the applicant written notice 27
when access is no longer deferred under subsection (3)(d). 28
(5) In this section-- 29
representative, in relation to a deceased person, means the 30
deceased person's eligible family member, or, if 2 or more 31
persons qualify as the deceased person's eligible family 32
member, 1 of those persons. 33
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[s 38]
review period means the period within which any application 1
for review under this Act may be made. 2
Division 4 Transfers 3
38 Transfer of application 4
(1) In this section-- 5
agency includes a Minister. 6
(2) An agency to which an application has been made (the 7
original agency) may transfer the application to another 8
agency if-- 9
(a) the document to which the application relates is not in 10
the original agency's possession but is, to the original 11
agency's knowledge, in the other agency's possession; 12
and 13
(b) the other agency consents to the transfer. 14
(3) An application that is transferred from 1 agency to another 15
agency is taken to have been made to the other agency. 16
(4) If-- 17
(a) an application is made to an agency for access to more 18
than 1 document; and 19
(b) 1 or more of the documents is a document mentioned in 20
subsection (2)(a); 21
this section (other than subsections (5) and (6)) applies to each 22
of the documents as if separate applications had been made to 23
the agency for each of the documents. 24
(5) If part of an application is transferred under this section and 25
the transferred part of the application relates to a document 26
that is not personal information for the applicant, a separate 27
application fee is payable for the transferred part of the 28
application. 29
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[s 39]
(6) However, if the part of the application which is not transferred 1
under this section relates only to a document that is personal 2
information for the applicant, subsection (5) applies only to 3
the extent that there is a transfer to more than 1 agency. 4
Part 4 Refusal to deal with application 5
39 Pro-disclosure bias in deciding to deal with applications 6
(1) It is the Parliament's intention that if an access application is 7
made to an agency or Minister, the agency or Minister should 8
deal with the application unless this would, on balance, be 9
contrary to the public interest. 10
(2) Sections 40, 41 and 43 state the only circumstances in which 11
the Parliament considers it would, on balance, be contrary to 12
the public interest to deal with an access application. 13
(3) However, it is the Parliament's intention that this Act should 14
be administered with a pro-disclosure bias and an agency or 15
Minister may deal with an access application even if this Act 16
provides that the agency or Minister may refuse to deal with 17
the application. 18
40 Exempt information 19
(1) This section applies if-- 20
(a) an access application is expressed to relate to all 21
documents, or to all documents of a stated class, that 22
contain information of a stated kind or relate to a stated 23
subject matter; and 24
(b) it appears to the agency or Minister that all of the 25
documents to which the application relates are 26
comprised of exempt information. 27
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[s 41]
(2) The agency or Minister may refuse to deal with the 1
application without having identified any or all of the 2
documents. 3
41 Effect on agency's or Minister's functions 4
(1) An agency or Minister may refuse to deal with an access 5
application or, if the agency or Minister is considering 2 or 6
more access applications by the applicant, all the applications, 7
if the agency or Minister considers the work involved in 8
dealing with the application or all the applications would, if 9
carried out-- 10
(a) substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of 11
the agency from their use by the agency in the 12
performance of its functions; or 13
(b) interfere substantially and unreasonably with the 14
performance by the Minister of the Minister's functions. 15
(2) Without limiting the matters to which the agency or Minister 16
may have regard in making a decision under subsection (1), 17
the agency or Minister must have regard to the resources that 18
would have to be used-- 19
(a) in identifying, locating or collating any documents in 20
the filing system of the agency or the Minister's office; 21
or 22
(b) in deciding whether to give, refuse or defer access to any 23
documents, or to give access to edited copies of any 24
documents, including resources that would have to be 25
used-- 26
(i) in examining any documents; or 27
(ii) in consulting in relation to the application with a 28
relevant third party under section 37; or 29
(c) in making a copy, or edited copy, of any documents; or 30
(d) in notifying any final decision on the application. 31
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[s 42]
(3) In deciding whether to refuse, under subsection (1), to deal 1
with an access application, an agency or Minister must not 2
have regard to-- 3
(a) any reasons the applicant gives for applying for access; 4
or 5
(b) the agency's or Minister's belief about what are the 6
applicant's reasons for applying for access. 7
42 Prerequisites before refusal because of effect on 8
functions 9
(1) An agency or Minister may refuse to deal with an access 10
application under section 41 only if-- 11
(a) the agency or Minister has given the applicant a written 12
notice-- 13
(i) stating an intention to refuse to deal with the 14
application; and 15
(ii) advising that, for the prescribed consultation 16
period for the notice, the applicant may consult 17
with the agency or Minister with a view to making 18
an application in a form that would remove the 19
ground for refusal; and 20
(iii) stating the effect of subsections (2) to (6); and 21
(b) the agency or Minister has given the applicant a 22
reasonable opportunity to consult with the agency or 23
Minister; and 24
(c) the agency or Minister has, as far as is reasonably 25
practicable, given the applicant any information that 26
would help the making of an application in a form that 27
would remove the ground for refusal. 28
(2) Following any consultation, the applicant may give the agency 29
or Minister written notice either confirming or narrowing the 30
application. 31
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[s 43]
(3) If the application is narrowed, section 41 applies in relation to 1
the changed application but this section does not apply to it. 2
(4) If the applicant fails to consult after being given notice under 3
subsection (1), the applicant is taken to have withdrawn the 4
application at the end of the prescribed consultation period. 5
(5) Without limiting subsection (4), the applicant is taken to have 6
failed to consult if, by the end of the prescribed consultation 7
period, the applicant has not given the named officer or 8
member written notice under subsection (2). 9
(6) In this section-- 10
prescribed consultation period, for a written notice under 11
subsection (1)(a), means-- 12
(a) the period of 10 business days after the date of the 13
notice; or 14
(b) the longer period agreed by the agency or Minister and 15
the applicant whether before or after the end of the 10 16
business days mentioned in paragraph (a). 17
43 Previous application for same documents 18
(1) This section applies if-- 19
(a) an applicant makes an access application, whether under 20
this Act or the Information Privacy Act, to an agency or 21
Minister (the first application); and 22
(b) the applicant makes another access application under 23
this Act (the later application) to the same agency or 24
Minister for access to 1 or more of the same documents 25
sought under the first application and the later 26
application does not, on its face, disclose any reasonable 27
basis for again seeking access to the document or 28
documents. 29
(2) For subsection (1)(a)-- 30
(a) the first application, if made under this Act-- 31
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[s 43]
(i) does not include an access application taken to 1
have been withdrawn under section 36(3) or 42(4); 2
and 3
(ii) if an access application has been narrowed under 4
section 36 or 42--means only the access 5
application as changed; and 6
(b) the first application, if made under the Information 7
Privacy Act-- 8
(i) does not include an access application taken to 9
have been withdrawn under section 61(4) of that 10
Act; and 11
(ii) if an access application has been narrowed under 12
section 61 of that Act--means only the access 13
application as changed. 14
(3) The agency or Minister may refuse to deal with the later 15
application to the extent it is for access to a document or 16
documents sought under the first application if-- 17
(a) when the later application was made, the agency or 18
Minister had not decided the first application; or 19
(b) in relation to the first application, if made under this 20
Act-- 21
(i) the applicant had been given notice under section 22
54 that access was to be given to the document 23
sought or to some or all of the documents sought; 24
or 25
(ii) the agency or Minister had decided that the 26
application was for a document to which this Act 27
does not apply; or 28
(iii) the agency or Minister had decided the document 29
or documents sought were documents access to 30
which was refused under section 47; or 31
(iv) the agency or Minister had refused to deal with it 32
under this part; or 33
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Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
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[s 43]
(c) in relation to the first application, if made under the 1
Information Privacy Act-- 2
(i) the applicant had been given notice under section 3
68 of that Act that access was to be given to the 4
document sought or to some or all the documents 5
sought; or 6
(ii) the agency or Minister had decided that the 7
application was for a document to which chapter 3 8
of that Act does not apply; or 9
(iii) the agency or Minister had decided the document 10
or documents sought were documents access to 11
which was refused under section 67 of that Act; or 12
(iv) the agency or Minister had refused to deal with it 13
under chapter 3, part 4 of that Act; or 14
(d) the agency's or Minister's decision on the first 15
application-- 16
(i) is the subject of a review and the review is not 17
complete; or 18
(ii) has been the subject of a completed review (other 19
than an internal review). 20
(4) For subsection (3), if a document sought under the later 21
application is merely a record of the first application having 22
been made (a record document), access to a record document 23
is taken to have been sought under the first application. 24
(5) For subsection (3)(d)-- 25
review means-- 26
(a) an internal review under this Act or the Information 27
Privacy Act; or 28
(b) an external review under this Act or the Information 29
Privacy Act; or 30
(c) a proceeding under part 11 or under the Information 31
Privacy Act, chapter 3, part 11. 32
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[s 44]
(6) For subsection (3)(d), a review is complete if the review has 1
ended because of an informal resolution or because of a 2
decision of the entity conducting the review. 3
Part 5 Decision 4
44 Pro-disclosure bias in deciding access to documents 5
(1) It is the Parliament's intention that if an access application is 6
made to an agency or Minister for a document, the agency or 7
Minister should decide to give access to the document unless 8
giving access would, on balance, be contrary to the public 9
interest. 10
(2) The purpose of this part is to help the agency or Minister 11
decide whether giving access would, on balance, be contrary 12
to the public interest by-- 13
(a) setting out in schedule 3 types of information the 14
disclosure of which the Parliament has considered 15
would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest; and 16
(b) setting out in section 49 the steps, and, in schedule 4, 17
factors, for deciding, for other types of information, 18
whether disclosure would, on balance, be contrary to the 19
public interest. 20
(3) Also, sections 50 and 51 set out circumstances concerning 21
information about a child and personal healthcare information 22
about an applicant in which the Parliament has stated its 23
intention about what is in the best interests of the child and 24
applicant. 25
(4) However, it is the Parliament's intention that this Act should 26
be administered with a pro-disclosure bias and an agency or 27
Minister may give access to a document even if this Act 28
provides that access to the document may be refused. 29
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[s 45]
45 Considered decision on access application 1
If a person makes an access application for a document to an 2
agency or Minister, the agency or Minister must-- 3
(a) after considering the application, make a decision (a 4
considered decision)-- 5
(i) whether access is to be given to the document; and 6
(ii) if access is to be given--whether any charge must 7
be paid before access is given; and 8
(b) give the person written notice of the decision under 9
section 54. 10
46 Deemed decision on access application 11
(1) If an applicant is not given written notice of the decision by 12
the end of the processing period for an access application for a 13
document-- 14
(a) on the last day of the processing period the principal 15
officer of the agency or the Minister is taken to have 16
made a decision (a deemed decision) refusing access to 17
the document; and 18
(b) the application fee must be refunded as soon as 19
practicable after the end of the processing period. 20
(2) As soon as practicable after a deemed decision is taken to 21
have been made, the principal officer or Minister must give 22
prescribed written notice of the decision to the applicant. 23
47 Grounds on which access may be refused 24
(1) This section sets out grounds on which access may be refused. 25
(2) It is the Parliament's intention that-- 26
(a) the grounds are to be interpreted narrowly; and 27
(b) an agency or Minister may give access to a document 28
even if a ground on which access may be refused 29
applies. 30
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Part 5 Decision
[s 48]
(3) On an application, an agency may refuse access to a document 1
of the agency and a Minister may refuse access to a document 2
of the Minister-- 3
(a) to the extent the document comprises exempt 4
information under section 48; or 5
(b) to the extent the document comprises information the 6
disclosure of which would, on balance, be contrary to 7
the public interest under section 49; or 8
(c) to the extent the document is sought under an 9
application by or for a child and comprises the child's 10
personal information the disclosure of which would not 11
be in the child's best interests under section 50; or 12
(d) to the extent the document comprises an applicant's 13
relevant healthcare information the disclosure of which 14
might be prejudicial to the physical or mental health or 15
wellbeing of the applicant under section 51; or 16
(e) because the document is nonexistent or unlocatable as 17
mentioned in section 52; or 18
(f) because other access to the document is available as 19
mentioned in section 53. 20
Note-- 21
Only a principal officer, Minister or appointed healthcare professional 22
may refuse access to a document of an agency as mentioned in 23
paragraph (d)--see sections 30(5) and 31(2). 24
(4) In this section-- 25
child means an individual who is under 18 years. 26
48 Exempt information 27
(1) If an access application is made to an agency or Minister for a 28
document, the agency or Minister must decide to give access 29
to the document unless disclosure would, on balance, be 30
contrary to the public interest. 31
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(2) Schedule 3 sets out the types of information the disclosure of 1
which the Parliament has considered would, on balance, be 2
contrary to the public interest. 3
(3) However, despite an agency or Minister being able, under 4
section 47(3)(a), to refuse access to all or part of a document, 5
the agency or Minister may decide to give access. 6
(4) In this Act-- 7
exempt information means the information that is exempt 8
information under schedule 3. 9
49 Contrary to public interest 10
(1) If an access application is made to an agency or Minister for a 11
document, the agency or Minister must decide to give access 12
to the document unless disclosure would, on balance, be 13
contrary to the public interest. 14
(2) This section sets out the steps, and, in schedule 4, factors, the 15
Parliament considers appropriate for deciding, for types of 16
information (other than exempt information), whether 17
disclosure would, on balance, be contrary to the public 18
interest. 19
(3) If it is relevant for an agency or Minister to consider whether, 20
on balance, disclosure of information would be contrary to the 21
public interest, the agency or Minister must undertake the 22
following steps-- 23
(a) identify any factor that is irrelevant to deciding whether, 24
on balance, disclosure of the information would be 25
contrary to the public interest, including any factor 26
mentioned in schedule 4, part 1 that applies in relation to 27
the information (an irrelevant factor); 28
(b) identify any factor favouring disclosure that applies in 29
relation to the information (a relevant factor favouring 30
disclosure), including any factor mentioned in schedule 31
4, part 2; 32
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[s 50]
(c) identify any factor favouring nondisclosure that applies 1
in relation to the information (a relevant factor 2
favouring nondisclosure), including any factor 3
mentioned in schedule 4, part 3 or 4; 4
(d) disregard any irrelevant factor; 5
(e) having regard to subsection (4), balance any relevant 6
factor or factors favouring disclosure against any 7
relevant factor or factors favouring nondisclosure; 8
(f) decide whether, on balance, disclosure of the 9
information would be contrary to the public interest; 10
(g) unless, on balance, disclosure of the information would 11
be contrary to the public interest, allow access to the 12
information subject to this Act. 13
(4) The factors mentioned in schedule 4, part 4 are factors where 14
disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause a public 15
interest harm (harm factors) but the fact that 1 or more of the 16
relevant factors favouring nondisclosure is a harm factor does 17
not of itself mean that, on balance, disclosure of the 18
information would be contrary to the public interest. 19
(5) However, despite an agency or Minister being able, under 20
section 47(3)(b), to refuse access to all or part of a document, 21
the agency or Minister may decide to give access. 22
50 Contrary to child's best interests 23
(1) If an access application is made to an agency or Minister for a 24
document, the agency or Minister must decide to give access 25
to the document unless disclosure would, on balance, be 26
contrary to the public interest. 27
(2) Despite schedule 3, section 12(2) and schedule 4, part 2, item 28
8, in relation to an application by or for a child for access to a 29
document, the Parliament considers it would, on balance, be 30
contrary to the public interest to give access to the document 31
to the extent it comprises personal information of the child if 32
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[s 51]
the disclosure of the information would not be in the child's 1
best interests. 2
(3) In considering whether disclosure of the information would 3
not be in the best interests of the child, the agency or Minister 4
must, unless the access application was made for the child, 5
have regard to whether the child has the capacity to-- 6
(a) understand the information and the context in which it 7
was recorded; and 8
(b) make a mature judgment as to what might be in his or 9
her best interests. 10
(4) However, despite an agency or Minister being able, under 11
section 47(3)(c), to refuse access to all or part of a document, 12
the agency or Minister may decide to give access. 13
(5) In this section-- 14
child means an individual who is under 18 years. 15
51 Contrary to applicant's best interests--healthcare 16
information 17
(1) If an access application is made to an agency or Minister for a 18
document, the agency or Minister must decide to give access 19
to the document unless disclosure would, on balance, be 20
contrary to the public interest. 21
(2) Despite schedule 3, section 12(2) and schedule 4, part 2, item 22
7, the Parliament considers it would, on balance, be contrary 23
to the public interest to give access to a document to the extent 24
it comprises relevant healthcare information of the applicant if 25
the disclosure of the information might be prejudicial to the 26
physical or mental health or wellbeing of the applicant. 27
Note-- 28
Only a principal officer, Minister or appointed healthcare professional 29
may decide whether disclosure might be prejudicial to the physical or 30
mental health or wellbeing of the applicant--see sections 30(5) and 31
31(2). 32
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[s 52]
(3) However, despite an agency or Minister being able, under 1
section 47(3)(d), to refuse access to all or part of a document, 2
the agency or the Minister may decide to give access. 3
Notes-- 4
1 Only a principal officer, Minister or appointed healthcare 5
professional may decide to give access under subsection (3)--see 6
sections 30(5) and 31(2). 7
2 Also, relevant healthcare information to which access is refused 8
may ultimately be disclosed to the applicant by the applicant's 9
nominated healthcare professional under section 77. 10
52 Document nonexistent or unlocatable 11
(1) For section 47(3)(e), a document is nonexistent or unlocatable 12
if-- 13
(a) the agency or Minister dealing with the application for 14
access is satisfied the document does not exist; or 15
Example-- 16
a document that has not been created 17
(b) the agency or Minister dealing with the application for 18
access is satisfied-- 19
(i) the document has been or should be in the agency's 20
or Minister's possession; and 21
(ii) all reasonable steps have been taken to find the 22
document but the document can not be found. 23
Examples-- 24
· a document that has been lost 25
· a document that has been disposed of under an authority 26
given by the State Archivist 27
Note-- 28
Under the Public Records Act 2002, section 13, it is an offence 29
to dispose of a public record without authority. 30
(2) Before an agency or Minister may be satisfied under 31
subsection (1)(a) that a prescribed document does not exist, a 32
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[s 53]
search for the document from a backup system is required, but 1
only if the agency or Minister considers the document has 2
been kept in, and is retrievable from, the backup system. 3
(3) Subject to subsection (2), a search for a document from a 4
backup system is not required before the document is 5
nonexistent or unlocatable for section 47(3)(e). 6
(4) In this section-- 7
prescribed document means a document that-- 8
(a) is a document required to be kept under the Public 9
Records Act 2002; and 10
(b) is not a document that the agency or Minister could 11
lawfully have disposed of under the Public Records Act 12
2002. 13
53 Other access available 14
For section 47(3)(f), other access is available to a document 15
if-- 16
(a) the applicant can reasonably access the document under 17
another Act, or under arrangements made by an agency, 18
whether or not the access is subject to a fee or charge; or 19
Note-- 20
A document mentioned in an agency's disclosure log is a 21
document an applicant can reasonably get access to under 22
arrangements made by the agency. 23
(b) the document is reasonably available for public 24
inspection under the Public Records Act 2002 or in a 25
public library; or 26
(c) the document-- 27
(i) is stored for preservation or safe custody in the 28
Queensland State Archives; and 29
(ii) is a copy of a document of an agency; or 30
(d) the document is commercially available. 31
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[s 54]
54 Notification of decision and reasons 1
(1) An agency or Minister must give a prescribed written notice 2
to an applicant for an access application of-- 3
(a) the decision on the application, including a decision to 4
refuse to deal with the application; and 5
(b) if the application relates to a document that is not a 6
document in the possession, or under the control, of the 7
agency or Minister--the fact that the document is not a 8
document in the possession, or under the control, of the 9
agency or Minister. 10
(2) In addition to the details that must be stated in a prescribed 11
written notice, the notice must also specify the following-- 12
(a) if access to a document is to be given-- 13
(i) an itemisation of any processing and access 14
charges payable by the applicant; and 15
(ii) the period within which the applicant may access 16
the document under section 69 (the access period); 17
and 18
(iii) that, unless the document contains personal 19
information of the applicant, it may be made 20
available to the public not sooner than 24 hours 21
after the applicant accesses the document; and 22
(iv) that, unless the document contains personal 23
information of the applicant, if the applicant fails 24
to access the document within the access period, 25
details identifying the document and information 26
about how the document may be accessed and any 27
applicable charge may be made available to the 28
public not sooner than 24 hours after the end of the 29
access period; 30
(b) if access is to be given to a copy of a document subject 31
to the deletion under section 73 of irrelevant 32
information--the fact that the document is such a copy; 33
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[s 54]
(c) if access is to be given to a copy of a document subject 1
to the deletion under section 74 of exempt 2
information-- 3
(i) the fact that the document is such a copy; and 4
(ii) the provision of schedule 3 under which the 5
information is exempt information; and 6
(iii) the reasons for the decision classifying the 7
information as exempt information; 8
(d) if access is to be given to a copy of a document subject 9
to the deletion under section 75 of contrary to public 10
interest information-- 11
(i) the fact that the document is such a copy; and 12
(ii) the factors identified as favouring disclosure and 13
the factors identified as favouring nondisclosure 14
under section 49; and 15
(iii) the reasons for the decision that, on balance, 16
disclosure would be contrary to the public interest 17
under section 49; 18
(e) if access to a document is to be given subject to deferral 19
under section 72-- 20
(i) the reason for the deferral; and 21
(ii) the day on which the agency or Minister expects 22
the document to be presented or released as 23
mentioned in section 72; 24
(f) if dealing with the access application is refused under 25
section 40-- 26
(i) the provision of schedule 3 under which the 27
information in the document is exempt 28
information; and 29
(ii) the reasons for the decision classifying the 30
information as exempt information; 31
(g) if access to a document is refused under section 47(3)-- 32
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[s 54]
(i) the processing charges payable by the applicant; 1
and 2
(ii) the provision of section 47(3) under which access 3
is refused; and 4
(iii) if access is refused under section 47(3)(a)-- 5
(A) the provision of schedule 3 under which the 6
information in the document is exempt 7
information; and 8
(B) the reasons for the decision classifying the 9
information as exempt information; and 10
(iv) if access is refused under section 47(3)(b)-- 11
(A) the factors identified as favouring disclosure 12
and the factors identified as favouring 13
nondisclosure under section 49; and 14
(B) the reasons for the decision that, on balance, 15
disclosure would be contrary to the public 16
interest under section 49; and 17
(v) if access is refused under section 47(3)(c)--the 18
reason under section 50 the agency or Minister 19
considers access would not be in the best interests 20
of the child; and 21
(vi) if access is refused under section 47(3)(d)--the 22
reason under section 51 the agency or Minister 23
considers that the disclosure to the applicant might 24
be prejudicial to the physical or mental health or 25
wellbeing of the applicant; and 26
(vii) if access is refused under section 47(3)(e)--the 27
provision of section 52(1) under which the 28
document is nonexistent or unlocatable; and 29
(viii) if access is refused under section 47(3)(f)--the 30
type of access to the document under section 53 31
that is available. 32
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[s 55]
(3) An agency or Minister is not required to include any exempt 1
information or contrary to public interest information in the 2
notice. 3
(4) Subsection (2)(a)(ii) does not apply if the document is given 4
with the notice. 5
(5) This section does not apply in relation to a deemed decision. 6
55 Information as to existence of particular documents 7
(1) Nothing in this Act requires an agency or Minister to give 8
information as to the existence or non-existence of a 9
document containing prescribed information. 10
(2) For an access application for a document containing 11
prescribed information, the agency or Minister may give a 12
prescribed written notice that does not include the details 13
mentioned in section 191(a) or (b) but, by way of a decision, 14
states that-- 15
(a) the agency or Minister neither confirms nor denies the 16
existence of that type of document as a document of the 17
agency or a document of the Minister; but 18
(b) assuming the existence of the document, it would be a 19
document to which access would be refused under 20
section 47(3) to the extent it comprised prescribed 21
information. 22
(3) The prescribed written notice may be given in a schedule of 23
relevant documents. 24
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Part 6 Charging regime
[s 56]
Part 6 Charging regime 1
Division 1 Preliminary 2
56 Meaning of processing charge 3
In this Act, processing charge, in relation to an access 4
application for a document, means the charge prescribed 5
under a regulation for-- 6
(a) searching for or retrieving the document; and 7
(b) making, or doing things related to making, a decision on 8
the application. 9
57 Meaning of access charge 10
In this Act, access charge, in relation to an access application 11
for a document, means the charge prescribed under a 12
regulation in relation to giving access to the document. 13
58 Duty in relation to processing charge and access charge 14
It is the duty of the agency or Minister to minimise any 15
charges payable by an applicant. 16
59 No processing charge for personal information 17
To remove any doubt, it is declared that no processing charge 18
is payable in relation to a document to the extent the 19
document contains information that is personal information 20
for the applicant. 21
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Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
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[s 60]
Division 2 Payment of charges 1
60 Requirement to pay charges 2
(1) Before an applicant for an access application for a document 3
is given access to the document, the applicant must pay the 4
applicable processing charge and access charge for the 5
application. 6
(2) An applicant for an access application for a document must 7
pay the applicable processing charge for the application even 8
if-- 9
(a) access to the document is refused under this Act; or 10
(b) the applicant does not seek to access the document 11
within the access period mentioned in section 69 after a 12
decision is made to give access. 13
61 Amount of charges 14
(1) The amount payable for the processing charge for an access 15
application may not be more than the estimated processing 16
charge set out in the final charges estimate notice for the 17
application. 18
(2) The amount payable for the access charge for an access 19
application may not be more than the estimated access charge 20
set out in the final charges estimate notice for the application. 21
Note-- 22
Also, if an applicant is given access to a document in a form different to 23
the form of access requested by the applicant, the applicant must not be 24
required to pay a charge that is more than the charge that would have 25
been payable if access had been given in the form requested by the 26
applicant--see section 68(5). 27
62 Refund of excess payment 28
If an applicant pays an agency or Minister an amount for the 29
processing charge and access charge that is more than the 30
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Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
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[s 63]
amount of the processing charge and access charge ultimately 1
payable under this Act, the agency or Minister must refund 2
the difference to the applicant. 3
Division 3 Waiver of charges 4
63 Waiver under div 3 only 5
A processing charge or access charge may be waived only 6
under this division. 7
64 Uneconomical to charge 8
(1) A processing charge, or access charge, for an access 9
application may be waived if the agency or Minister considers 10
the likely associated costs to the agency or Minister would be 11
more than the likely amount of the charge. 12
(2) In this section-- 13
associated costs mean the costs of-- 14
(a) estimating and otherwise complying with this Act in 15
relation to the charge; and 16
(b) receiving payment of the charge. 17
65 Agency or Minister has delayed 18
A processing charge may be waived under section 93(2). 19
66 Applicant under financial hardship 20
(1) This section applies if, at any time, an applicant makes a 21
written request to an agency or Minister that the applicable 22
processing charge or access charge for the application be 23
waived. 24
(2) The agency or Minister must decide to waive any processing 25
charge, or access charge, for the application if-- 26
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Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 6 Charging regime
[s 67]
(a) for an applicant who is an individual-- 1
(i) the request is accompanied by a copy of a 2
concession card; and 3
(ii) the agency or Minister considers the applicant is 4
the holder of a concession card; and 5
(iii) the agency or Minister considers the applicant is 6
not making the application for some other person 7
who is seeking to avoid the payment of a charge; or 8
(b) for an applicant that is a non-profit organisation--there 9
is in effect a decision of the information commissioner 10
that the non-profit organisation has financial hardship 11
status under section 67. 12
(3) The agency or Minister must give the applicant a prescribed 13
written notice of a decision under subsection (2) before the 14
end of the processing period. 15
(4) However, subsection (3) does not apply if the agency or 16
Minister has given the applicant a charges estimate notice that 17
includes a decision that charges are not to be waived. 18
(5) In this section-- 19
concession card means a health care card or pensioner 20
concession card under the Social Security Act 1991 (Cwlth) or 21
a pensioner concession card issued by the department of the 22
Commonwealth in which the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 23
(Cwlth) is administered. 24
holder, of a concession card, at a time the concession card is 25
being relied on for a purpose under this Act, means a person 26
who is named on the concession card and would be qualified 27
to be named on the concession card if the concession card 28
were issued at the time the concession card is being relied on. 29
67 Financial hardship status for non-profit organisation 30
(1) The information commissioner may, on written application by 31
a non-profit organisation, decide whether a non-profit 32
organisation has financial hardship status by considering the 33
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[s 67]
nature and size of the organisation's funding base and the 1
amount of the organisation's liquid funds. 2
Example-- 3
The fact an organisation receives significant government funding may 4
indicate its finances are strictly limited. 5
(2) The commissioner must give a non-profit organisation that 6
has applied for financial hardship status prescribed written 7
notice of the decision. 8
(3) The commissioner's decision that a non-profit organisation 9
has financial hardship status has effect for 1 year from the date 10
of the decision. 11
(4) While there is in effect a decision that a non-profit 12
organisation has financial hardship status-- 13
(a) the non-profit organisation must give the commissioner 14
written notice of any substantial improvement in the 15
organisation's financial circumstances as soon as 16
practicable after the improvement happens; and 17
(b) the commissioner may revoke the decision if the 18
commissioner considers that the non-profit 19
organisation's financial circumstances at any time result 20
in the commissioner considering that the organisation 21
should not have financial hardship status. 22
(5) If the commissioner revokes a decision that a non-profit 23
organisation has financial hardship status, the commissioner 24
must, as soon as practicable, give the organisation prescribed 25
written notice of the revocation. 26
(6) If an organisation that has made an access application to an 27
agency or Minister receives a notice under subsection (5) 28
during the processing period for the application, the 29
organisation must immediately advise the agency or Minister 30
that the decision that the organisation has financial hardship 31
status has been revoked. 32
(7) If the commissioner gives a non-profit organisation written 33
notice of a decision that it is not to be given financial hardship 34
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Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
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[s 68]
status, the non-profit organisation may not make another 1
application for a decision under subsection (1) unless-- 2
(a) there is a substantial deterioration in its financial 3
circumstances; or 4
(b) it is more than 1 year since the date of the 5
commissioner's decision. 6
Part 7 Giving access 7
Division 1 Giving access to applicant 8
68 Forms of access 9
(1) Access to a document may be given to a person in 1 or more 10
of the following forms-- 11
(a) a reasonable opportunity to inspect the document; 12
(b) providing a copy of the document; 13
(c) if the document is an article or material from which 14
sounds or visual images are capable of being 15
reproduced--making arrangements for the person to 16
hear the sounds or view the images; 17
(d) if the document is one-- 18
(i) by which words are recorded in a way in which 19
they are capable of being reproduced in the form of 20
sound; or 21
(ii) in which words are contained in the form of 22
shorthand writing or in codified form; 23
providing a written transcript of the words recorded or 24
contained in the document; 25
(e) if-- 26
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[s 68]
(i) the application relates to information that is not 1
contained in a written document in the possession, 2
or under the control, of the agency; and 3
(ii) the agency could create a written document 4
containing the information using equipment that is 5
usually available to it for retrieving or collating 6
stored information; 7
providing a written document created using the 8
equipment. 9
(2) For subsection (1)(a) and (b), the reference to the document 10
includes a reference to a copy of the document from which 11
information has been deleted under sections 73 to 75. 12
(3) Subject to this section and sections 73 to 75, if an applicant 13
has requested access in a particular form, access must be 14
given in that form. 15
(4) If giving access in the form requested by the applicant-- 16
(a) would interfere unreasonably with the operations of the 17
agency, or the performance by the Minister of the 18
Minister's functions; or 19
(b) would be detrimental to the preservation of the 20
document or, having regard to the physical nature of the 21
document, would be inappropriate; or 22
(c) would involve an infringement of the copyright of a 23
person other than the State; 24
access in that form may be refused and given in another form. 25
(5) If an applicant is given access to a document in a form 26
different to the form of access requested by the applicant, the 27
applicant must not be required to pay a charge that is more 28
than the charge that would have been payable if access had 29
been given in the form requested by the applicant. 30
(6) Access under subsection (1)(a) to a document to which 31
section 181 or 182 applies must be given by affording the 32
applicant a reasonable opportunity to inspect the document on 33
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Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 7 Giving access
[s 69]
the premises of the Queensland State Archives or public 1
library or in an office of an agency. 2
(7) If a document is more than 25 years old or in the custody of 3
the Queensland State Archives, the State Archivist may direct 4
that access not be given in 1 or more, but not all, of the forms 5
mentioned in subsection (1) if, in the State Archivist's 6
opinion, giving access in that form would be detrimental to 7
the document's preservation or, having regard to the physical 8
nature of the document, would be inappropriate. 9
(8) This section does not prevent an agency or Minister giving 10
access to a document in another form agreed to by the 11
applicant. 12
69 Time limit for access 13
(1) This section applies if an applicant for an access application 14
for a document is given access to the document. 15
(2) The person may access the document-- 16
(a) if the giving of access is deferred under section 37(3)(d) 17
or 72, within-- 18
(i) 40 business days after the date of the notice that 19
access is no longer deferred; and 20
(ii) any additional period allowed by the agency or 21
Minister; or 22
(b) otherwise, within-- 23
(i) 40 business days after the date of the decision to 24
give the person access to the document; and 25
(ii) any additional period allowed by the agency or 26
Minister. 27
(3) For subsection (2)(b)(i), the date of the decision to give the 28
person access to the document is-- 29
(a) if the person is given access because of a decision of the 30
agency or Minister--the date of the prescribed written 31
notice; or 32
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[s 70]
(b) if the person is given access because of a decision of the 1
information commissioner, QCAT or a court--the date 2
of the decision; or 3
(c) if the person is given access because of an informal 4
resolution of an external review--the date of the notice 5
of the commissioner given under section 90(4)(a); or 6
(d) if the person is given access because of an informal 7
resolution of a proceeding under part 11--the date of 8
the informal resolution. 9
(4) If the person does not seek to access the document within the 10
40 business days, or any additional period allowed by the 11
agency or Minister, the person's entitlement to access under 12
the application ends. 13
(5) To remove any doubt, it is declared that subsection (2) does 14
not entitle a person to access a document without paying any 15
processing charge and access charge payable under part 6. 16
70 Precautions 17
(1) This section applies if-- 18
(a) an access application is made to an agency or Minister 19
for a document containing personal information for a 20
person (the first person); and 21
(b) disclosure of the information would, on balance, be 22
contrary to the public interest under section 49, or the 23
information would be exempt information, if the 24
application were made by a person other than the first 25
person or the first person's agent. 26
(2) The agency or Minister must ensure, by the adoption of 27
appropriate procedures, that any information intended for the 28
applicant is received-- 29
(a) if the application is made by the applicant's agent--only 30
by the applicant or the agent; or 31
(b) in any other case--only by the applicant. 32
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[s 71]
71 Precautions for children 1
(1) This section applies if-- 2
(a) an access application states that is is made for a child by 3
the child's parent; and 4
(b) the application is for documents containing the child's 5
personal information. 6
(2) The agency or Minister must ensure, by the adoption of 7
appropriate procedures, that any information intended for the 8
child is received only by the parent. 9
(3) In this section-- 10
child see section 25. 11
parent see section 25. 12
72 Deferral of access 13
(1) An agency or Minister may defer giving access to a document 14
for a reasonable period if the document was prepared-- 15
(a) for presentation to the Assembly or a committee of the 16
Assembly; or 17
(b) for release to the media; or 18
(c) solely for inclusion, in the same or an amended form, in 19
a document to be prepared for a purpose mentioned in 20
paragraph (a) or (b); 21
and the document is yet to be presented or released, or 22
included in a document to be presented or released, as the case 23
may be. 24
(2) The agency or Minister must give the applicant written notice 25
when access is no longer deferred under subsection (1). 26
73 Deletion of irrelevant information 27
(1) This section applies if giving access to a document will 28
disclose to the applicant information the agency or Minister 29
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[s 74]
reasonably considers is not relevant to the access application 1
for the document. 2
(2) The agency or Minister may delete the irrelevant information 3
from a copy of the document and give access to the document 4
by giving access to a copy of the document with the irrelevant 5
information deleted. 6
(3) However, the agency or Minister may give access to the 7
document under subsection (2) only if the agency or Minister 8
considers, from the terms of the application or after 9
consultation with the applicant-- 10
(a) the applicant would accept the copy; and 11
(b) it is reasonably practicable to give access to the copy. 12
74 Deletion of exempt information 13
Subject to section 55, if-- 14
(a) an access application is made for a document containing 15
exempt information; and 16
(b) it is practicable to give access to a copy of the document 17
from which the exempt information has been deleted; 18
and 19
(c) it appears to the agency or Minister concerned (whether 20
from the terms of the application or after consultation 21
with the applicant) that the applicant would wish to be 22
given access to the copy; 23
the agency or Minister must give access accordingly. 24
75 Deletion of contrary to public interest information 25
Subject to section 55, if-- 26
(a) an access application is made for a document containing 27
contrary to public interest information; and 28
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[s 76]
(b) it is practicable to give access to a copy of the document 1
from which the contrary to public interest information 2
has been deleted; and 3
(c) it appears to the agency or Minister concerned (whether 4
from the terms of the application or after consultation 5
with the applicant) that the applicant would wish to be 6
given access to the copy; 7
the agency or Minister must give access accordingly. 8
76 Giving summary of personal information to applicant or 9
intermediary 10
(1) This section applies if under this Act, other than under section 11
47(3)(d), an agency or a Minister refuses an applicant access 12
to a document to the extent it comprises personal information 13
of the applicant. 14
(2) Despite the refusal mentioned in subsection (1), the agency or 15
Minister must consider whether it is consistent with the 16
primary object of this Act to give the applicant, or a person 17
nominated by the applicant and approved by the agency or 18
Minister (an intermediary), a summary of the personal 19
information on conditions of use or disclosure agreed between 20
the agency or Minister and the intermediary, or between the 21
agency or Minister, the intermediary and the applicant. 22
(3) However-- 23
(a) if a summary of information under subsection (2) 24
includes information given by a person (the information 25
giver), other than the applicant, who gave the 26
information on a confidential basis--the summary must 27
not be given to the applicant or intermediary without 28
consultation with, and the agreement of, the information 29
giver; and 30
(b) if a summary of information under subsection (2) 31
includes personal information of a person other than the 32
applicant--the summary must not be given to the 33
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[s 77]
applicant or intermediary without consultation with, and 1
the agreement of, the other person. 2
(4) Subsection (3) applies whether or not the summary is capable 3
of revealing the identity of the information giver or other 4
person. 5
77 Giving relevant healthcare information to applicant's 6
nominated healthcare professional 7
(1) This section applies if an agency or Minister refuses access to 8
a document under section 47(3)(d). 9
(2) Despite the refusal, the agency or Minister may direct that 10
access to the document is to be given instead to an 11
appropriately qualified healthcare professional nominated by 12
the applicant and approved by the agency or Minister. 13
Note-- 14
Only a principal officer, Minister or appointed healthcare professional 15
may give this direction or approve the applicant's nominated healthcare 16
professional--see sections 30(5) and 31(2). 17
(3) The nominated and approved healthcare professional may 18
decide-- 19
(a) whether or not to disclose all or part of the relevant 20
healthcare information contained in the document to the 21
applicant; and 22
(b) the way in which to disclose the information to the 23
applicant. 24
Division 2 Giving access to others 25
78 Disclosure logs 26
(1) If an agency makes a decision in relation to an access 27
application to give access to a document that does not contain 28
personal information of the applicant and the applicant 29
accesses the document within the access period-- 30
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[s 78]
(a) a copy of the document may be included in a disclosure 1
log if this is reasonably practicable; or 2
(b) otherwise--details identifying the document and 3
information about how the document may be accessed 4
may be included in a disclosure log. 5
(2) An agency maintaining a disclosure log must ensure that the 6
disclosure log complies with any guidelines published by the 7
Minister on the Minister's website. 8
(3) A person may access a document the details of which are 9
included in a disclosure log under subsection (1)(b) for no 10
charge and in the way mentioned in the disclosure log. 11
(4) However, nothing about the document (including a copy of 12
the document) may be put on a disclosure log until at least 24 13
hours after the applicant accesses the document. 14
(5) If-- 15
(a) a decision is made to give access to a document that 16
does not contain personal information of the applicant; 17
and 18
(b) the applicant fails to access the document within the 19
access period; 20
details identifying the document and information about how 21
the document may be accessed and any applicable charge may 22
be included in a disclosure log. 23
(6) A person may access a document the details of which are 24
included in a disclosure log under subsection (5) upon 25
payment of the applicable charge and in the way mentioned in 26
the disclosure log. 27
(7) After a person accesses a document under subsection (6)-- 28
(a) no further charge is payable for access to the document 29
by any person; and 30
(b) a copy of the document may be included in the 31
disclosure log if this is reasonably practicable. 32
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[s 79]
(8) However, the copy of the document may not be put on the 1
disclosure log under subsection (7) until at least 24 hours after 2
the person accesses the document under subsection (6). 3
(9) In this section-- 4
agency includes a Minister but does not include a prescribed 5
entity under section 16. 6
disclosure log means a part of an agency's website called a 7
disclosure log. 8
Part 8 Internal review 9
79 Definitions for pt 8 10
In this part-- 11
internal review means review under this part. 12
internal review application means an application for internal 13
review. 14
80 Internal review 15
(1) A person affected by a reviewable decision may apply to have 16
the decision reviewed by the agency or Minister dealing with 17
the application. 18
Notes-- 19
1 Reviewable decision is defined in schedule 6. 20
2 It is not necessary to have an internal review before applying for an 21
external review under part 9. 22
(2) On an internal review of a decision, the reviewer must make a 23
new decision as if the reviewable decision had not been made. 24
(3) An internal review application must not be decided by-- 25
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[s 81]
(a) the person who made the reviewable decision; or 1
(b) a person who is less senior than that person. 2
81 Decisions that may not be reviewed 3
To remove any doubt, it is declared that the following 4
decisions in relation to an access application are not 5
reviewable decisions for internal review-- 6
(a) a decision on an internal review application; 7
(b) a decision by an agency's principal officer; 8
(c) a decision by a Minister; 9
(d) a decision by a healthcare professional appointed under 10
section 30 or 31; 11
(e) a decision about the amount of a charge stated in a 12
charges estimate notice. 13
82 Applying for internal review 14
An application for internal review of a decision must-- 15
(a) be in writing; and 16
(b) state an address to which notices under this Act may be 17
sent to the applicant for internal review; and 18
(c) be made within 20 business days after the date of the 19
written notice of the decision or within the further time 20
the agency or the Minister allows (whether before or 21
after the end of the 20 business days); and 22
(d) be lodged at an office of the agency or Minister. 23
Note-- 24
Section 190 clarifies the powers of those acting for others. 25
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Part 9 External review
[s 83]
83 When internal review application to be decided 1
(1) An agency or Minister must decide an internal review 2
application as soon as practicable. 3
(2) However, if an agency or Minister does not decide an internal 4
review application and notify the applicant of the decision 5
within 20 business days after the internal review application is 6
made, the agency's principal officer or the Minister is taken to 7
have made a decision at the end of the 20 business days 8
affirming the original decision. 9
(3) As soon as practicable after a decision is made or taken to 10
have been made under this section, the principal officer or 11
Minister must give prescribed written notice of the decision to 12
the applicant. 13
Part 9 External review 14
Division 1 Preliminary 15
84 Definitions for pt 9 16
In this part-- 17
external review means review by the information 18
commissioner under this part. 19
external review application means an application for external 20
review. 21
85 External review 22
A person affected by a reviewable decision may apply to have 23
the decision reviewed by the information commissioner. 24
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Part 9 External review
[s 86]
Notes-- 1
1 Reviewable decision is defined in schedule 6. 2
2 It is not necessary to have an internal review under part 8 before 3
applying for an external review. 4
86 Decisions that may not be reviewed 5
To remove any doubt, it is declared that a decision about the 6
amount of a charge stated in a charges estimate notice is not a 7
reviewable decision for external review. 8
87 Onus 9
(1) On an external review, the agency or Minister who made the 10
decision under review has the onus of establishing that the 11
decision was justified or that the information commissioner 12
should give a decision adverse to the applicant. 13
(2) However, if the decision under external review is a disclosure 14
decision, the participant in the external review application 15
who opposes the disclosure decision has the onus of 16
establishing that a decision not to disclose the document or 17
information is justified or that the commissioner should give a 18
decision adverse to the person who wishes to be given access 19
to the document. 20
(3) In this section-- 21
disclosure decision means-- 22
(a) a decision to disclose a document or information 23
contrary to the views of a relevant third party obtained 24
under section 37; or 25
(b) a decision to disclose a document or information if the 26
agency or Minister should have taken, but has not taken, 27
steps to obtain the views of a relevant third party under 28
section 37. 29
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Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 9 External review
[s 88]
Division 2 Application 1
88 Applying for external review 2
(1) An application for external review must-- 3
(a) be in writing; and 4
(b) specify an address of the applicant to which notices may 5
be sent under this Act; and 6
(c) give details of the decision for review; and 7
(d) be made within 20 business days from the date of the 8
written notice of the decision, or within the longer 9
period the information commissioner allows; and 10
(e) be lodged at an office of the OIC. 11
Note-- 12
Section 190 clarifies the powers of those acting for others. 13
(2) The application may contain details of the basis on which the 14
applicant disputes the decision under review. 15
89 Participants in external review 16
(1) The applicant for external review and the agency or Minister 17
concerned are participants in an external review. 18
(2) Any other person affected by the decision the subject of the 19
external review (including a government, agency or person 20
whose views were required to be sought under section 37 21
before the decision was made) may apply to the information 22
commissioner to participate in the external review. 23
(3) The commissioner may allow a person mentioned in 24
subsection (2) to participate in the external review in the way 25
the commissioner directs. 26
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Part 9 External review
[s 90]
Division 3 After application made 1
90 Early resolution encouraged 2
(1) If an external review application is made to the information 3
commissioner, the commissioner must-- 4
(a) identify opportunities and processes for early resolution 5
of the external review application, including mediation; 6
and 7
(b) promote settlement of the external review application. 8
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the commissioner decides not 9
to deal with, or to further deal with, the external review 10
application under section 94. 11
(3) The commissioner may suspend an external review at any 12
time to allow the participants in the external review to 13
negotiate a settlement. 14
(4) If an external review is resolved informally-- 15
(a) the commissioner must give each participant in the 16
external review notice that the external review is 17
complete; and 18
(b) the external review is taken to be complete at the date of 19
the notice mentioned in paragraph (a). 20
91 Agency or Minister to be informed of application for 21
external review of deemed decision 22
If an application is made for external review of a deemed 23
decision of an agency's principal officer or a Minister, the 24
information commissioner must inform the agency or 25
Minister of the application as soon as practicable after it is 26
made. 27
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[s 92]
92 Agency or Minister to be informed before external review 1
of decision 2
Before starting an external review of a decision, the 3
information commissioner must inform the agency or 4
Minister concerned that the decision is to be reviewed under 5
this part. 6
93 Applications where decision delayed 7
(1) This section applies if-- 8
(a) an application is made to the information commissioner 9
for external review of a deemed decision in relation to 10
an access application; and 11
(b) the agency or Minister applies to the commissioner to 12
allow the agency or Minister further time to deal with 13
the access application. 14
(2) The commissioner may allow the agency or Minister further 15
time to deal with the access application subject to the 16
conditions the commissioner considers appropriate, including 17
a condition that the application fee must be refunded or the 18
applicable processing charge must be reduced or waived. 19
(3) If the agency or Minister does not deal with the access 20
application and give the applicant for external review 21
prescribed written notice of a considered decision within the 22
further time, the agency's principal officer or the Minister is 23
taken, for the purpose of enabling a fresh external review 24
application to be made, to have made, on the last day of the 25
further time, a decision affirming the deemed decision. 26
94 Information commissioner may decide not to review 27
(1) The information commissioner may decide not to deal with, 28
or not to further deal with, all or part of an external review 29
application if-- 30
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[s 95]
(a) the commissioner is satisfied the application, or the part 1
of the application, is frivolous, vexatious, misconceived 2
or lacking substance; or 3
(b) the applicant for external review fails to comply with a 4
direction given by the commissioner; or 5
(c) the commissioner considers the applicant for external 6
review has failed to cooperate in progressing the 7
external review application, or the part of it, without 8
reasonable excuse; or 9
(d) the commissioner considers the address the applicant for 10
external review stated in the application is no longer an 11
address at which the applicant is contactable and the 12
applicant has not, within a reasonable time, advised the 13
commissioner of a new address of the applicant to which 14
notices may be sent under this Act. 15
(2) If the commissioner decides not to deal with, or not to further 16
deal with, all or part of an external review application, the 17
commissioner must, as soon as practicable, inform each of the 18
following persons in writing of the decision and of the reasons 19
for the decision-- 20
(a) the applicant for external review, unless subsection 21
(1)(d) applies; 22
(b) any other person informed by the commissioner of the 23
proposed external review. 24
Division 4 Conduct of external review 25
95 Procedure on external review 26
(1) On an external review-- 27
(a) the procedure to be followed is, subject to this Act, 28
within the discretion of the information commissioner; 29
and 30
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[s 96]
(b) proceedings must be conducted with as little formality 1
and technicality, and with as much expedition, as the 2
requirements of this Act and a proper consideration of 3
the matters before the commissioner allow; and 4
(c) the commissioner is not bound by the rules of evidence 5
and may inform himself or herself on any matter in any 6
way the commissioner considers appropriate. 7
(2) The commissioner may, during an external review, give 8
directions as to the procedure to be followed on the external 9
review. 10
96 Requirement to assist during review 11
(1) During an external review, any participant must comply in a 12
timely way with a reasonable request made by the information 13
commissioner for assistance in relation to the review. 14
Examples-- 15
1 The commissioner may request that a participant give further and 16
better particulars of a matter. 17
2 The commissioner may request that an agency or Minister 18
specifically indicate in a written document the words the agency or 19
Minister considers are exempt information. 20
(2) Subsection (1) applies even if the participant who is asked for 21
assistance does not have the onus under section 87. 22
97 Conduct of reviews 23
(1) If, during an external review, the information commissioner 24
proposes to-- 25
(a) allow a participant to make oral submissions; or 26
(b) take evidence on oath or affirmation; 27
that part of the external review must be conducted in public 28
unless the commissioner decides otherwise. 29
(2) In conducting an external review, the commissioner must-- 30
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[s 98]
(a) adopt procedures that are fair, having regard to the 1
obligations of the commissioner under this Act; and 2
(b) ensure that each participant has an opportunity to 3
present the participant's views to the commissioner by 4
making written or oral submissions but, subject to 5
paragraph (a), it is not necessary for a participant to be 6
given an opportunity to appear before the commissioner. 7
(3) If the commissioner gives a participant an opportunity to 8
appear before the commissioner, the participant may, with the 9
approval of the commissioner, be represented by another 10
person. 11
(4) If-- 12
(a) the commissioner has decided not to notify a person of 13
the review; and 14
(b) it later becomes apparent to the commissioner that 15
documents in which the person has an interest are likely 16
to be released; 17
the commissioner must take reasonable steps to notify the 18
person of the likely release if the release may reasonably be 19
expected to be of concern to the person. 20
Division 4A Powers of information 21
commissioner on external review 22
98 Preliminary inquiries 23
If an external review application is made, the information 24
commissioner may, for the purpose of deciding-- 25
(a) whether the commissioner has power to review the 26
matter to which the application relates; or 27
(b) whether the commissioner may decide not to review the 28
matter; 29
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Part 9 External review
[s 99]
make inquiries of the applicant for external review or the 1
agency or Minister concerned. 2
99 Better reasons 3
(1) This section applies if-- 4
(a) an application is made for external review of a decision 5
of an agency or a Minister; and 6
(b) the information commissioner considers that the reasons 7
for the decision stated in the prescribed written notice 8
for the decision are not adequate. 9
(2) The commissioner may require the agency or Minister to give 10
the applicant for external review and the commissioner an 11
additional statement, as soon as practicable, but in any case 12
within 20 business days, containing further and better 13
particulars of the reasons for the decision. 14
100 Access to documents 15
If an external review application is made, the information 16
commissioner is entitled to full and free access at all 17
reasonable times to the documents of the agency or Minister 18
concerned, including documents protected by legal 19
professional privilege. 20
101 Access in particular form 21
(1) This section-- 22
(a) applies if an external review application is made; but 23
(b) does not apply to an external review of a decision 24
refusing to give access in the form mentioned in section 25
68(1)(e). 26
(2) If a document relevant to an external review is a document-- 27
(a) by which words are recorded in a way in which they are 28
capable of being reproduced in the form of sound; or 29
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[s 102]
(b) in which words are contained in the form of shorthand 1
writing or in codified form; 2
the information commissioner may require the agency or 3
Minister concerned to give the commissioner a written 4
transcript of the words recorded or contained in the document. 5
(3) If-- 6
(a) the access application relevant to the external review 7
relates to information that is not contained in a written 8
document in the possession, or under the control, of the 9
agency or Minister concerned; and 10
(b) the agency or Minister could create a written document 11
containing the information using equipment that is 12
usually available to it for retrieving or collating stored 13
information; 14
the commissioner may require the agency or Minister to give 15
the commissioner a written document created using the 16
equipment. 17
102 Requiring a search 18
(1) In the conduct of an external review of a decision to refuse 19
access to a document, the information commissioner may 20
require the agency or Minister concerned to conduct a 21
particular further search, or further searches, for a document. 22
(2) In this section-- 23
conduct further searches, for a document, includes make 24
inquiries to locate the document. 25
103 Requiring information, documents and attendance 26
(1) If the information commissioner has reason to believe that a 27
person has information or a document relevant to an external 28
review, the commissioner may give to the person a written 29
notice requiring the person-- 30
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[s 104]
(a) to give the information to the commissioner in writing 1
signed by the person or, in the case of a corporation, by 2
an officer of the corporation; or 3
(b) to produce the document to the commissioner. 4
(2) The notice must state-- 5
(a) the place at which the information or document must be 6
given or produced to the commissioner; and 7
(b) a reasonable time at which, or a reasonable period 8
within which, the information or document must be 9
given or produced. 10
(3) If the commissioner has reason to believe that a person has 11
information relevant to an external review, the commissioner 12
may give to the person a written notice requiring the person to 13
attend before the commissioner at a reasonable time and place 14
specified in the notice to answer questions relevant to the 15
external review. 16
Note-- 17
A person must not fail to comply with the notice--see section 178. 18
104 Examining witnesses 19
(1) The information commissioner may administer an oath or 20
affirmation to a person required under section 103 to attend 21
before the commissioner and may examine the person on oath 22
or affirmation. 23
(2) The oath or affirmation to be taken or made by a person for 24
the purposes of this section is an oath or affirmation that the 25
answers the person will give will be true. 26
Note-- 27
A person must not give false or misleading information--see section 28
177. 29
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Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 9 External review
[s 105]
105 Additional powers 1
(1) In the conduct of an external review, the information 2
commissioner has, in addition to any other power, power to-- 3
(a) review any decision that has been made by an agency or 4
Minister in relation to the access application concerned; 5
and 6
(b) decide any matter in relation to the access application 7
that could, under this Act, have been decided by an 8
agency or Minister. 9
(2) If it is established that a document is an exempt document or a 10
contrary to public interest document, or contains exempt 11
information or contrary to public interest information, the 12
commissioner does not have power to direct that access to the 13
document, or the document to the extent of the information, is 14
to be given. 15
(3) Any decision of the commissioner under this section has the 16
same effect as a decision of the agency or Minister. 17
106 Restrictions under other laws not applicable 18
(1) No obligation to maintain secrecy or other restriction on the 19
disclosure of information obtained by or given to agencies or 20
Ministers, whether imposed under an Act or a rule of law, 21
applies to the disclosure of information to the information 22
commissioner for the purposes of an external review. 23
(2) Legal professional privilege does not apply to the production 24
of documents or the giving of evidence by a member of an 25
agency or a Minister for the purposes of an external review. 26
(3) Subject to subsections (1) and (2), every participant in an 27
external review has the same privileges in relation to the 28
giving of evidence and producing documents and things that 29
the person would have as a witness in a proceeding before a 30
court. 31
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Part 9 External review
[s 107]
107 Information commissioner to ensure proper disclosure 1
and return of documents 2
On an external review, the information commissioner must do 3
all things necessary to ensure-- 4
(a) information or a document given to the commissioner is 5
not disclosed to a person other than-- 6
(i) a member of the staff of the OIC in the course of 7
performing duties as a member of the staff; or 8
(ii) a person who created the document or who gave 9
the document or information in the document to 10
the agency or Minister; or 11
(iii) if a person mentioned in subparagraph (ii) is a 12
participant in the review--the participant's 13
representative; and 14
(b) at the end of the review, any document given to the 15
commissioner is returned to the person who gave it. 16
108 Information commissioner to ensure nondisclosure of 17
particular information 18
(1) On an external review, the information commissioner may 19
give the directions the commissioner considers necessary to 20
avoid the disclosure to an access participant or an access 21
participant's representative of-- 22
(a) information that is claimed to be exempt information or 23
contrary to public interest information; or 24
(b) information the commissioner considers may be 25
protected by legal professional privilege. 26
(2) The commissioner may receive evidence, or hear argument, in 27
the absence of an access participant or an access participant's 28
representative if it is necessary to do so to prevent disclosure 29
to that person of information that is claimed to be exempt 30
information or contrary to public interest information. 31
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Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 9 External review
[s 109]
(3) The commissioner must not, in a decision on an external 1
review or in reasons for a decision on an external review, 2
include information that is claimed to be exempt information 3
or contrary to public interest information. 4
(4) In this section-- 5
access participant means a participant other than-- 6
(a) the agency or Minister who made the decision under 7
review; or 8
(b) a participant who created the document concerned or 9
who gave the document concerned to the agency or 10
Minister who made the decision under review. 11
109 Exception for successful challenge of s 55(2) notice 12
(1) This section applies if an agency or Minister gives a notice 13
under section 55(2) and the information commissioner is 14
satisfied that the document concerned does not include 15
prescribed information. 16
(2) Section 108(3) does not apply. 17
(3) Section 110 applies except that the commissioner must-- 18
(a) first give a copy of the decision only to the agency or 19
Minister; and 20
(b) give a copy of the decision to each other participant only 21
if, at the end of 20 business days after the date of the 22
decision, the commissioner has not been notified that 23
the agency or Minister has-- 24
(i) applied for a statutory order of review under the 25
Judicial Review Act 1991 in relation to the 26
commissioner's decision (applied for judicial 27
review); or 28
(ii) appealed to QCAT against the commissioner's 29
decision under section 119 (appealed on a 30
question of law). 31
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Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 9 External review
[s 110]
(4) Further, if the commissioner directs that access to the 1
document is to be given, the agency or Minister must comply 2
with the direction only if, at the end of 20 business days after 3
the date of the decision, the agency or Minister has not 4
applied for judicial review or appealed on a question of law. 5
Division 5 Decision on external review 6
110 Decision on external review 7
(1) The information commissioner, after conducting an external 8
review of a decision, must make a written decision-- 9
(a) affirming the decision; or 10
(b) varying the decision; or 11
(c) setting aside the decision and making a decision in 12
substitution for the decision. 13
(2) To remove doubt, it is declared that subsection (1) does not 14
apply if the external review is resolved informally. 15
(3) The commissioner must include in the decision the reasons for 16
the decision. 17
(4) The commissioner must give a copy of the decision to each 18
participant. 19
(5) If-- 20
(a) a document is to be released because of the external 21
review; and 22
(b) the commissioner has notified a person under section 23
97(4) and the person did not become a participant in the 24
review; 25
the commissioner must take reasonable steps to notify the 26
person of the release. 27
(6) The commissioner must arrange to have decisions and reasons 28
for decisions published. 29
Page 89
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 9 External review
[s 111]
(7) However, subsection (6) does not require the commissioner to 1
arrange to have a decision and reasons for a decision 2
published to the extent they contain, or publication would 3
disclose, exempt information or contrary to public interest 4
information. 5
111 Correction of mistakes in decisions 6
(1) This section applies if the information commissioner 7
considers-- 8
(a) there is an obvious error in a written decision of the 9
commissioner; and 10
(b) the error resulted from an accidental slip or omission. 11
(2) The commissioner may, on application by a participant or on 12
the commissioner's own initiative, at any time correct the 13
error. 14
Division 6 Miscellaneous 15
112 Costs of external review 16
The costs incurred by a participant to an external review are 17
payable by the participant. 18
113 Disciplinary action 19
(1) If the information commissioner, at the completion of an 20
external review, is of the opinion that-- 21
(a) there is evidence that an agency's officer has committed 22
a breach of duty or misconduct in the administration of 23
this Act; and 24
(b) the evidence is, in all the circumstances, of sufficient 25
force to justify doing so; 26
the commissioner must bring the evidence to the notice of-- 27
Page 90
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 9 External review
[s 113]
(c) if the person is the principal officer of an agency--the 1
responsible Minister of the agency; or 2
(d) in any other case--the principal officer of the agency. 3
(2) Also, if the commissioner, at the completion of an external 4
review, is of the opinion that-- 5
(a) there is evidence that a person subject to the direction of 6
a Minister under section 31 has committed a breach of 7
duty or misconduct in the administration of this Act; and 8
(b) the evidence is, in all the circumstances, of sufficient 9
force to justify doing so; 10
the commissioner must bring the evidence to the notice of the 11
Minister. 12
(3) In this section-- 13
responsible Minister means-- 14
(a) in relation to a department--the Minister administering 15
the department; or 16
(b) in relation to the town commission constituted under the 17
Alcan Queensland Pty. Limited Agreement Act 18
1965--the Minister administering that Act; or 19
(c) in relation to a council constituted under the Local 20
Government (Aboriginal Lands) Act 1978--the Minister 21
administering that Act; or 22
(d) in relation to another local government--the Minister 23
administering the Local Government Act 1993; or 24
(e) in relation to a government owned corporation or a 25
subsidiary of a government owned corporation--the 26
Minister administering the Government Owned 27
Corporations Act 1993; or 28
(f) in relation to a public authority mentioned in section 29
16(1)(a) or 16(1)(c)(ii)--the Minister administering the 30
Act by or under which the public authority is 31
established; or 32
Page 91
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 10 Vexatious applicants
[s 114]
(g) in relation to a public authority mentioned in section 1
16(1)(d)--the Minister administering the Act by which 2
the office is established; or 3
(h) in relation to any other public authority--the Minister 4
declared by regulation to be the responsible Minister in 5
relation to the public authority. 6
Part 10 Vexatious applicants 7
114 Vexatious applicants 8
(1) The information commissioner may, on the commissioner's 9
own initiative or on the application of 1 or more agencies, 10
declare in writing that a person is a vexatious applicant. 11
(2) The commissioner may make the declaration in relation to a 12
person only if the commissioner is satisfied that-- 13
(a) the person has repeatedly engaged in access actions; and 14
(b) 1 of the following applies-- 15
(i) the repeated engagement involves an abuse of 16
process for an access action; 17
(ii) a particular access action in which the person 18
engages involves, or would involve, an abuse of 19
process for that access action; 20
(iii) a particular access action in which the person 21
engages would be manifestly unreasonable. 22
(3) The information commission must not make the declaration in 23
relation to a person without giving the person an opportunity 24
to make written or oral submissions. 25
(4) A declaration has effect subject to the terms and conditions, if 26
any, stated in the declaration. 27
Page 92
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 10 Vexatious applicants
[s 115]
(5) Without limiting the conditions that may be stated, a 1
declaration may include a condition that the vexatious 2
applicant may make an access application, an internal review 3
application or an external review application only with the 4
written permission of the commissioner. 5
(6) In this section-- 6
abuse of process, for an access action, includes, but is not 7
limited to, the following-- 8
(a) harassing or intimidating an individual or an employee 9
of an agency in relation to the access action; 10
(b) unreasonably interfering with the operations of an 11
agency in relation to the access action; 12
(c) seeking to use the Act for the purpose of circumventing 13
restrictions on access to a document or documents 14
imposed by a court. 15
access action means any of the following-- 16
(a) an access application; 17
(b) an internal review application; 18
(c) an external review application. 19
agency includes a Minister. 20
engage, for an access action, means make the access action. 21
115 Declaration may be varied or revoked 22
(1) The information commissioner may vary or revoke a 23
declaration made under section 114. 24
(2) The commissioner may vary or revoke the declaration on the 25
commissioner's own initiative or on the application of the 26
person subject to the declaration. 27
Page 93
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 11 References of questions of law and appeals
[s 116]
Part 11 References of questions of law 1
and appeals 2
116 Definitions for pt 11 3
In this part-- 4
appeal tribunal means the appeal tribunal under the QCAT 5
Act. 6
judicial member see the Queensland Civil and Administrative 7
Tribunal Act 2009. 8
Note-- 9
Section 190 clarifies the powers of those acting for others. 10
117 Reference of questions of law to Supreme Court 11
(1) The information commissioner may, at the request of a 12
participant in an external review or on the commissioner's 13
own initiative, refer a question of law arising on an external 14
review to the Supreme Court. 15
(2) The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear and decide a 16
question of law referred to it under this section. 17
(3) If a question of law is referred to the Supreme Court under 18
this section, the commissioner must not make a decision on 19
the external review while the reference is pending. 20
(4) If the Supreme Court decides a question of law referred to it 21
under this section, the commissioner is bound by the decision. 22
(5) This section expires on the commencement of section 118. 23
118 Reference of questions of law to Queensland Civil and 24
Administrative Tribunal 25
(1) The information commissioner may, at the request of a 26
participant in an external review or on the commissioner's 27
Page 94
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 11 References of questions of law and appeals
[s 119]
own initiative, refer a question of law arising on an external 1
review to QCAT. 2
(2) QCAT must-- 3
(a) exercise its original jurisdiction under the QCAT Act to 4
hear and decide the question of law referred to it under 5
this section; and 6
(b) be constituted by 1 judicial member. 7
(3) If a question of law is referred to QCAT under this section, 8
the commissioner must not make a decision on the external 9
review while the reference is pending. 10
(4) If QCAT decides a question of law referred to it under this 11
section, the commissioner is bound by the decision. 12
119 Appeal to Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal 13
on question of law 14
(1) A participant in an external review may appeal to the appeal 15
tribunal against a decision of the information commissioner 16
on the external review. 17
(2) The appeal may only be on a question of law. 18
(3) The notice of appeal must, unless the appeal tribunal orders 19
otherwise-- 20
(a) be filed in QCAT's registry within 20 business days after 21
the date of the decision appealed from; and 22
(b) be served as soon as possible on all participants in the 23
external review. 24
(4) The appeal tribunal-- 25
(a) has jurisdiction to hear and decide the appeal; and 26
(b) must be constituted by 1 judicial member. 27
(5) The appeal may only be by way of a rehearing. 28
Page 95
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Disclosure by application under this Act
Part 11 References of questions of law and appeals
[s 120]
120 Application to Queensland Civil and Administrative 1
Tribunal for review of decision about financial hardship 2
status 3
A non-profit organisation may apply, as provided under the 4
QCAT Act, to QCAT for a review of a decision of the 5
information commissioner made under section 67. 6
121 Application to Queensland Civil and Administrative 7
Tribunal for review of vexatious applicant declaration 8
A person subject to a declaration made under section 114 may 9
apply, as provided under the QCAT Act, to QCAT for a review 10
of a decision of the information commissioner to declare the 11
person a vexatious applicant. 12
122 Rules and procedures of Queensland Civil and 13
Administrative Tribunal 14
(1) Anything done under this Act involving QCAT must be done 15
in accordance with QCAT rules and procedures. 16
Examples-- 17
· rules and procedures relating to filing of documents 18
· rules and procedures relating to conduct of hearings 19
(2) For the QCAT Act, section 43(2)(b)(iii), a person may be 20
represented before QCAT by a lawyer on a reference of a 21
question of law under section 118 or on an appeal on a 22
question of law under section 119. 23
(3) In this section-- 24
QCAT rules and procedures means the rules and procedures 25
applying to QCAT under the QCAT Act. 26
Page 96
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 1 General
[s 123]
Chapter 4 Office of the Information 1
Commissioner 2
Part 1 General 3
123 Information Commissioner and office of the information 4
commissioner 5
(1) There is to be an Information Commissioner. 6
(2) The commissioner is an officer of the Parliament. 7
(3) The Office of the Information Commissioner established 8
under the repealed Freedom of Information Act 1992 is 9
continued in existence. 10
(4) The OIC consists of the commissioner and the staff of the 11
office. 12
124 Office of the information commissioner is a statutory 13
body 14
(1) The OIC is a statutory body for the Financial Accountability 15
Act 2009 and the Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements 16
Act 1982. 17
(2) The Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982, part 18
2B sets out the way in which the OIC's powers under this Act 19
are affected by the Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements 20
Act 1982. 21
Page 97
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 2 Information Commissioner
[s 125]
Part 2 Information Commissioner 1
125 General power 2
The information commissioner has power to do all things that 3
are necessary or convenient to be done for or in connection 4
with the performance of the commissioner's functions under 5
an Act. 6
126 Information commissioner not subject to direction 7
(1) The information commissioner is not subject to direction by 8
any person about-- 9
(a) the way in which the commissioner's powers are to be 10
exercised in the performance of a function under section 11
128, 129, 130 or 131; or 12
(b) the priority to be given to investigations and reviews 13
under this Act. 14
(2) Subsection (1) has effect despite the Public Service Act 2008. 15
127 Control of the office of the information commissioner 16
The information commissioner controls the OIC. 17
128 Support functions 18
(1) The functions of the information commissioner include giving 19
information and help to agencies and members of the public 20
on matters relevant to this Act, in particular, by-- 21
(a) giving guidance on the interpretation and administration 22
of this Act; and 23
(b) giving information and help to agencies, applicants and 24
third parties at any stage of an access application; and 25
Page 98
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 2 Information Commissioner
[s 129]
(c) promoting greater awareness of the operation of this Act 1
in the community and within government, including by 2
providing training and educative programs; and 3
(d) monitoring the way the public interest test set out in 4
section 49 is applied by agencies and on external review, 5
consulting experts on its application and keeping 6
agencies informed; and 7
(e) commissioning external research, and consulting experts 8
on the design of surveys, to monitor whether this Act 9
and its administration are achieving this Act's stated 10
objectives; and 11
(f) identifying and commenting on legislative and 12
administrative changes that would improve the 13
administration of this Act. 14
(2) In this section-- 15
agency includes a Minister. 16
129 Decision-making functions 17
The functions of the information commissioner include-- 18
(a) deciding applications for extensions of time under 19
schedule 4, part 4, item 1; and 20
(b) deciding applications from non-profit organisations for 21
financial hardship status under section 67; and 22
(c) making, varying or revoking declarations under section 23
114 or 115. 24
130 External review functions 25
(1) The functions of the information commissioner include 26
investigating and reviewing decisions of agencies and 27
Ministers under chapter 3, part 9. 28
(2) The functions of the commissioner also include investigating 29
and reviewing whether, in relation to the decisions, agencies 30
Page 99
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 2 Information Commissioner
[s 131]
and Ministers have taken reasonable steps to identify and 1
locate documents applied for by applicants. 2
131 Performance monitoring functions 3
(1) The functions of the information commissioner include 4
reviewing and reporting on agencies in relation to the 5
operation of this Act and the Information Privacy Act, chapter 6
3, including by-- 7
(a) monitoring, auditing and reporting on agencies' 8
compliance with this Act and the Information Privacy 9
Act, chapter 3; and 10
(b) advising the parliamentary committee of the statistical 11
information (including statistical information about 12
giving access to information other than on an access 13
application) agencies are to give the commissioner for 14
reports under this section; and 15
(c) publishing performance standards and measures for use 16
in reports under this section. 17
(2) The commissioner must, as soon as practicable after finishing 18
a review, give a report about the outcome of the review to the 19
parliamentary committee. 20
(3) In this section-- 21
agency includes a Minister. 22
132 Power to issue guidelines 23
(1) The information commissioner also has power to issue a 24
guideline about a matter for or in connection with any of the 25
commissioner's functions. 26
(2) The commissioner must publish the guideline on the 27
commissioner's website. 28
(3) Without limiting subsection (1), the commissioner may issue 29
a guideline about any of the following matters-- 30
Page 100
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 2 Information Commissioner
[s 133]
(a) the interpretation and administration of this Act; 1
(b) the application of the public interest test set out in 2
section 49, including examples of the way it should be 3
and has been applied; 4
(c) the production and management of schedules of relevant 5
documents, particularly to achieve consistency; 6
(d) the process for external reviews, including appropriate 7
timeframes for completion of external reviews; 8
(e) when it is appropriate to apply for a declaration that a 9
person is a vexatious applicant; 10
(f) procedural, technical and sector specific issues in 11
relation to this Act, including documents mentioned in 12
schedule 1 and entities mentioned in schedule 2; 13
(g) what agencies or Ministers should include in reasons for 14
a decision; 15
(h) best practice for agencies to improve service to those 16
seeking to access information; 17
(i) best practice for publication schemes; 18
(j) best practice for administrative access schemes, 19
including disclosure logs. 20
133 Budget and performance 21
(1) For each financial year, the information commissioner must 22
develop, adopt and submit to the Minister a budget for the 23
OIC not later than the day the Minister directs. 24
(2) A budget has no effect until approved by the Minister. 25
(3) During a financial year the commissioner may develop, adopt 26
and submit to the Minister amendments to the OIC's budget. 27
(4) An amendment has no effect until approved by the Minister. 28
(5) The OIC must comply with its budget. 29
Page 101
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 2 Information Commissioner
[s 134]
(6) This section does not require the commissioner to give the 1
Minister any details that would, if given, prejudice a current 2
investigation or review by the commissioner. 3
134 Appointment 4
(1) The information commissioner is appointed by the Governor 5
in Council. 6
(2) The commissioner is appointed under this Act and not under 7
the Public Service Act 2008. 8
135 Procedure before appointment 9
(1) A person may be appointed as information commissioner only 10
if-- 11
(a) the Minister has placed press advertisements nationally 12
calling for applications from suitably qualified persons 13
to be considered for appointment; and 14
(b) the Minister has consulted with the parliamentary 15
committee about-- 16
(i) the process of selection for appointment; and 17
(ii) the appointment of the person as commissioner. 18
(2) Subsection (1)(a) and (b)(i) does not apply to the 19
reappointment of a person as information commissioner. 20
136 Term of appointment 21
(1) The information commissioner holds office for the term, of 22
not more than 5 years, stated in the instrument of 23
appointment. 24
(2) However, a person being reappointed as information 25
commissioner can not be reappointed for a term that would 26
result in the person holding office as information 27
commissioner for more than 10 years continuously. 28
Page 102
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 2 Information Commissioner
[s 137]
137 Remuneration and conditions 1
(1) The information commissioner must be paid remuneration 2
and other allowances decided by the Governor in Council. 3
(2) The remuneration paid to the commissioner must not be 4
reduced during the commissioner's term of office without the 5
commissioner's written consent. 6
(3) In relation to matters not provided for by this Act, the 7
commissioner holds office on the terms and conditions 8
decided by the Governor in Council. 9
138 Leave of absence 10
The Minister may grant leave to the information 11
commissioner in accordance with entitlements available to the 12
commissioner under the commissioner's conditions of office. 13
139 Preservation of rights if public service officer appointed 14
(1) A public service officer who is appointed to the office of 15
information commissioner or who is appointed to act in the 16
office is entitled to retain all existing and accruing rights as if 17
service in the office were a continuation of service as a public 18
service officer. 19
(2) If the person stops holding the office for a reason other than 20
misconduct, the person is entitled to be employed as a public 21
service officer. 22
(3) The person must be employed on the classification level and 23
remuneration that the Public Service Commission or another 24
entity prescribed under a regulation considers the person 25
would have attained in the ordinary course of progression if 26
the person had continued in employment as a public service 27
officer. 28
Page 103
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 2 Information Commissioner
[s 140]
140 Oath before performing duties 1
(1) Before performing the duties of office, the information 2
commissioner must make an oath or affirmation to the effect 3
that he or she will faithfully and impartially perform the duties 4
of the office. 5
(2) The oath must be administered by the Speaker. 6
141 Restriction on outside employment 7
(1) The information commissioner must not, without the 8
Minister's prior approval in each particular case-- 9
(a) hold any office of profit other than that of information 10
commissioner; or 11
(b) engage in any remunerative employment or undertaking 12
outside the duties of the office. 13
(2) Contravention of subsection (1) is misconduct under section 14
160(a). 15
142 Resignation 16
(1) The information commissioner may resign by signed notice 17
given to the Minister. 18
(2) As soon as practicable after the notice is given to the Minister, 19
the Minister must-- 20
(a) give the notice to the Governor for information; and 21
(b) give a copy of the notice to-- 22
(i) the Speaker of the Assembly; and 23
(ii) the chairperson of the parliamentary committee. 24
(3) Failure to comply with subsection (2) does not affect the 25
effectiveness of the resignation. 26
Page 104
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 3 Staff of the Office of the Information Commissioner
[s 143]
143 Acting information commissioner 1
(1) The Governor in Council may appoint a person to act as 2
information commissioner-- 3
(a) during a vacancy in the office; or 4
(b) during any period, or during all periods, when the 5
information commissioner is absent from duty or from 6
Australia or is, for another reason, unable to perform the 7
duties of the office. 8
(2) The acting information commissioner is appointed under this 9
Act and not the Public Service Act 2008. 10
(3) Before performing the duties of office, the acting information 11
commissioner must make an oath or affirmation to the effect 12
that he or she will faithfully and impartially perform the duties 13
of the office. 14
(4) The oath must be administered by the Speaker. 15
(5) The Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 25(1)(b)(iv) and (v) 16
does not apply to the office of acting information 17
commissioner. 18
Part 3 Staff of the Office of the 19
Information Commissioner 20
144 Staff employed under Public Service Act 2008 21
(1) The staff of the OIC must be employed under the Public 22
Service Act 2008. 23
(2) However, subsection (1) does not apply to the RTI 24
commissioner or the privacy commissioner. 25
Page 105
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 4 Right to Information Commissioner
[s 145]
145 Delegation 1
The information commissioner may delegate to a member of 2
the staff of the OIC all or any of the commissioner's powers 3
under this Act. 4
146 Staff subject only to direction of information 5
commissioner 6
(1) The staff of the OIC are not subject to direction by any person, 7
other than the information commissioner or a person 8
authorised by the commissioner, about the way in which the 9
commissioner's powers under an Act are to be exercised. 10
(2) Subsection (1) has effect despite the Public Service Act 2008. 11
Part 4 Right to Information 12
Commissioner 13
147 Right to Information Commissioner 14
(1) There is to be a Right to Information Commissioner (the RTI 15
commissioner). 16
(2) The RTI commissioner is a member of the staff of the OIC. 17
148 Role and function of RTI commissioner 18
(1) The RTI commissioner's role is that of a deputy to the 19
information commissioner, with particular responsibility for 20
matters relating to the information commissioner's functions 21
under this Act. 22
(2) The RTI commissioner's function is to perform the functions 23
of the information commissioner under this Act to the extent 24
the functions are delegated to the RTI commissioner by the 25
information commissioner. 26
Page 106
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 4 Right to Information Commissioner
[s 149]
149 RTI commissioner subject to direction of information 1
commissioner 2
The RTI commissioner is subject to the direction of the 3
information commissioner. 4
150 Appointment 5
(1) The RTI commissioner is appointed by the Governor in 6
Council. 7
(2) The commissioner is appointed under this Act and not under 8
the Public Service Act 2008. 9
151 Procedure before appointment 10
(1) A person may be appointed as RTI commissioner only if-- 11
(a) the Minister has placed press advertisements nationally 12
calling for applications from suitably qualified persons 13
to be considered for appointment; and 14
(b) the Minister has consulted with the parliamentary 15
committee about-- 16
(i) the process of selection for appointment; and 17
(ii) the appointment of the person as commissioner. 18
(2) Subsection (1)(a) and (b)(i) does not apply to the 19
reappointment of a person as RTI commissioner. 20
152 Term of appointment 21
(1) The RTI commissioner holds office for the term, of not more 22
than 5 years, stated in the instrument of appointment. 23
(2) However, a person being reappointed as RTI commissioner 24
can not be reappointed for a term that would result in the 25
person holding office as RTI commissioner for more than 10 26
years continuously. 27
Page 107
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 4 Right to Information Commissioner
[s 153]
153 Remuneration and conditions 1
(1) The RTI commissioner must be paid remuneration and other 2
allowances decided by the Governor in Council. 3
(2) The remuneration paid to the commissioner must not be 4
reduced during the commissioner's term of office without the 5
commissioner's written agreement. 6
(3) In relation to matters not provided for by this Act, the 7
commissioner holds office on the terms and conditions 8
decided by the Governor in Council. 9
154 Leave of absence 10
The Minister may grant leave to the RTI commissioner in 11
accordance with entitlements available to the commissioner 12
under the commissioner's conditions of office. 13
155 Preservation of rights if public service officer appointed 14
(1) A public service officer who is appointed to the office of RTI 15
commissioner or who is appointed to act in the office is 16
entitled to retain all existing and accruing rights as if service 17
in the office were a continuation of service as a public service 18
officer. 19
(2) If the person stops holding the office for a reason other than 20
misconduct, the person is entitled to be employed as a public 21
service officer. 22
(3) The person must be employed on the classification level and 23
remuneration that the Public Service Commission under the 24
Public Service Act 2008 or another entity prescribed under a 25
regulation considers the person would have attained in the 26
ordinary course of progression if the person had continued in 27
employment as a public service officer. 28
Page 108
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 4 Right to Information Commissioner
[s 156]
156 Restriction on outside employment 1
(1) The RTI commissioner must not, without the Minister's prior 2
approval in each particular case-- 3
(a) hold any office of profit other than that of RTI 4
commissioner; or 5
(b) engage in any remunerative employment or undertaking 6
outside the duties of the office. 7
(2) Contravention of subsection (1) is misconduct under section 8
160(a). 9
157 Resignation 10
(1) The RTI commissioner may resign by signed notice given to 11
the Minister. 12
(2) As soon as practicable after the notice is given to the Minister, 13
the Minister must-- 14
(a) give the notice to the Governor for information; and 15
(b) give a copy of the notice to-- 16
(i) the Speaker of the Assembly; and 17
(ii) the chairperson of the parliamentary committee. 18
(3) Failure to comply with subsection (2) does not affect the 19
effectiveness of the resignation. 20
158 Acting RTI commissioner 21
(1) The Governor in Council may appoint a person to act as RTI 22
commissioner-- 23
(a) during a vacancy in the office; or 24
(b) during any period, or during all periods, when the RTI 25
commissioner is absent from duty or from Australia or 26
is, for another reason, unable to perform the duties of 27
the office. 28
Page 109
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 5 Commissioner may be removed or suspended from office
[s 159]
(2) The acting RTI commissioner is appointed under this Act and 1
not the Public Service Act 2008. 2
(3) The Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 25(1)(b)(iv) and (v) 3
does not apply to the office of acting RTI commissioner. 4
Part 5 Commissioner may be removed 5
or suspended from office 6
159 Definition for pt 5 7
In this part-- 8
commissioner means the information commissioner, the RTI 9
commissioner or the privacy commissioner. 10
160 Grounds for removal or suspension 11
The following are grounds for removal or suspension of a 12
commissioner from office-- 13
(a) proved incapacity, incompetence or misconduct; 14
(b) conviction of an indictable offence. 15
161 Removal on address 16
(1) The Governor may, on an address from the Assembly, remove 17
a commissioner from office. 18
(2) The motion for the address may be moved only by the 19
Premier. 20
(3) The Premier may move the motion only if-- 21
(a) the Premier has given the commissioner a statement 22
setting out the reasons for the motion; and 23
Page 110
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 5 Commissioner may be removed or suspended from office
[s 162]
(b) the statement and any written response by the 1
commissioner have been tabled in the Assembly; and 2
(c) the Premier has consulted with the parliamentary 3
committee about the motion; and 4
(d) agreement to the motion has been obtained from-- 5
(i) all members of the parliamentary committee; or 6
(ii) a majority of members of the parliamentary 7
committee, other than a majority consisting wholly 8
of members of the political party or parties in 9
government in the Assembly. 10
162 Suspension on address 11
(1) The Governor may, on an address from the Assembly, suspend 12
a commissioner from office. 13
(2) The motion for the address may be moved only by the 14
Premier. 15
(3) The Premier may move the motion only if-- 16
(a) the Premier has given the commissioner a statement 17
setting out the reasons for the motion; and 18
(b) the statement and any written response by the 19
commissioner have been tabled in the Assembly; and 20
(c) the Premier has consulted with the parliamentary 21
committee about the motion; and 22
(d) agreement to the motion has been obtained from-- 23
(i) all members of the parliamentary committee; or 24
(ii) a majority of members of the parliamentary 25
committee, other than a majority consisting wholly 26
of members of the political party or parties in 27
government in the Assembly. 28
(4) The commissioner is entitled to be paid salary and allowances 29
for the period of the suspension only if-- 30
Page 111
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 5 Commissioner may be removed or suspended from office
[s 163]
(a) the Assembly resolves that salary and allowances be 1
paid for the period; or 2
(b) the Assembly does not pass a resolution under 3
paragraph (a) and the Governor in Council approves the 4
payment of salary and allowances for the period. 5
163 Suspension if Assembly not sitting 6
(1) If the Assembly is not sitting, the Governor in Council may 7
suspend a commissioner from office. 8
(2) The Governor in Council may suspend the commissioner only 9
if-- 10
(a) the Premier has given the commissioner a statement 11
setting out the reasons for the suspension; and 12
(b) the Premier has considered any response by the 13
commissioner to the statement. 14
(3) The Premier must table the statement and any written 15
response by the commissioner in the Assembly within 3 16
sitting days after the day the suspension begins. 17
(4) The suspension stops having effect-- 18
(a) at the end of 6 sitting days after the day the suspension 19
begins; or 20
(b) if the commissioner is earlier suspended or removed 21
from office on an address from the Assembly--at the 22
earlier time. 23
(5) If the suspension stops having effect under subsection (4)(a), 24
the commissioner is entitled to be paid salary and allowances 25
for the period of the suspension. 26
(6) Except as provided in subsection (5), the commissioner is 27
entitled to be paid salary and allowances for the period of the 28
suspension only if-- 29
(a) the Assembly resolves that salary and allowances be 30
paid for the period; or 31
Page 112
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 6 Proceedings
[s 164]
(b) the Assembly does not pass a resolution under 1
paragraph (a) and the Governor in Council approves the 2
payment of salary and allowances for the period. 3
164 Acts Interpretation Act 1954 4
The Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 25(1)(b)(i) to (iii) 5
does not apply to the removal or suspension of a 6
commissioner. 7
Part 6 Proceedings 8
165 Third party proceedings 9
(1) The information commissioner or a member of the staff of the 10
OIC can not be compelled-- 11
(a) to produce an RTI document in third party legal 12
proceedings; or 13
(b) to disclose RTI information in third party legal 14
proceedings. 15
(2) In this section-- 16
RTI document means a document received, or created, by the 17
commissioner or a member of the staff of the OIC in 18
performing functions under this Act. 19
RTI information means information that the commissioner or 20
a member of the staff of the OIC obtained in performing 21
functions under this Act. 22
third party legal proceedings means a legal proceeding other 23
than-- 24
(a) a legal proceeding started by the commissioner; or 25
Page 113
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Office of the Information Commissioner
Part 6 Proceedings
[s 166]
(b) a legal proceeding started against the commissioner or a 1
member of the staff of the OIC arising out of the 2
performance of functions under this Act. 3
166 Costs in proceedings 4
If a proceeding arising out of the performance of the functions 5
of the information commissioner is started by the State, the 6
reasonable costs of a party to the proceeding must be paid by 7
the State. 8
167 Information commissioner or RTI commissioner may 9
appear in proceedings 10
The information commissioner or RTI commissioner is 11
entitled to appear and be heard in a proceeding arising out of 12
the performance of the functions of the information 13
commissioner. 14
168 Intervention by Attorney-General 15
(1) The Attorney-General may, for the State, intervene in a 16
proceeding before a court arising out of the performance of 17
the functions of the information commissioner under this Act. 18
(2) If the Attorney-General intervenes-- 19
(a) the court may make the order as to costs against the 20
State the court considers appropriate; and 21
(b) the Attorney-General becomes a party to the 22
proceeding. 23
Page 114
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 5 Protections and offences
Part 1 Protections
[s 169]
Chapter 5 Protections and offences 1
Part 1 Protections 2
169 Meaning of access was required or permitted to be given 3
under this Act 4
In this part-- 5
access was required or permitted to be given under this Act 6
means access was required or permitted to be given under this 7
Act, other than under section 20 or 21. 8
170 Access--protection against actions for defamation or 9
breach of confidence 10
(1) If a person has been given access to a document and-- 11
(a) the access was required or permitted to be given under 12
this Act; or 13
(b) the access was authorised by a decision-maker, in the 14
genuine belief that the access was required or permitted 15
to be given under this Act; 16
then-- 17
(c) no action for defamation or breach of confidence lies 18
against the State, an agency, a Minister or an officer of 19
an agency because of the authorising or giving of the 20
access; and 21
(d) no action for defamation or breach of confidence in 22
relation to any publication involved in, or resulting 23
from, the giving of the access lies against the author of 24
the document or another person because of the author or 25
another person having given the document to an agency 26
or Minister. 27
(2) The giving of access to a document (including an exempt 28
document or a contrary to public interest document) because 29
Page 115
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 5 Protections and offences
Part 1 Protections
[s 171]
of an access application or under section 78 must not be taken 1
for the purposes of the law relating to defamation or breach of 2
confidence to constitute an authorisation or approval of the 3
publication of the document or its contents by the person to 4
whom access is given. 5
171 Publication--protection against actions for defamation or 6
breach of confidence 7
(1) If a document has been published and-- 8
(a) the publication was permitted under section 78 or 9
authorised by a Minister, or by an officer having 10
authority in relation to disclosure logs, in the genuine 11
belief that the publication was permitted under section 12
78; or 13
(b) the publication was required under section 110 or 14
authorised by the information commissioner in the 15
genuine belief that the publication was required under 16
section 110; 17
then-- 18
(c) no action for defamation or breach of confidence lies 19
against the State, an agency, a Minister, the 20
commissioner or an officer because of the publication; 21
and 22
(d) no action for defamation or breach of confidence in 23
relation to the publication or a resulting publication lies 24
against the author of the document or another person 25
because of the author or another person having given the 26
document to an agency, Minister or commissioner. 27
(2) The publication of a document (including an exempt 28
document or contrary to public interest document) under 29
section 78 or 110 must not be taken for the purposes of the 30
law relating to defamation or breach of confidence to 31
constitute an authorisation or approval of the publication of 32
the document or its contents. 33
Page 116
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 5 Protections and offences
Part 1 Protections
[s 172]
172 Access--protection in respect of offences 1
If access has been given to a document and-- 2
(a) the access was required or permitted to be given under 3
this Act; or 4
(b) the access was authorised by a decision-maker, in the 5
genuine belief that the access was required or permitted 6
to be given under this Act; 7
neither the person authorising the access nor any other person 8
concerned in the giving of the access commits a criminal 9
offence merely because of authorising or giving of the access. 10
173 Publication--protection in respect of offences 11
If a document has been published and-- 12
(a) the publication was permitted under section 78 or 13
authorised by a Minister, or by an officer having 14
authority in relation to disclosure logs, in the genuine 15
belief that the publication was permitted under section 16
78; or 17
(b) the publication was required under section 110 or 18
authorised by the information commissioner in the 19
genuine belief that the publication was required under 20
section 110; 21
the person authorising publication and any other person 22
concerned in the publication of the document do not commit a 23
criminal offence merely because of authorising or being 24
concerned in the publication. 25
174 Protection of agency, information commissioner etc. from 26
personal liability 27
(1) A relevant entity does not incur civil liability for an act done 28
or omission made honestly and without negligence under this 29
Act. 30
Page 117
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 5 Protections and offences
Part 2 Offences
[s 175]
(2) A liability that would, other than for this section, attach to a 1
relevant entity attaches instead to the State. 2
(3) In this section-- 3
relevant entity means any of the following-- 4
(a) an agency; 5
(b) an agency's principal officer; 6
(c) a Minister; 7
(d) a decision-maker; 8
(e) a person acting under the direction of an agency, an 9
agency's principal officer or a Minister; 10
(f) the information commissioner; 11
(g) a member of the staff of the OIC. 12
Part 2 Offences 13
175 Direction to act in particular way 14
(1) A person must not give a direction, either orally or in writing
to a person required or permitted to make a decision under this 16
15
Act directing the person to make a decision the person 17
believes is not the decision that should be made under this 18
Act. 19
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 20
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the information 21
commissioner or a person authorised by the commissioner in 22
relation to a direction that may be given to a member of the 23
staff of the OIC under section 146. 24
(3) A person must not give a direction, either orally or in writing
to-- 26
25
Page 118
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 5 Protections and offences
Part 2 Offences
[s 176]
(a) a person who is an employee or officer of the agency 1
involved in a matter under this Act; or 2
(b) an employee of a Minister involved in a matter under 3
this Act; 4
directing the person to act contrary to the requirements of this 5
Act. 6
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 7
176 Unlawful access 8
A person must not, in order to gain access to a document 9
containing another person's personal information knowingly 10
deceive or mislead a person exercising powers under this Act. 11
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 12
177 False or misleading information 13
(1) A person must not give information to the information 14
commissioner, or a member of the staff of the OIC, that the 15
person knows is false or misleading in a material particular. 16
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 17
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to information given in a 18
document, if the person when giving the document-- 19
(a) informs the commissioner or member of the staff of the 20
OIC, to the best of the person's ability, how the 21
information is false or misleading; and 22
(b) gives the correct information to the commissioner or 23
member of the staff of the OIC if the person has, or can 24
reasonably obtain, the correct information. 25
(3) It is enough for a complaint against a person for an offence 26
against subsection (1) to state that the information was `false 27
or misleading', without specifying whether it was false or 28
whether it was misleading. 29
Page 119
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous provisions
Part 1 Archival documents
[s 178]
178 Failure to produce documents or attend proceedings 1
A person given notice under section 103 to-- 2
(a) give information; or 3
(b) produce a document; or 4
(c) attend before the information commissioner; 5
must not, without reasonable excuse, fail to do so. 6
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 7
179 Disclosure or taking advantage of information 8
If a person is or has been the information commissioner or a 9
member of the staff of the OIC, the person must not-- 10
(a) otherwise than for the purposes of this Act or a 11
proceeding arising under this Act, disclose any 12
information that the person obtained in performing 13
functions under this Act; or 14
(b) take advantage of that information to benefit himself or 15
herself or another person. 16
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 17
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous provisions 18
Part 1 Archival documents 19
180 Operation of Public Records Act 2002 20
(1) Without limiting section 4, this Act does not affect the 21
provisions of the Public Records Act 2002 relating to the 22
giving of access to documents by the Queensland State 23
Archives. 24
Page 120
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous provisions
Part 1 Archival documents
[s 181]
(2) Without limiting section 6, the Public Records Act 2002 does 1
not prevent a person being given access to a document in the 2
custody of Queensland State Archives to which a person may 3
be given access under this Act. 4
181 Non-official documents in Queensland State Archives 5
etc. 6
A document that-- 7
(a) has been placed in the custody of Queensland State 8
Archives or a public library by a person; and 9
(b) was not, immediately before being placed in that 10
custody, a document of an agency or a document of a 11
Minister; 12
is available for access to members of the community under 13
this Act, subject to any restrictions or conditions imposed by 14
the person-- 15
(c) at the time the document was placed in the custody of 16
the Queensland State Archives or public library; or 17
(d) as permitted under section 23(2) of the repealed 18
Freedom of Information Act 1992. 19
182 Official documents in Queensland State Archives 20
(1) For the purposes of this Act, a document that-- 21
(a) has been placed in the custody of the Queensland State 22
Archives by an agency (whether before or after the 23
commencement of this section); and 24
(b) is not reasonably available for inspection under the 25
Public Records Act 2002; 26
is taken to be in the agency's possession, or, if the agency no 27
longer exists, to be in the possession of the agency whose 28
functions are most closely related to the document, if the 29
agency is entitled to access to the document. 30
Page 121
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous provisions
Part 2 Operation of this Act
[s 183]
(2) For the purposes of this Act, a document that has been placed 1
by an agency (including the Queensland State Archives) in a 2
place of deposit under the Libraries Act 1988 (whether before 3
or after the commencement of this part) or the Public Records 4
Act 2002 is taken to be in the agency's possession, or, if the 5
agency no longer exists, the agency whose functions are most 6
closely related to the document, if the agency is entitled to 7
access to the document. 8
Part 2 Operation of this Act 9
183 Review of Act 10
(1) The Minister must review this Act and the review must start 11
no later than 2 years after the commencement of this section. 12
(2) The objects of the review include-- 13
(a) deciding whether the primary object of this Act remains 14
valid; and 15
(b) deciding whether this Act is meeting its primary object; 16
and 17
(c) deciding whether the provisions of this Act are 18
appropriate for meeting its primary object; and 19
(d) investigating any specific issue recommended by the 20
Minister or the information commissioner. 21
(3) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after finishing the 22
review, table a report about the outcome of the review in the 23
Assembly. 24
184 Reports of information commissioner 25
(1) The information commissioner may make a report to the 26
Speaker on matters relating to a particular external review. 27
Page 122
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous provisions
Part 2 Operation of this Act
[s 185]
(2) The commissioner must, as soon as practicable after the end 1
of each financial year, give the Speaker and parliamentary 2
committee a report of the operations of the OIC during that 3
year. 4
(3) A report under subsection (2) must include, in relation to the 5
financial year to which it relates, details of the matters 6
prescribed under a regulation. 7
(4) The parliamentary committee may require the commissioner 8
to prepare and give the committee a report on a particular 9
aspect of the performance of the commissioner's functions. 10
(5) If a report of the commissioner is given to the Speaker or the 11
parliamentary committee, the Speaker or the chairperson of 12
the committee must cause the report to be tabled in the 13
Assembly on the next sitting day after it is given. 14
185 Report to Assembly on Act's operation 15
(1) The Minister administering this Act shall, as soon as 16
practicable after the end of each financial year, prepare a 17
report on the operation of this Act during that year and cause a 18
copy of the report to be tabled in the Assembly. 19
(2) A report under subsection (1) must include, in relation to the 20
financial year to which it relates, details of the matters 21
prescribed under a regulation. 22
186 Strategic review of office 23
(1) Strategic reviews of the OIC must be conducted under this 24
section and sections 187 and 188. 25
(2) The first review under this section must be conducted within 4 26
years after the commencement of this section. 27
(3) Subject to subsection (2), a strategic review must be 28
conducted at least every 5 years, counting from the date of the 29
report (the earlier report) for the most recent earlier strategic 30
review up to when the reviewer is appointed under subsection 31
(5) to undertake the latest review. 32
Page 123
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous provisions
Part 2 Operation of this Act
[s 187]
(4) However, if the parliamentary committee reported to the 1
Assembly about the earlier report, and the committee's report 2
made recommendations to which a Minister was required to 3
respond under the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001, 4
section 107 the 5 years is counted from when the Minister's 5
response was tabled under that section. 6
(5) Each strategic review must be undertaken by an appropriately 7
qualified person (reviewer), appointed by the Governor in 8
Council, who must give a report on the review. 9
(6) The terms of reference for a strategic review are to be decided 10
by the Governor in Council. 11
(7) Before a reviewer is appointed to conduct a strategic review, 12
the Minister must consult with the parliamentary committee 13
and the information commissioner about-- 14
(a) the appointment of the reviewer; and 15
(b) the terms of reference for the review. 16
(8) The remuneration and other terms of appointment of the 17
reviewer are as decided by the Governor in Council. 18
(9) In this section-- 19
strategic review, of the OIC, includes-- 20
(a) a review of the commissioner's functions; and 21
(b) a review of the commissioner's performance of the 22
functions to assess whether they are being performed 23
economically, effectively and efficiently. 24
187 Conduct of strategic review 25
In conducting a strategic review-- 26
(a) the reviewer has the powers an authorised auditor has 27
under the Auditor-General Act 2009 for an audit of an 28
entity; and 29
Page 124
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous provisions
Part 2 Operation of this Act
[s 188]
(b) that Act and other Acts apply to the reviewer as if the 1
reviewer were an authorised auditor conducting an audit 2
of an entity. 3
188 Report of strategic review 4
(1) The reviewer must give a copy of a proposed report on the 5
strategic review to the Minister and the information 6
commissioner. 7
(2) The commissioner may, within 15 business days after 8
receiving the proposed report, give the reviewer written 9
comments on anything in the proposed report. 10
(3) If the commissioner comments under subsection (2), the 11
reviewer must-- 12
(a) if the reviewer and commissioner can agree about how 13
to dispose of a comment--incorporate into the report 14
any agreed amendment necessary to dispose of the 15
comment; or 16
(b) if the reviewer and commissioner can not agree about 17
how to dispose of a comment--include the comment, in 18
full, in the report. 19
(4) After complying with subsections (1) and (3), the reviewer 20
must give the report (strategic review report) to the Minister 21
and the commissioner. 22
(5) The strategic review report must be the same as the proposed 23
report given to them under subsection (1), apart from the 24
changes made under subsection (3). 25
(6) The Minister must table the strategic review report in the 26
Assembly within 3 sitting days after the Minister receives the 27
report. 28
(7) For the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001, section 84(2) the 29
report is referred to the parliamentary committee. 30
Page 125
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous provisions
Part 2 Operation of this Act
[s 189]
189 Functions of parliamentary committee 1
The parliamentary committee has the following functions 2
under this Act-- 3
(a) to monitor and review the performance by the 4
information commissioner of the commissioner's 5
functions under this Act; 6
(b) to report to the Assembly on any matter concerning the 7
commissioner, the commissioner's functions or the 8
performance of the commissioner's functions that the 9
committee considers should be drawn to the Assembly's 10
attention; 11
(c) to decide, in consultation with the commissioner, the 12
statistical information (including statistical information 13
about giving access to information other than on an 14
access application) agencies and Ministers are to give 15
the commissioner for reports under section 131; 16
(d) to examine each annual report tabled in the Assembly 17
under this Act and, if appropriate, to comment on any 18
aspect of the report and to make recommendations; 19
(e) to examine each strategic review report tabled in the 20
Assembly under this Act and, if appropriate, to 21
comment on any aspect of the report and to make 22
recommendations; 23
(f) to report to the Assembly any changes to the functions, 24
structures and procedures of the OIC the committee 25
considers desirable for the more effective operation of 26
this Act; 27
(g) the other functions conferred on the parliamentary 28
committee by this Act. 29
Note-- 30
The parliamentary committee also has functions under other 31
Acts, for example, the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001, 32
section 86 (Administrative review reform). 33
Page 126
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Miscellaneous provisions
Part 3 Other
[s 190]
Part 3 Other 1
190 Power of person acting for another person 2
(1) To remove any doubt, it is declared that, in relation to an 3
application or other matter under this Act-- 4
(a) a person's agent is able to do, in accordance with the 5
terms of the person's authorisation as agent, anything 6
that the person could do; and 7
(b) a child's parent is able to do anything that the child 8
could do if the child were an adult. 9
(2) In this section-- 10
child see section 25. 11
parent see section 25. 12
191 Contents of prescribed written notice 13
If an agency or Minister must give a person a prescribed 14
written notice of a decision under this Act, the notice must be 15
in writing and state the following details-- 16
(a) the decision; 17
(b) the reasons for the decision; 18
Note-- 19
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 20
statement of reasons for decision). 21
(c) the day the decision was made; 22
(d) the name and designation of the person making the 23
decision; 24
(e) if the decision is not the decision sought by the 25
person--any rights of review under this Act in relation 26
to the decision, the procedures to be followed for 27
exercising the rights and the time within which an 28
application for review must be made. 29
Page 127
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 1 Repeal
[s 192]
192 Approval of forms 1
The chief executive may approve forms for use under this Act. 2
193 Regulation-making power 3
The Governor in Council may make regulations under this 4
Act. 5
Chapter 7 Repeal and transitional 6
provisions 7
Part 1 Repeal 8
194 Repeal 9
The Freedom of Information Act 1992, No. 42 is repealed. 10
Part 2 Transitional provisions 11
195 Outdated references 12
In an Act or document, if the context permits, a reference to 13
the Freedom of Information Act 1992, is taken to be a 14
reference to this Act. 15
Page 128
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 2 Transitional provisions
[s 196]
196 Continuation of appointment as information 1
commissioner 2
The person who, immediately before the commencement of 3
section 123, was the information commissioner under the 4
repealed Freedom of Information Act 1992-- 5
(a) continues as the information commissioner under this 6
Act until an appointment is made under section 134; and 7
(b) is taken to have satisfied the requirements under section 8
140 concerning the oath. 9
197 Continuation of appointment as acting information 10
commissioner 11
The person who, immediately before the commencement of 12
section 143, was the acting information commissioner under 13
the repealed Freedom of Information Act 1992-- 14
(a) continues as the acting information commissioner under 15
this Act until an appointment is made under section 134 16
or 143; and 17
(b) is taken to have satisfied the requirements under that 18
section concerning the oath. 19
198 Pre-enactment recruitment process 20
An appointment of a person as information commissioner or 21
RTI commissioner after the enactment of this Act is not to be 22
taken to be invalid only because action was taken in relation to 23
the filling of the role of information commissioner or RTI 24
commissioner before the enactment. 25
199 Applications under Freedom of Information Act 1992 26
(1) The repealed Freedom of Information Act 1992 continues to 27
apply in relation to an application under that Act that has not 28
been finalised before the commencement of this section as if 29
this Act had not been enacted. 30
Page 129
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 2 Transitional provisions
[s 200]
(2) For subsection (1), an application has not been finalised 1
until-- 2
(a) a decision on the application is made; and 3
(b) either-- 4
(i) the time for exercising any review rights or appeal 5
rights in relation to the decision has ended without 6
any rights being exercised; or 7
(ii) any review or appeal in relation to the decision has 8
ended. 9
200 Time limit for access under Freedom of Information Act 10
1992 continues to apply 11
The repealed Freedom of Information Act 1992, section 31A 12
continues to apply if a person is given access under that Act to 13
a document whether before or after the commencement of this 14
section. 15
201 Statements of affairs 16
The repealed Freedom of Information Act 1992, section 18 17
continues to apply to an agency until the agency publishes a 18
statement of affairs under that section. 19
202 Refusal to deal with application--previous application for 20
same documents 21
For section 43, a first application may be an application under 22
the repealed Freedom of Information Act 1992. 23
203 Delayed appeals and applications to QCAT 24
(1) If a person may appeal to the appeal tribunal under section 25
119 before QCAT comes into existence, the person may 26
appeal to the appeal tribunal within 20 business days after 27
QCAT comes into existence. 28
Page 130
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 1 Amendment of Ombudsman Act 2001
[s 204]
(2) If a person may, within a period, apply to QCAT under section 1
120 or 121 before QCAT comes into existence, the person 2
may apply to QCAT within that period after QCAT comes into 3
existence. 4
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts 5
Part 1 Amendment of Ombudsman 6
Act 2001 7
204 Act amended 8
This part amends the Ombudsman Act 2001. 9
205 Amendment of s 16 (What ombudsman may not 10
investigate) 11
Section 16(2)-- 12
insert-- 13
`(h) the information commissioner in the performance of the 14
commissioner's functions under the Right to 15
Information Act 2009, section 128, 129, 130 or 131.'. 16
Part 2 Amendment of Public Records 17
Act 2002 18
206 Act amended 19
This part amends the Public Records Act 2002. 20
Page 131
Right to Information Bill 2009
Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Public Records Act 2002
[s 207]
207 Amendment of s 3 (Purposes) 1
Section 3(b), `Freedom of Information Act 1992'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Right to Information Act 2009 and the Information Privacy 4
Act 2009'. 5
208 Amendment of s 16 (Meaning of restricted access period) 6
(1) Section 16(1)-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`(1) Subject to subsection (2), the restricted access period for the 9
following records starts on the day the record is made and 10
ends 30 years after the day of the last action on the record-- 11
(a) a public record classified by a public authority as 12
containing information that potentially is exempt 13
information under the RTI Act, schedule 3, section 3; 14
Editor's note-- 15
RTI Act, schedule 3, section 3 (Executive Council information) 16
(b) a Ministerial record; 17
(c) a record of a Parliamentary Secretary. 18
`(1A) Subject to subsection (2), the restricted access period for a 19
public record classified by a public authority as containing 20
information that potentially is exempt information under the 21
RTI Act, schedule 3, section 2 starts on the day the record is 22
made and ends 20 years after the day of the last action on the 23
record. 24
Editor's note-- 25
RTI Act, schedule 3, section 2 (Cabinet information brought into 26
existence on or after commencement)'. 27
(2) Section 16(2), `subsection (1)'-- 28
omit, insert-- 29
`subsection (1) or (1A)'. 30
Page 132
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Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Public Records Act 2002
[s 208]
(3) Section 16(2), from `potentially' to `FOI Act,'-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`information about the personal affairs of an individual, 3
whether living or dead,'. 4
(4) Section 16(2)(a)-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`(a) the period starting on the day the record is made and 7
ending-- 8
(i) for a public record mentioned in subsection 9
(1)--30 years after the day of the last action on the 10
record; or 11
(ii) for a public record mentioned in subsection 12
(1A)--20 years after the day of the last action on 13
the record;'. 14
(5) Section 16(4)(a), from `potentially' to `FOI Act'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`information about the personal affairs of an individual, 17
whether living or dead'. 18
(6) Section 16(4)(b), `potentially exempt matter mentioned in 19
section 42, 42A, 43 or 46 of the FOI Act'-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`information that potentially is exempt information under the 22
RTI Act, schedule 3, section 7, 8, 9 or 10'. 23
(7) Section 16(4)(b)-- 24
insert-- 25
`Editor's note-- 26
RTI Act, schedule 3, section 7 (Information subject to legal 27
professional privilege), 8 (Information disclosure of which 28
would found action for breach of confidence), 9 (National or 29
State security information) or 10 (Law enforcement or public 30
safety information)'. 31
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Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Public Records Act 2002
[s 209]
(8) Section 16(5)-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`(5) Subsections (1), (1A), (2) and (4)(a) and (b) apply as if the 3
public authority in all cases were an agency under the RTI 4
Act.'. 5
209 Amendment of s 18 (Public access to public records) 6
(1) Section 18(2)(a)-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`(a) access is given under the IP Act or RTI Act; or 9
Note-- 10
The IP Act, chapter 3 and the RTI Act, chapter 3, set out formal 11
procedures for being given access to documents and about 12
reviewing decisions about access under those Acts.'. 13
(2) Section 18(5)(a), `potentially exempt under section 42(1)(g) 14
to (i) or 42A of the FOI Act'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`information that potentially is exempt information under the 17
RTI Act, schedule 3, section 9 or 10(1)(h), (i) or (j)'. 18
210 Replacement of pt 6, hdg (Transitional and consequential 19
provisions) 20
Part 6, heading-- 21
omit, insert-- 22
`Part 6 Transitional provisions 23
`Division 1 Transitional provisions for Public 24
Records Act 2002'. 25
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Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Public Records Act 2002
[s 211]
211 Insertion of new pt 6, div 2 1
After section 61-- 2
insert-- 3
`Division 2 Transitional provisions for 4
Information Privacy Act 2009 and 5
Right to Information Act 2009 6
`62 Omitted references to Freedom of Information Act 7
1992 8
`(1) This section applies to a provision (the relevant provision) of 9
this Act if-- 10
(a) immediately before the commencement of this section, 11
the relevant provision included a reference (the FOI 12
reference) to a particular provision of the Freedom of 13
Information Act 1992 or to that Act generally; and 14
(b) on the commencement of this section, the relevant 15
provision was amended to omit the FOI reference and to 16
replace the FOI reference with a reference to-- 17
(i) a particular provision of the RTI Act; or 18
(ii) information about the personal affairs of an 19
individual, whether living or dead; or 20
(iii) the RTI Act generally; or 21
(iv) the IP Act and the RTI Act generally. 22
`(2) In relation to anything done or taking effect under the relevant 23
provision before the commencement of this section, the 24
relevant provision, as in force immediately before the 25
commencement of this section, continues to have effect after 26
the commencement as if-- 27
(a) the relevant provision still included the FOI reference; 28
and 29
(b) the provision had not otherwise been amended; and 30
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Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Public Records Act 2002
[s 212]
(c) the Freedom of Information Act 1992 had not been 1
repealed. 2
Example-- 3
A restricted access period established for a record before the 4
commencement of this section continues to be the restricted access 5
period for the record after the commencement of this section. 6
`62A Establishing restricted access period for record 7
made before commencement 8
`If a public record was made before the commencement of 9
this section, but its restricted access period was not 10
established under section 16 before the commencement, its 11
restricted access period must be established as if the IP Act 12
and RTI Act had not been enacted. 13
Example-- 14
The restricted access period for a record containing potentially exempt 15
information under the RTI Act, schedule 3, section 2 (Cabinet 16
information brought into existence on or after commencement) will be 17
30 years if the record was made before this section commenced.'. 18
212 Amendment of sch 2 (Dictionary) 19
(1) Schedule 2, definition FOI Act-- 20
omit. 21
(2) Schedule 2-- 22
insert-- 23
`IP Act means the Information Privacy Act 2009. 24
RTI Act means the Right to Information Act 2009.'. 25
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Chapter 8 Amendment of Acts
Part 3 Amendment of regulations and other Acts
[s 213]
Part 3 Amendment of regulations and 1
other Acts 2
213 Acts and regulations amended 3
Schedule 5 amends the Act and regulations that it mentions. 4
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Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Documents to which this Act 1
does not apply 2
section 11 3
1 Security document 4
Either of the following documents-- 5
(a) a document (an intelligence agency document) that has 6
originated with, or has been received from, any of the 7
following entities-- 8
(i) the Australian Secret Intelligence Service; 9
(ii) the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation; 10
(iii) the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security; 11
(iv) the Office of National Assessments; 12
(v) the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation; 13
(vi) the Defence Intelligence Organisation; 14
(vii) the Defence Signals Directorate; 15
(b) a document that contains a summary of, or an extract or 16
information from, an intelligence agency document, to 17
the extent that it contains such a summary, extract or 18
information. 19
2 Documents under Terrorism (Preventative Detention) Act 20
2005 21
A document created or received in carrying out activities 22
under the Terrorism (Preventative Detention) Act 2005. 23
3 Particular documents under Crime and Misconduct Act 24
2001 25
Any of the following documents-- 26
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Schedule 1
(a) a document under, or a document to the extent it 1
comprises information about an activity under, the 2
Crime and Misconduct Act 2001, chapter 3, part 6, 3
division 2 or 3; 4
Note-- 5
Part 6 deals with surveillance devices. 6
(b) a document under, or a document to the extent it 7
comprises information about an activity under, the 8
Crime and Misconduct Act 2001, chapter 3, part 6A; 9
Note-- 10
Part 6A deals with controlled operations and controlled activities 11
for misconduct offences. 12
(c) a document under, or a document to the extent it 13
comprises information about an activity under, the 14
Crime and Misconduct Act 2001, chapter 3, part 6B, 15
divisions 2 to 7; 16
Note-- 17
Part 6B deals with assumed identities. 18
(d) a covert search warrant under the Crime and Misconduct 19
Act 2001, chapter 3, part 7; 20
(e) an additional powers warrant under the Crime and 21
Misconduct Act 2001, chapter 3, part 8; 22
(f) a document mentioned in the Crime and Misconduct Act 23
2001, section 371. 24
4 Particular documents under Police Powers and 25
Responsibilities Act 2000 26
Either of the following documents-- 27
(a) a document under, or a document to the extent it 28
comprises information about an activity under, any of 29
the following provisions of the Police Powers and 30
Responsibilities Act 2000-- 31
· chapter 10 32
· chapter 11 33
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Schedule 1
· chapter 12, parts 2 to 7 1
· chapter 13 2
· chapter 18 if it would enable either of the 3
following to be revealed-- 4
· the identity of a person in relation to whom a 5
disease test order within the meaning of the 6
Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 7
is made 8
· the identity of a victim of an offence to 9
which the Police Powers and 10
Responsibilities Act 2000, chapter 18 11
applies; 12
(b) a document to the extent it comprises information kept 13
in a register under the Police Powers and 14
Responsibilities Act 2000, chapter 21, part 2, division 2. 15
Note-- 16
Chapter 10 deals with controlled activities. Chapter 11 deals 17
with controlled operations. Chapter 12 deals with assumed 18
identities. Chapter 13 deals with surveillance device warrants. 19
Chapter 18 deals with blood and urine testing of persons 20
suspected of committing sexual or other serious assault offences. 21
Chapter 21, part 2, division 2 deals with a register of covert acts. 22
5 Particular documents under Police Service 23
Administration Act 1990 24
A document created under the Police Service Administration 25
Act 1990, part 5A. 26
Note-- 27
Part 5A deals with alcohol and drug tests for members of the police 28
service. 29
6 Particular documents received or created by integrity 30
commissioner under Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 31
A document created, or received, by the Queensland Integrity 32
Commissioner in relation to-- 33
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Schedule 1
(a) advice sought on an issue about a person under the 1
Public Sector Ethics Act 1994, section 28(1)(b); or 2
(b) a conflict of interest issue about which advice has been 3
sought under the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994, section 4
30. 5
7 Document received or created by Prostitution Licensing 6
Authority 7
A document created, or received, by the Prostitution 8
Licensing Authority for the Prostitution Act 1999. 9
8 Particular coronial document during investigation 10
A document of an agency that is a coronial document (other 11
than a document given to, or accessed by, the agency under 12
the Coroners Act 2003, section 25, 54 or 54A) while a coroner 13
is investigating the death to which the document relates. 14
9 Root cause analysis document 15
A document created for a root cause analysis of a reportable 16
event under-- 17
(a) the Ambulance Service Act 1991, part 4A; or 18
(b) the Health Services Act 1991, part 4B. 19
Notes-- 20
1 For what is a root cause analysis of a reportable event under the 21
Ambulance Service Act 1991, part 4A, see sections 36A and 36B. 22
2 For what is a root cause analysis of a reportable event under the 23
Health Services Act 1991, part 4B, see sections 38G and 38H. 24
10 Particular documents under Workers' Compensation and 25
Rehabilitation Act 2003 26
Either of the following documents-- 27
(a) a document created, or received, by the Workers' 28
Compensation Regulatory Authority in carrying out its 29
function of monitoring the financial performance of 30
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Schedule 1
self-insurers within the meaning of the Workers' 1
Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003; 2
(b) a document created, or received, by WorkCover 3
Queensland in carrying out its commercial activities 4
other than activities about policies, applications for 5
compensation, or proceedings for damages. 6
11 Particular documents under Biodiscovery Act 2004 7
Any of the following documents under the Biodiscovery Act 8
2004-- 9
(a) a benefit sharing agreement; 10
(b) a record kept by a department about a benefit sharing 11
agreement or proposed benefit sharing agreement; 12
(c) a record kept by a department about a collection 13
authority; 14
(d) a biodiscovery plan; 15
(e) a record kept by a department about a biodiscovery plan; 16
(f) a document identifying the holder of a collection 17
authority under which a sample of native biological 18
material was given to a receiving entity. 19
12 Particular documents under Gene Technology Act 2001 20
A document to the extent it comprises confidential 21
commercial information within the meaning of the Gene 22
Technology Act 2001. 23
13 Particular documents under Sugar Industry Act 1999 24
Either of the following documents-- 25
(a) a document in connection with any of the following 26
matters under the Sugar Industry Act 1999 that was held 27
by the Sugar Authority on or after 1 July 2004 and 28
before 1 January 2006-- 29
(i) the giving of a periodic estimate; 30
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Schedule 1
(ii) the making or granting of an application for an 1
exemption; 2
(iii) the giving of an annual return; 3
(b) a document in connection with either of the following 4
matters under the Sugar Industry Act 1999 that was 5
given to the Sugar Industry Commissioner on or after 1 6
January 2006 and before 1 July 2008-- 7
(i) the making or granting of an application for an 8
exemption; 9
(ii) the giving of an annual return. 10
14 Particular GOC documents created or received before 11
commencement 12
A document to which the repealed Freedom of Information 13
Act 1992 did not apply under section 11A of that Act. 14
15 Particular corporatised corporation documents created 15
or received before commencement 16
A document to which the repealed Freedom of Information 17
Act 1992 did not apply under section 11B of that Act. 18
Page 143
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Schedule 2
Schedule 2 Entities to which this Act does 1
not apply 2
section 17 3
Part 1 Entities to which this Act does 4
not apply 5
1 the Governor 6
2 the Assembly, a member of the Assembly, a committee of the 7
Assembly, a member of a committee of the Assembly, a 8
parliamentary commission of inquiry or a member of a 9
parliamentary commission of inquiry 10
3 the Parliamentary Judges Commission of Inquiry appointed 11
under the expired Parliamentary (Judges) Commission of 12
Inquiry Act 1988 13
4 a commission of inquiry issued by the Governor in Council, 14
whether before or after the commencement of this schedule 15
5 the parliamentary service established by the Parliamentary 16
Service Act 1988 17
6 a committee declared to be an approved quality assurance 18
committee under the Health Services Act 1991, section 31(1) 19
7 a parents and citizens association under the Education 20
(General Provisions) Act 2006 21
8 a grammar school to which the Grammar Schools Act 1975 22
applies 23
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Schedule 2
Part 2 Entities to which this Act does 1
not apply in relation to a 2
particular function 3
1 a court, or the holder of a judicial office or other office 4
connected with a court, in relation to the court's judicial 5
functions 6
2 a registry or other office of a court, or the staff of a registry or 7
other office of a court in their official capacity, so far as its or 8
their functions relate to the court's judicial functions 9
3 a tribunal in relation to the tribunal's judicial or quasi-judicial 10
functions 11
4 a tribunal member or the holder of an office connected with a 12
tribunal, in relation to the tribunal's judicial or quasi-judicial 13
functions 14
5 a registry of a tribunal, or the staff of a registry of a tribunal in 15
their official capacity, so far as its or their functions relate to 16
the tribunal's judicial or quasi-judicial functions 17
6 a quasi-judicial entity in relation to its quasi-judicial functions 18
7 a member of, or the holder of an office connected with, a 19
quasi-judicial entity, in relation to the entity's quasi-judicial 20
functions 21
8 the staff of a quasi-judicial entity in their official capacity, so 22
far as their functions relate to the entity's quasi-judicial 23
functions 24
9 Queensland Treasury Corporation in relation to its borrowing, 25
liability and asset management related functions 26
10 the adult guardian under the Guardianship and Administration 27
Act 2000 in relation to an investigation or audit under that Act 28
11 the Health Rights Commissioner in relation to the conciliation 29
of health service complaints under the repealed Health Rights 30
Commission Act 1991, part 6 31
12 the Health Quality and Complaints Commission in relation to 32
the conciliation of health service complaints under-- 33
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Schedule 2
(a) the repealed Health Rights Commission Act 1991, part 1
6; or 2
(b) the Health Quality and Complaints Commission Act 3
2006, chapter 6 4
13 CS Energy Limited ACN 078 848 745, or a subsidiary of CS 5
Energy Limited, in relation to its functions, except so far as 6
they relate to community service obligations 7
14 Ergon Energy Queensland Pty Ltd ACN 121 177 802 in 8
relation to its functions, except so far as they relate to 9
community service obligations 10
15 QIC Limited ACN 130 539 123, or a subsidiary of QIC 11
Limited, in relation to its functions, except so far as they relate 12
to community service obligations 13
16 QR Limited ACN 124 649 967 in relation to its freight 14
operations, except so far as they relate to community service 15
obligations 16
17 a subsidiary of QR Limited ACN 124 649 967 (other than an 17
entity mentioned in item 18) in relation to its freight 18
operations, except so far as they relate to community service 19
obligations 20
18 ARG Risk Management Ltd ABN 76 535 579 451, On Track 21
Insurance Pty Ltd ACN 095 032 670 or QR Surat Basin Pty 22
Ltd ACN 122 385 568 in relation to their functions, except so 23
far as they relate to community service obligations 24
19 Stanwell Corporation Limited ACN 078 848 674, or a 25
subsidiary of Stanwell Corporation Limited, in relation to its 26
functions, except so far as they relate to community service 27
obligations 28
20 Tarong Energy Corporation Limited ACN 078 848 736, or a 29
subsidiary of Tarong Energy Corporation Limited, in relation 30
to its functions, except so far as they relate to community 31
service obligations 32
Page 146
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Schedule 3
Schedule 3 Exempt information 1
section 48 2
Note-- 3
Access to a document may be refused to the extent the document 4
comprises exempt information--see section 47(3)(a). 5
1 Cabinet matter brought into existence before 6
commencement 7
Matter is exempt information if the matter is-- 8
(a) brought into existence before the commencement of this 9
section; and 10
(b) mentioned in section 36(1) of the repealed Freedom of 11
Information Act 1992; and 12
(c) not officially published by decision of Cabinet. 13
2 Cabinet information brought into existence on or after 14
commencement 15
(1) Information is exempt information for 10 years after its 16
relevant date if-- 17
(a) it has been brought into existence for the consideration 18
of Cabinet; or 19
(b) its disclosure would reveal any consideration of Cabinet 20
or would otherwise prejudice the confidentiality of 21
Cabinet considerations or operations; or 22
(c) it has been brought into existence in the course of the 23
State's budgetary processes. 24
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to-- 25
(a) information brought into existence before the 26
commencement of this section; or 27
(b) information officially published by decision of Cabinet. 28
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Schedule 3
(3) Without limiting subsection (1), the following documents are 1
taken to be documents comprised exclusively of exempt 2
information under subsection (1)-- 3
(a) Cabinet submissions; 4
(b) Cabinet briefing notes; 5
(c) Cabinet agendas; 6
(d) notes of discussions in Cabinet; 7
(e) Cabinet minutes; 8
(f) Cabinet decisions; 9
(g) a draft of a document mentioned in any of paragraphs 10
(a) to (f). 11
(4) A report of factual or statistical information attached to a 12
document mentioned in subsection (3) is exempt information 13
under subsection (1) only if-- 14
(a) its disclosure would have an effect mentioned in 15
subsection (1)(b); or 16
(b) it was brought into existence for the consideration of 17
Cabinet or for the State's budgetary processes. 18
(5) In this section-- 19
Cabinet includes a Cabinet committee or subcommittee. 20
consideration includes-- 21
(a) discussion, deliberation, noting (with or without 22
discussion) or decision; and 23
(b) consideration for any purpose, including, for example, 24
for information or to make a decision. 25
draft includes a preliminary or working draft. 26
relevant date, for information, means-- 27
(a) for information considered by Cabinet--the date the 28
information was most recently considered by Cabinet; 29
or 30
(b) for other information--the date the information was 31
brought into existence. 32
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Schedule 3
3 Executive Council information 1
(1) Information is exempt information if-- 2
(a) it has been submitted to Executive Council; or 3
(b) it was brought into existence for submission to 4
Executive Council and is proposed, or has at any time 5
been proposed, to be submitted to Executive Council by 6
a Minister; or 7
(c) it was brought into existence for briefing, or the use of, 8
the Governor, a Minister or a chief executive in relation 9
to information-- 10
(i) submitted to Executive Council; or 11
(ii) that is proposed, or has at any time been proposed, 12
to be submitted to Executive Council by a 13
Minister; or 14
(d) it is, or forms part of, an official record of Executive 15
Council; or 16
(e) its disclosure would involve the disclosure of any 17
consideration of Executive Council or could otherwise 18
prejudice the confidentiality of Executive Council 19
considerations or operations; or 20
(f) it is a draft of matter mentioned in any of paragraphs (a) 21
to (e); or 22
(g) it is a copy of or extract from, or part of a copy of or 23
extract from, information mentioned in any of 24
paragraphs (a) to (f). 25
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to information officially 26
published by decision of the Governor in Council. 27
(3) In this section-- 28
chief executive means a chief executive of a unit of the public 29
sector. 30
consideration includes-- 31
(a) discussion, deliberation, noting (with or without 32
discussion) or decision; and 33
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Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 3
(b) consideration for any purpose, including, for example, 1
for information or to make a decision. 2
draft includes a preliminary or working draft. 3
official record, of Executive Council, includes an official 4
record of information submitted to Executive Council. 5
submit information to Executive Council includes bring the 6
information to Executive Council, irrespective of the purpose 7
of submitting the information to Executive Council, the nature 8
of the information or the way in which Executive Council 9
deals with the information. 10
4 Information briefing incoming Minister 11
Information is exempt information for 10 years after the 12
appointment of a Minister for a department if the information 13
is brought into existence by the department to brief an 14
incoming Minister about the department. 15
5 Information revealing particular Sovereign 16
communications 17
Information is exempt information if its disclosure would 18
reveal-- 19
(a) any communications between the Sovereign and the 20
Sovereign's representative; or 21
(b) any communications between the Sovereign, or the 22
Sovereign's representative, and the Premier. 23
6 Information disclosure of which would be contempt of 24
court or Parliament 25
Information is exempt information if its public disclosure 26
would, apart from this Act and any immunity of the Crown-- 27
(a) be in contempt of court; or 28
(b) be contrary to an order made or direction given by-- 29
(i) a royal commission or commission of inquiry; or 30
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Schedule 3
(ii) a person or body having power to take evidence on 1
oath; or 2
(c) infringe the privileges of-- 3
(i) Parliament; or 4
(ii) the Parliament of the Commonwealth or a State, or 5
a House of such a Parliament; or 6
(iii) the Legislative Assembly of Norfolk Island. 7
7 Information subject to legal professional privilege 8
Information is exempt information if it would be privileged 9
from production in a legal proceeding on the ground of legal 10
professional privilege. 11
8 Information disclosure of which would found action for 12
breach of confidence 13
(1) Information is exempt information if its disclosure would 14
found an action for breach of confidence. 15
(2) However, deliberative process information is not exempt 16
information under subsection (1) unless it consists of 17
information communicated by an entity other than-- 18
(a) a person in the capacity of-- 19
(i) a Minister; or 20
(ii) a member of the staff of, or a consultant to, a 21
Minister; or 22
(iii) an officer of an agency; or 23
(b) the State or an agency. 24
(3) In this section-- 25
deliberative process information means information 26
disclosing-- 27
(a) an opinion, advice or recommendation that has been 28
obtained, prepared or recorded; or 29
(b) a consultation or deliberation that has taken place; 30
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Schedule 3
in the course of, or for the purposes of, the deliberative 1
processes involved in the functions of government. 2
9 National or State security information 3
(1) Information is exempt information if its disclosure could 4
reasonably be expected to damage the security of the 5
Commonwealth or a State. 6
(2) For subsection (1), the security of the Commonwealth 7
includes-- 8
(a) matters relating to detecting, preventing or suppressing 9
activities, whether within or outside Australia, that are 10
subversive of, or hostile to, the interests of the 11
Commonwealth or a country allied or associated with 12
the Commonwealth; and 13
(b) the security of a communications system or 14
cryptographic system of the Commonwealth or another 15
country used for-- 16
(i) the defence of the Commonwealth or a country 17
allied or associated with the Commonwealth; or 18
(ii) the conduct of the international relations of the 19
Commonwealth. 20
(3) For subsection (1), the security of a State includes matters 21
relating to detecting, preventing or suppressing activities, 22
whether within or outside the State, that are subversive of, or 23
hostile to, the interests of the State. 24
10 Law enforcement or public safety information 25
(1) Information is exempt information if its disclosure could 26
reasonably be expected to-- 27
(a) prejudice the investigation of a contravention or possible 28
contravention of the law (including revenue law) in a 29
particular case; or 30
(b) enable the existence or identity of a confidential source 31
of information, in relation to the enforcement or 32
administration of the law, to be ascertained; or 33
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Schedule 3
(c) endanger a person's life or physical safety; or 1
(d) result in a person being subjected to a serious act of 2
harassment or intimidation; or 3
(e) prejudice a person's fair trial or the impartial 4
adjudication of a case; or 5
(f) prejudice the effectiveness of a lawful method or 6
procedure for preventing, detecting, investigating or 7
dealing with a contravention or possible contravention 8
of the law (including revenue law); or 9
(g) prejudice the maintenance or enforcement of a lawful 10
method or procedure for protecting public safety; or 11
(h) endanger the security of a building, structure or vehicle; 12
or 13
Example-- 14
A safety report for a major hazard facility under the Dangerous 15
Goods Safety Management Act 2001, section 47, may include 16
exempt information. 17
(i) prejudice a system or procedure for the protection of 18
persons, property or the environment; or 19
(j) facilitate a person's escape from lawful custody; or 20
(k) prejudice the wellbeing of a cultural or natural resource 21
or the habitat of animals or plants. 22
(2) However, information is not exempt information under 23
subsection (1) if it consists of-- 24
(a) matter revealing that the scope of a law enforcement 25
investigation has exceeded the limits imposed by law; or 26
(b) matter containing a general outline of the structure of a 27
program adopted by an agency for dealing with a 28
contravention or possible contravention of the law; or 29
(c) a report on the degree of success achieved in a program 30
adopted by an agency for dealing with a contravention 31
or possible contravention of the law; or 32
(d) a report prepared in the course of a routine law 33
enforcement inspection or investigation by an agency 34
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Schedule 3
whose functions include that of enforcing the law (other 1
than the criminal law or the law relating to misconduct 2
under the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001); or 3
(e) a report on a law enforcement investigation that has 4
already been disclosed to the entity the subject of the 5
investigation. 6
(3) Also, information is exempt information if-- 7
(a) it consists of information given in the course of an 8
investigation of a contravention or possible 9
contravention of the law (including revenue law); and 10
(b) the information was given under compulsion under an 11
Act that abrogated the privilege against 12
self-incrimination. 13
(4) Also, information is exempt information if it consists of 14
information obtained, used or prepared for an investigation by 15
a prescribed crime body, or another agency, in the 16
performance of the prescribed functions of the prescribed 17
crime body. 18
(5) Also, information is exempt information if it consists of 19
information obtained, used or prepared-- 20
(a) for an investigation by a part of the Queensland Police 21
Service known as the State Intelligence Group; or 22
(b) for an investigation by a part of the Queensland Police 23
Service known as the State Security Operations Group; 24
or 25
(c) by Crime Stoppers Queensland Limited ACN 010 995 26
650. 27
(6) However, information is not exempt information under 28
subsection (4) or (5) in relation to a particular applicant if-- 29
(a) it consists of information about the applicant; and 30
(b) the investigation has been finalised. 31
(7) A reference in this section to a repealed Act includes a 32
reference to the repealed Act as originally enacted and as in 33
force from time to time. 34
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Schedule 3
(8) A reference in this section to a contravention or possible 1
contravention of the law includes a reference to misconduct or 2
possible misconduct under the Crime and Misconduct Act 3
2001. 4
(9) In this section-- 5
crime function see the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001, 6
section 25. 7
intelligence functions mean the functions mentioned in the 8
Crime and Misconduct Act 2001, section 53. 9
law includes law of the Commonwealth, a State or a foreign 10
country. 11
misconduct functions see the Crime and Misconduct Act 12
2001, section 33. 13
prescribed crime body means-- 14
(a) the Crime and Misconduct Commission; or 15
(b) the former Criminal Justice Commission; or 16
(c) the former Queensland Crime Commission. 17
prescribed functions means-- 18
(a) in relation to the Crime and Misconduct 19
Commission--the crime function, the intelligence 20
functions and the misconduct functions; and 21
(b) in relation to the former Criminal Justice 22
Commission--the functions of the former Criminal 23
Justice Commission under the repealed Criminal Justice 24
Act 1989 in relation to organised or major crime, or in 25
relation to misconduct or official misconduct, within the 26
meaning of that Act; and 27
(c) in relation to the former Queensland Crime 28
Commission--the functions of the former Queensland 29
Crime Commission under the repealed Crime 30
Commission Act 1997 in relation to relevant criminal 31
activity or major crime within the meaning of that Act. 32
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11 Investment incentive scheme information 1
(1) Information is exempt information for the relevant period if its 2
disclosure could reasonably be expected to disclose 3
information about-- 4
(a) a particular incentive given to, or arranged for, a relevant 5
person under a contract in relation to an investment 6
incentive scheme; or 7
(b) an incentive sought by, or proposed for, a relevant 8
person whether or not an incentive was, in fact, given to, 9
or arranged for, the relevant person under an investment 10
incentive scheme. 11
(2) In this section-- 12
department means the department administered by the 13
Minister having responsibility for business, industry 14
development, and investment opportunities and attraction, as 15
identified in the Administrative Arrangements and within 16
which that responsibility is administered. 17
incentive includes any of the following-- 18
(a) an amount that is a refund of all or part of an amount 19
paid as a tax, fee or charge; 20
(b) another amount, whether as a lump sum or by 21
instalments; 22
(c) a benefit that is not an amount mentioned in paragraph 23
(a) or (b). 24
investment incentive scheme means a written scheme that-- 25
(a) promotes projects by giving incentives; and 26
(b) includes processes for assessing an application under 27
the scheme; and 28
(c) is administered by the department. 29
project means a project or proposed project that involves 30
investing or spending money, or the continued investing or 31
spending of money, and is intended to create job opportunities 32
or to continue existing jobs. 33
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relevant period-- 1
(a) for an incentive given or arranged under a contract, 2
means the period ending at the earlier of-- 3
(i) 1 year after the contract ends; or 4
(ii) 8 years after the contract begins; or 5
(b) for an incentive that was sought or proposed but that was 6
not given or arranged, means the period ending 8 years 7
after the last written communication between the 8
department and the relevant person in relation to the 9
incentive. 10
relevant person means a person to the extent the person is or 11
was any 1 or more of the following-- 12
(a) a person who inquires of, or enters into discussions 13
with, the department or a public service employee about 14
an incentive for a project, whether or not the person 15
makes an application under an investment incentive 16
scheme for an incentive; 17
(b) a person who makes an application under an investment 18
incentive scheme, whether or not the person is given an 19
incentive; 20
(c) a person who is given an incentive for a project, whether 21
or not the person continues to be subject to a provision 22
of an agreement about the incentive that allows the 23
department to monitor the person or project. 24
12 Information disclosure of which prohibited by Act 25
(1) Information is exempt information if its disclosure is 26
prohibited by 1 of the following provisions-- 27
· Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003, section 29(2) 28
· Adoption of Children Act 1964, section 59(3) 29
· Auditor-General Act 2009, section 53 30
· Australian Crime Commission (Queensland) Act 2003, 31
sections 19 and 20, to the extent they apply to a 32
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summons or notice that includes a notation under 1
section 21 of that Act 2
· Child Protection Act 1999, sections 186 to 188 3
· Child Protection (Offender Prohibition Order) Act 2008, 4
section 41 5
· Child Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004, section 6
70 7
· repealed Debits Tax Act 1990, section 8, to the extent it 8
applies section 7(2) of the repealed Debits Tax 9
Administration Act 1982 (Cwlth) because of the Debits 10
Tax Repeal Act 2005, section 5 11
· Financial Intermediaries Act 1996, section 239 12
· Juvenile Justice Act 1992, section 288 13
· Maintenance Act 1965, section 129 14
· Taxation Administration Act 2001, part 8, so far as it 15
applies to personal confidential information under that 16
Act 17
· Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Act 2003, 18
section 29(2) 19
· Transport Infrastructure Act 1994, chapter 7, part 6, 20
division 4 21
· Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994, section 55(1) 22
· Witness Protection Act 2000, sections 36 and 38. 23
(2) Information is not exempt information under subsection (1) in 24
relation to an access application if it is personal information 25
for the applicant. 26
(3) Subject to subsection (2), information is exempt information 27
if it is contained in a document mentioned in section 112(1) of 28
the repealed Freedom of Information Act 1992. 29
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Schedule 4 Factors for deciding the public 1
interest 2
section 49 3
Note-- 4
Access to a document may be refused to the extent the document 5
comprises information the disclosure of which would, on balance, be 6
contrary to the public interest under section 49--see section 47(3)(b). 7
Part 1 Factors irrelevant to deciding 8
the public interest 9
1 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 10
cause embarrassment to the Government or to cause a loss of 11
confidence in the Government. 12
2 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 13
result in the applicant misinterpreting or misunderstanding the 14
document. 15
3 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 16
result in mischievous conduct by the applicant. 17
4 The person who created the document containing the 18
information was or is of high seniority within the agency. 19
Part 2 Factors favouring disclosure in 20
the public interest 21
1 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 22
promote open discussion of public affairs and enhance the 23
Government's accountability. 24
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2 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 1
contribute to positive and informed debate on important issues 2
or matters of serious interest. 3
3 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 4
inform the community of the Government's operations, 5
including, in particular, the policies, guidelines and codes of 6
conduct followed by the Government in its dealings with 7
members of the community. 8
4 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 9
ensure effective oversight of expenditure of public funds. 10
5 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 11
allow or assist inquiry into possible deficiencies in the 12
conduct or administration of an agency or official. 13
6 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 14
reveal or substantiate that an agency or official has engaged in 15
misconduct or negligent, improper or unlawful conduct. 16
7 The information is the applicant's personal information. 17
8 The information is the personal information of a child within 18
the meaning of section 25, the agent acting for the applicant is 19
the child's parent within the meaning of section 25 and 20
disclosure of the information is reasonably considered to be in 21
the child's best interests. 22
9 The information is the personal information of an individual 23
who is deceased (the deceased person) and the applicant is an 24
eligible family member of the deceased person. 25
10 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 26
advance the fair treatment of individuals and other entities in 27
accordance with the law in their dealings with agencies. 28
11 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 29
reveal the reason for a government decision and any 30
background or contextual information that informed the 31
decision. 32
12 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 33
reveal that the information was-- 34
(a) incorrect; or 35
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(b) out of date; or 1
(c) misleading; or 2
(d) gratuitous; or 3
(e) unfairly subjective; or 4
(f) irrelevant. 5
13 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 6
contribute to the protection of the environment. 7
14 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 8
reveal environmental or health risks or measures relating to 9
public health and safety. 10
15 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 11
contribute to the maintenance of peace and order. 12
16 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 13
contribute to the administration of justice generally, including 14
procedural fairness. 15
17 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 16
contribute to the administration of justice for a person. 17
18 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 18
contribute to the enforcement of the criminal law. 19
19 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 20
contribute to innovation and the facilitation of research. 21
Part 3 Factors favouring 22
nondisclosure in the public 23
interest 24
1 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 25
prejudice the collective responsibility of Cabinet or the 26
individual responsibility of members to Parliament. 27
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2 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 1
prejudice the private, business, professional, commercial or 2
financial affairs of entities. 3
3 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 4
prejudice the protection of an individual's right to privacy. 5
4 The information is the personal information of a child within 6
the meaning of section 25, the applicant is the child's parent 7
within the meaning of section 25 and disclosure of the 8
information is reasonably considered not to be in the child's 9
best interests. 10
5 The information is the personal information of an individual 11
who is deceased (the deceased person), the applicant is an 12
eligible family member of the deceased person and the 13
disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 14
impact on the deceased person's privacy if the deceased 15
person were alive. 16
6 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 17
prejudice the fair treatment of individuals and the information 18
is about unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct or 19
unlawful, negligent or improper conduct. 20
7 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 21
prejudice security, law enforcement or public safety. 22
8 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 23
impede the administration of justice generally, including 24
procedural fairness. 25
9 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 26
impede the administration of justice for a person. 27
10 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 28
prejudice the security or good order of a corrective services 29
facility. 30
11 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 31
impede the protection of the environment. 32
12 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 33
prejudice the economy of the State. 34
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13 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 1
prejudice the flow of information to the police or another law 2
enforcement or regulatory agency. 3
14 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 4
prejudice intergovernmental relations. 5
15 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 6
prejudice trade secrets, business affairs or research of an 7
agency or person. 8
16 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 9
prejudice an agency's ability to obtain confidential 10
information. 11
17 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 12
prejudice the competitive commercial activities of an agency. 13
18 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 14
prejudice the conduct of investigations, audits or reviews by 15
the ombudsman or auditor-general. 16
19 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 17
prejudice the management function of an agency or the 18
conduct of industrial relations by an agency. 19
20 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 20
prejudice a deliberative process of government. 21
21 Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 22
prejudice the effectiveness of testing or auditing procedures. 23
22 Disclosure of the information is prohibited by an Act. 24
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Part 4 Factors favouring 1
nondisclosure in the public 2
interest because of public 3
interest harm in disclosure 4
1 Affecting relations with other governments 5
(1) Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 6
cause a public interest harm if disclosure could-- 7
(a) cause damage to relations between the State and another 8
government; or 9
(b) divulge information of a confidential nature that was 10
communicated in confidence by or for another 11
government. 12
(2) Subsection (1) applies only for 10 years after the information 13
was brought into existence. 14
(3) The information commissioner may, on application by a 15
prescribed entity, extend the 10 year period if the 16
commissioner considers the extension in the public interest. 17
(4) An application for an extension may be made before or after 18
the end of the 10 year period. 19
(5) In this section-- 20
prescribed entity means-- 21
(a) an agency or Minister; or 22
(b) an entity that would be a relevant third party under 23
section 37 in relation to the document containing the 24
information in relation to which the extension is sought. 25
2 Affecting investigations by ombudsman or audits by 26
auditor-general 27
Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 28
cause a public interest harm if disclosure could prejudice the 29
conduct of-- 30
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(a) an investigation by the ombudsman; or 1
(b) an audit by the auditor-general. 2
3 Affecting particular operations of agencies 3
Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 4
cause a public interest harm if disclosure could-- 5
(a) prejudice the effectiveness of a method or procedure for 6
the conduct of tests, examinations or audits by an 7
agency; or 8
(b) prejudice achieving the objects of a test, examination or 9
audit conducted by an agency; or 10
(c) have a substantial adverse effect on the management or 11
assessment by an agency of the agency's staff; or 12
(d) have a substantial adverse effect on the conduct of 13
industrial relations by an agency. 14
4 Disclosing deliberative processes 15
(1) Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 16
cause a public interest harm through disclosure of-- 17
(a) an opinion, advice or recommendation that has been 18
obtained, prepared or recorded; or 19
(b) a consultation or deliberation that has taken place; 20
in the course of, or for, the deliberative processes involved in 21
the functions of government. 22
Examples of information of the type mentioned in subsection (1)-- 23
· a document prepared by an agency about projections of future 24
revenue for the State 25
· a document prepared to inform a decision by an agency about 26
potential road routes, where disclosure of all potential routes, 27
including those that are subsequently rejected, could have a 28
negative impact on property values or cause community concern 29
(2) If the deliberative processes mentioned in subsection (1) 30
include public consultation, subsection (1) applies only until 31
the public consultation starts. 32
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(3) However, subsection (1) does not apply for information to the 1
extent it consists of-- 2
(a) information that appears in an agency's policy 3
document; or 4
(b) factual or statistical information; or 5
(c) expert opinion or analysis (other than expert opinion or 6
analysis commissioned in the course of, or for, the 7
deliberative processes mentioned in subsection (1)) by a 8
person recognised as an expert in the field of knowledge 9
to which the opinion or analysis relates. 10
(4) Also, subsection (1) does not apply for information if it 11
consists of-- 12
(a) a report of a body or organisation-- 13
(i) established within an agency; and 14
(ii) prescribed under a regulation; or 15
(b) the record of, as a formal statement of the reasons for, a 16
final decision, order or ruling given in the exercise of-- 17
(i) a power; or 18
(ii) an adjudicative function; or 19
(iii) a statutory function; or 20
(iv) the administration of a publicly funded scheme. 21
5 Disclosing information brought into existence for 22
ensuring security or good order of corrective services 23
facility 24
(1) Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 25
cause a public interest harm if disclosure would disclose 26
information that-- 27
(a) is in the possession of, or brought into existence by, the 28
department in which the Corrective Services Act 2006 is 29
administered; and 30
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(b) is-- 1
(i) a recording of a telephone call made by an offender 2
from a corrective services facility; or 3
(ii) an audio recording made in a corrective services 4
facility for the security or good order of the 5
facility; or 6
(iii) a visual recording of a corrective services facility 7
or a part of a corrective services facility; or 8
(iv) a document to the extent that it refers to or contains 9
any part of a recording mentioned in subparagraph 10
(i), (ii) or (iii). 11
(2) In this section-- 12
offender means an offender as defined under the Corrective 13
Services Act 2006. 14
6 Disclosing personal information 15
(1) Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 16
cause a public interest harm if disclosure would disclose 17
personal information of a person, whether living or dead. 18
(2) However, subsection (1) does not apply if what would be 19
disclosed is only personal information of the person by whom, 20
or on whose behalf, an application for access to a document 21
containing the information is being made. 22
7 Disclosing trade secrets, business affairs or research 23
(1) Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 24
cause a public interest harm because-- 25
(a) disclosure of the information would disclose trade 26
secrets of an agency or another person; or 27
(b) disclosure of the information-- 28
(i) would disclose information (other than trade 29
secrets) that has a commercial value to an agency 30
or another person; and 31
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(ii) could reasonably be expected to destroy or 1
diminish the commercial value of the information; 2
or 3
(c) disclosure of the information -- 4
(i) would disclose information (other than trade 5
secrets or information mentioned in paragraph (b)) 6
concerning the business, professional, commercial 7
or financial affairs of an agency or another person; 8
and 9
(ii) could reasonably be expected to have an adverse 10
effect on those affairs or to prejudice the future 11
supply of information of this type to government. 12
(2) However, subsection (1) does not apply if what would be 13
disclosed concerns only the business, professional, 14
commercial or financial affairs of the person by, or on whose 15
behalf, an application for access to the document containing 16
the information is being made. 17
(3) Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 18
cause a public interest harm because disclosure-- 19
(a) would disclose the purpose or results of research, 20
whether the research is yet to be started, has started but 21
is unfinished, or is finished; and 22
(b) could reasonably be expected to have an adverse effect 23
on the agency or other person by, or on whose behalf, 24
the research is intended to be, is being, or was, carried 25
out. 26
(4) However, subsection (3) does not apply if what would be 27
disclosed concerns only research that is intended to be, is 28
being, or was, carried out by the agency or other person by, or 29
on whose behalf, an application for access to the document 30
containing the information is being made. 31
8 Affecting confidential communications 32
(1) Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 33
cause a public interest harm if-- 34
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Schedule 4
(a) the information consists of information of a confidential 1
nature that was communicated in confidence; and 2
(b) disclosure of the information could reasonably be 3
expected to prejudice the future supply of information of 4
this type. 5
(2) However, subsection (1) does not apply in relation to 6
deliberative process information unless it consists of 7
information communicated by an entity other than-- 8
(a) a person in the capacity of-- 9
(i) a Minister; or 10
(ii) a member of the staff of, or a consultant to, a 11
Minister; or 12
(iii) an officer of an agency; or 13
(b) the State or an agency. 14
(3) In this section-- 15
deliberative process information means information 16
disclosing-- 17
(a) an opinion, advice or recommendation that has been 18
obtained, prepared or recorded; or 19
(b) a consultation or deliberation that has taken place; 20
in the course of, or for the purposes of, the deliberative 21
processes involved in the functions of government. 22
9 Affecting State economy 23
(1) Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 24
cause a public interest harm because disclosure could-- 25
(a) have a substantial adverse effect on the ability of 26
government to manage the economy of the State; or 27
(b) expose any person or class of persons to an unfair 28
advantage or disadvantage because of the premature 29
disclosure of information concerning proposed action or 30
inaction of the Assembly or government in the course 31
of, or for, managing the economy of the State. 32
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(2) Without limiting subsection (1)(a), that paragraph applies to 1
information the disclosure of which would reveal-- 2
(a) the consideration of a contemplated movement in 3
government taxes, fees or charges; or 4
(b) the imposition of credit controls. 5
10 Affecting financial or property interests of State or 6
agency 7
(1) Disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to 8
cause a public interest harm because disclosure could have a 9
substantial adverse effect on the financial or property interests 10
of the State or an agency. 11
(2) Subsection (1) applies only for 8 years after the information 12
was brought into existence. 13
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Schedule 5 Amendment of Acts and 1
Regulations 2
section 213 3
Biodiscovery Act 2004 4
1 Section 116-- 5
omit. 6
2 Section 117(3)(b), from `this Act'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`an Act'. 9
Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 10
1 Section 275A(3), `Freedom of Information Act 1992'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`Right to Information Act 2009 or the Information Privacy Act 13
2009, chapter 3'. 14
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Corrective Services Act 2006 1
1 Section 273(1), `Freedom of Information Act 1992 2
applies'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`Right to Information Act 2009 and the Information Privacy Act 5
2009, chapter 3 apply'. 6
2 Chapter 7, part 8-- 7
insert-- 8
`476A Effect of regulation amendment by the Right to 9
Information Act 2009 10
`The amendment of the Corrective Services Regulation 2006 11
by the Right to Information Act 2009 does not affect the power 12
of the Governor in Council to further amend the regulation or 13
to repeal it.'. 14
Corrective Services Regulation 2006 15
1 Section 18(1)(g), `the Information Commissioner under 16
the Freedom of Information Act 1992'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`the information commissioner and RTI commissioner under the 19
Right to Information Act 2009 and the privacy commissioner under 20
the Information Privacy Act 2009'. 21
Page 172
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Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 1
1 Chapter 3, part 6, division 1-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Division 1 Non-application of Public Records 4
Act 2002 5
`120 Public Records Act 2002 does not apply to divs 2-3 6
`The Public Records Act 2002 does not apply to activities or 7
records under divisions 2 and 3.'. 8
2 Section 146I, note-- 9
omit. 10
3 Section 146R-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`146R Public Records Act 2002 does not apply to divs 2-7 13
`The Public Records Act 2002 does not apply to activities or 14
records under divisions 2 to 7.'. 15
4 Section 371(4)-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`(4) The Public Records Act 2002 does not apply to records 18
mentioned in this section.'. 19
Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 20
1 Section 106-- 21
omit. 22
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Electricity Act 1994 1
1 Section 135JJ(2), from `chapter'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`chapter if it is not-- 4
(a) exempt information under the Right to Information Act 5
2009; or 6
(b) information disclosure of which could reasonably be 7
expected to cause a public interest harm as mentioned in 8
the Right to Information Act 2009, schedule 4, part 4.'. 9
2 Section 135JM(2)(c), from `the Freedom of Information 10
Act 1992'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`an Act'. 13
3 Section 256, heading, `Freedom of information Act and'-- 14
omit. 15
4 Section 256(3)-- 16
omit. 17
5 After section 325-- 18
insert-- 19
`Part 9 Transitional provision for Right 20
to Information Act 2009 21
`326 Effect of regulation amendment 22
`The amendment of the Electricity Regulation 2006 by the 23
Right to Information Act 2009 does not affect the power of the 24
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Schedule 5
Governor in Council to further amend the regulation or to 1
repeal it.'. 2
Electricity Regulation 2006 3
1 Chapter 10, part 1, heading, `Freedom of Information Act 4
and'-- 5
omit. 6
2 Section 222(1), `section 256(1)' and footnote-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`section 256(1)'. 9
Environmental Protection Act 1994 10
1 After section 655-- 11
insert-- 12
`Part 12 Transitional provision for Right 13
to Information Act 2009 14
`656 Effect of regulation amendment 15
`The amendment of the Environmental Protection (Waste 16
Management) Regulation 2000 and the Environmental 17
Protection Regulation 2008 by the Right to Information Act 18
2009 does not affect the power of the Governor in Council to 19
further amend the regulations or to repeal them.'. 20
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Environmental Protection (Waste Management) 1
Regulation 2000 2
1 Section 66V(1), from `information'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`information would be-- 5
(a) exempt information under the Right to Information Act 6
2009; or 7
(b) information disclosure of which could reasonably be 8
expected to cause a public interest harm as mentioned in 9
the Right to Information Act 2009, schedule 4, part 4, 10
item 7.'. 11
Environmental Protection Regulation 2008 12
1 Section 96(1), from `information'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`information would be-- 15
(a) exempt information under the Right to Information Act 16
2009; or 17
(b) information disclosure of which could reasonably be 18
expected to cause a public interest harm as mentioned in 19
the Right to Information Act 2009, schedule 4, part 4, 20
item 7.'. 21
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Evidence Act 1977 1
1 Section 134A(7), definition agency, paragraph (b)-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`(b) a public authority, other than a prescribed entity, within 4
the meaning of the Right to Information Act 2009, 5
section 16; or'. 6
2 After section 146-- 7
insert-- 8
`Division 6 Right to Information Act 2009 9
`147 Effect of regulation amendment 10
`The amendment of the Evidence Regulation 2007 by the 11
Right to Information Act 2009 does not affect the power of the 12
Governor in Council to further amend the regulation or to 13
repeal it.'. 14
Evidence Regulation 2007 15
1 Section 6, heading, `FOI provisions'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`RTI provisions'. 18
2 Section 6(1)-(3), `FOI provisions'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`RTI provisions'. 21
3 Section 6(2), examples-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
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Schedule 5
`Example for subsections (1) and (2)-- 1
Right to Information Act 2009, schedule 2, part 2'. 2
4 Section 6(3), examples-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`Example for subsection (3)-- 5
Right to Information Act 2009, schedule 1'. 6
5 Section 6(4), definition FOI provisions-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`RTI provisions means the Right to Information Act 2009 or 9
the Information Privacy Act 2009, chapter 3.'. 10
Explosives Act 1999 11
1 Section 132(3), `Freedom of Information Act 1992'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Right to Information Act 2009 or Information Privacy Act 2009, 14
chapter 3'. 15
Gas Supply Act 2003 16
1 Sections 29(2)(a)(iv), 150(2)(a)(v), 310(2) and 318(1)(b), 17
`FOI exempt matter'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`RTI excluded information'. 20
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2 Schedule 2, definition FOI exempt matter-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`RTI excluded information means information that is-- 3
(a) exempt information under the Right to Information Act 4
2009; or 5
(b) information disclosure of which could reasonably be 6
expected to cause a public interest harm as mentioned in 7
the Right to Information Act 2009, schedule 4, part 4.'. 8
Gene Technology Act 2001 9
1 Section 187(3)-- 10
omit. 11
Geothermal Exploration Act 2004 12
1 Section 124(2), from `register'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`register that is-- 15
(a) exempt information under the Right to Information Act 16
2009; or 17
(b) information disclosure of which could reasonably be 18
expected to cause a public interest harm as mentioned in 19
the Right to Information Act 2009, schedule 4, part 4.'. 20
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Health Quality and Complaints Commission Act 2006 1
1 Section 17(b)(v)-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`(v) the information commissioner, the RTI 4
commissioner or the privacy commissioner, under 5
the Right to Information Act 2009; and'. 6
2 Schedule 5, definition Information Commissioner-- 7
omit. 8
Introduction Agents Act 2001 9
1 Section 95(3), `Freedom of Information Act 1992'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`Right to Information Act 2009 or the Information Privacy Act 12
2009, chapter 3'. 13
Legal Profession Act 2007 14
1 Section 676(a)-(b)-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`(a) the Information Privacy Act 2009, chapter 3; and 17
(b) the Ombudsman Act 2001; and 18
(c) the Right to Information Act 2009.'. 19
Page 180
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 5
Local Government Act 1993 1
1 Section 1205, heading, `Freedom of Information Act 2
and'-- 3
omit. 4
2 Section 1205(2)-- 5
omit. 6
Lotteries Act 1997 7
1 Section 225A 8
omit. 9
Mineral Resources Act 1989 10
1 Section 404C(5), from `an exempt matter'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`information that is-- 13
(a) exempt information under the Right to Information Act 14
2009; or 15
(b) information disclosure of which could reasonably be 16
expected to cause a public interest harm as mentioned in 17
the Right to Information Act 2009, schedule 4, part 4.'. 18
Page 181
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 5
Mining and Quarrying Safety and Health Act 1999 1
1 Section 255(3), `Freedom of Information Act 1992'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Right to Information Act 2009 or the Information Privacy Act 4
2009, chapter 3'. 5
Partnership Act 1891 6
1 Section 112(3), `Freedom of Information Act 1992'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`Right to Information Act 2009 or the Information Privacy Act 9
2009, chapter 3'. 10
Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 11
1 Section 281(2)-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`(2) The Public Records Act does not apply to activities or records 14
under parts 2 to 7.'. 15
2 Section 325(8)-- 16
omit. 17
3 Section 325(9)-- 18
renumber as section 325(8). 19
Page 182
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 5
4 Section 539-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`539 Public Records Act does not apply to this chapter 3
`The Public Records Act does not apply to activities or 4
records under this chapter to the extent that Act would 5
otherwise enable the identity of a person in relation to whom a 6
disease test order is made or of a victim of a chapter 18 7
offence to be disclosed.'. 8
5 Section 663-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`663 Public Records Act does not apply to this division 11
`The Public Records Act does not apply to information kept in 12
a register under this division.'. 13
Police Service Administration Act 1990 14
1 Section 5A.22-- 15
omit. 16
Private Employment Agents Act 2005 17
1 Part 8, heading-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`Part 8 Transitional provisions'. 20
2 After section 52-- 21
insert-- 22
Page 183
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 5
`53 Effect of regulation amendment by the Right to 1
Information Act 2009 2
`The amendment of the Private Employment Agents (Code of 3
Conduct) Regulation 2005 by the Right to Information Act 4
2009 does not affect the power of the Governor in Council to 5
further amend the regulation or to repeal it.'. 6
Private Employment Agents (Code of Conduct) 7
Regulation 2005 8
1 Schedule, section 5, examples-- 9
omit-- 10
`· Freedom of Information Act 1992'. 11
2 Schedule, section 5, examples-- 12
insert-- 13
`· Information Privacy Act 2009 14
· Right to Information Act 2009'. 15
Prostitution Act 1999 16
1 Section 137-- 17
omit. 18
Page 184
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 5
Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 1
1 Section 33A-- 2
omit. 3
Public Service Act 2008 4
1 Section 35(b)(ii)-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`(ii) the office of the information commissioner; or'. 7
2 Section 98(2), note, first dot point, from `and staff'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`and staff of the office of the information commission (See the Right to 10
Information Act 2009, sections 126, 146 and 149, and the Information Privacy 11
Act 2009, sections 140 and 143)'. 12
3 Schedule 1, `information commission office'-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`office of the information commissioner'. 15
4 Schedule 4, definition disqualified person, paragraph 16
(a)-- 17
insert-- 18
`(vi) the RTI commissioner; 19
(vii) the privacy commissioner; or'. 20
Page 185
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 5
5 Schedule 4, definitions information commissioner and 1
information commission office-- 2
omit. 3
6 Schedule 4-- 4
insert-- 5
`information commissioner means the information 6
commissioner under the Right to Information Act 2009. 7
office of the information commissioner means the office of 8
the information commissioner under the Right to Information 9
Act 2009. 10
privacy commissioner means the privacy commissioner under 11
the Information Privacy Act 2009. 12
RTI commissioner means the Right to Information 13
commissioner under the Right to Information Act 2009.'. 14
Queensland Investment Corporation Act 1991 15
1 Section 37, heading, `Freedom of Information Act and'-- 16
omit. 17
2 Section 37(3)-- 18
omit. 19
3 Section 37(4)-- 20
renumber as section 37(3). 21
Page 186
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 5
Terrorism (Preventative Detention) Act 2005 1
1 Section 7A-- 2
omit. 3
Tourism Services Act 2003 4
1 Section 94(3), `Freedom of Information Act 1992'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`Right to Information Act 2009 or the Information Privacy Act 7
2009, chapter 3'. 8
Transport Infrastructure Act 1994 9
1 Section 422(8), `matter that is exempt matter'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`anything that is exempt information'. 12
2 Section 422(11), definition exempt matter-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`exempt information means information that is exempt 15
information under the Right to Information Act 2009.'. 16
3 Section 486, heading, `Freedom of Information Act and'-- 17
omit. 18
Page 187
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 5
4 Section 486(1)-- 1
omit. 2
5 Section 486(2) to (4)-- 3
renumber as section 486(1) to (3). 4
6 After section 550-- 5
insert-- 6
`Part 11 Transitional provision for Right 7
to Information Act 2009 8
`551 Effect of regulation amendment 9
`The amendment of the Transport Infrastructure (Rail) 10
Regulation 2006 by the Right to Information Act 2009 does 11
not affect the power of the Governor in Council to further 12
amend the regulation or to repeal it.'. 13
Transport Infrastructure (Rail) Regulation 2006 14
1 Section 38, note, `the Freedom of Information Act 1992 15
and'-- 16
omit. 17
Water Act 2000 18
1 Section 998-- 19
omit. 20
Page 188
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 5
Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 1
1 Section 284(3)(c), `Freedom of Information Act 1992, part 2
3, division 2'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`Right to Information Act 2009, schedule 3'. 5
2 Section 379(2)-- 6
omit. 7
3 Section 475(2) and (3)-- 8
omit. 9
4 Section 572(3)(c), `Freedom of Information Act 1992, part 10
3, division 2'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`Right to Information Act 2009, schedule 3'. 13
Page 189
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 6
Schedule 6 Dictionary 1
section 10 2
access application means an application under this Act for 3
access. 4
access charge see section 57. 5
access was required or permitted to be given under this Act, 6
for chapter 5, part 1, see section 169. 7
adult child means a child who is 18 years or more. 8
adult sibling means a sibling who is 18 years or more. 9
agency see section 14. 10
agent, in relation to an application, means a person who 11
makes the application for another person. 12
appeal tribunal, for chapter 3, part 11, see section 116. 13
applicant, in relation to an application, means-- 14
(a) if the application is made for a person--the person; or 15
(b) otherwise--the person making the application. 16
application fee, in relation to an access application, means the 17
application fee prescribed under a regulation. 18
appropriately qualified, for a healthcare professional, means 19
having the qualifications and experience appropriate to assess 20
relevant healthcare information. 21
approved form means a form approved under section 192. 22
Assembly means the Legislative Assembly. 23
backup system means a system that has, for disaster recovery 24
purposes, copied electronic data onto a separate data storage 25
medium, for example, onto a backup tape. 26
charge does not include an application fee. 27
charges estimate notice see section 36. 28
Page 190
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 6
commissioner, for chapter 4, part 5, see section 159. 1
community service obligations see the Government Owned 2
Corporations Act 1993. 3
competitive commercial activity means an activity carried on, 4
on a commercial basis, in competition with an entity, other 5
than-- 6
(a) the Commonwealth or a State; or 7
(b) a State authority; or 8
(c) a local government. 9
considered decision see section 45. 10
contrary to public interest document means a document 11
containing contrary to public interest information where it is 12
not practicable to give access to a copy of the document from 13
which the contrary to public interest information has been 14
deleted. 15
contrary to public interest information means information 16
the disclosure of which would, on balance, be contrary to the 17
public interest under section 49. 18
coroner see the Coroners Act 2003. 19
coronial document see the Coroners Act 2003. 20
corrective services facility means a corrective services facility 21
as defined under the Corrective Services Act 2006. 22
court includes a justice and a coroner. 23
decision-maker means-- 24
(a) for an access application to an agency--the person with 25
power in relation to all or part of the application under 26
section 30; or 27
(b) for an access application to a Minister--the Minister or 28
the person with power in relation to all or part of the 29
application under section 31. 30
deemed decision see section 46. 31
Page 191
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 6
document-- 1
(a) of an agency--see section 12; or 2
(b) of a Minister--see section 13. 3
document to which this Act does not apply see section 11. 4
eligible family member-- 5
1 eligible family member, of a deceased person, means-- 6
(a) a spouse of the deceased person; or 7
(b) if a spouse is not reasonably available--an adult 8
child of the deceased person; or 9
(c) if a spouse or adult child is not reasonably 10
available--a parent of the deceased person; or 11
(d) if a spouse, adult child or parent is not reasonably 12
available--an adult sibling of the deceased person; 13
or 14
(e) if a spouse, adult child, parent or adult sibling is 15
not reasonably available and the deceased person 16
was not an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait 17
Islander--the next nearest adult relative of the 18
deceased person who is reasonably available; or 19
(f) if a spouse, adult child, parent or adult sibling is 20
not reasonably available and the deceased person 21
was an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait 22
Islander--a person who is an appropriate person 23
according to the tradition or custom of the 24
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community to 25
which the deceased person belonged and who is 26
reasonably available. 27
2 A person described in item 1 is not reasonably available 28
if-- 29
(a) a person of that description does not exist; or 30
(b) a person of that description can not be reasonably 31
contacted; or 32
Page 192
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 6
(c) a person of that description is unable or unwilling 1
to act as the eligible family member of the 2
deceased person for the purposes of this Act. 3
entity to which this Act does not apply see section 17. 4
exempt document means a document containing exempt 5
information where it is not practicable to give access to a copy 6
of the document from which the exempt information has been 7
deleted. 8
exempt information see section 48. 9
Note-- 10
Access to a document may be refused to the extent it comprises exempt 11
information--see section 47(3)(a). 12
external review see section 84. 13
external review application see section 84. 14
freight operations means 1 or more of the following 15
operations-- 16
(a) coal operations; 17
(b) bulk freight operations; 18
(c) intermodal freight operations; 19
(d) general freight operations; 20
(e) agricultural freight operations. 21
function includes a power. 22
government includes an agency and a Minister. 23
healthcare professional means a person who carries on, and 24
is entitled to carry on, an occupation involving the provision 25
of care for a person's physical or mental health or wellbeing, 26
including, for example-- 27
(a) a doctor, including a psychiatrist; or 28
(b) a psychologist; or 29
(c) a social worker; or 30
(d) a registered nurse. 31
Page 193
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 6
holds, in relation to an office, includes performs the duties of 1
the office. 2
information commissioner means the Information 3
Commissioner. 4
Information Privacy Act means the Information Privacy Act 5
2009. 6
internal review see section 79. 7
internal review application see section 79. 8
judicial member, for chapter 3, part 11, see section 116. 9
Minister includes a Parliamentary Secretary. 10
narrow, for an access application, means change the 11
application by reducing the part of a document or the number 12
of documents to which access is sought under the application. 13
non-profit organisation means an organisation that is not 14
carried on for the profit or gain of its individual members. 15
Examples of entities that may be non-profit organisations-- 16
charities, churches, clubs, environment protection societies 17
officer, in relation to an agency, includes-- 18
(a) the agency's principal officer; and 19
(b) a member of the agency; and 20
(c) a member of the agency's staff; and 21
(d) a person employed by or for the agency. 22
OIC means the office of the information commissioner. 23
parliamentary committee means the Law, Justice and Safety 24
Committee of the Assembly. 25
participant, in an external review, means a person who is a 26
participant in the review under section 89. 27
personal information see the Information Privacy Act. 28
Note-- 29
Under the Information Privacy Act, personal information is 30
information or an opinion, including information or an opinion forming 31
part of a database, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a 32
Page 194
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 6
material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or 1
can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion. 2
policy document, in relation to an agency, means-- 3
(a) a document containing interpretations, rules, guidelines, 4
statements of policy, practices or precedents; or 5
(b) a document containing details of an administrative 6
scheme; or 7
(c) a document containing a statement of the way, or 8
intended way, of administration of an enactment or 9
administrative scheme; or 10
(d) a document describing the procedures to be followed in 11
investigating a contravention or possible contravention 12
of an enactment or administrative scheme; or 13
(e) another document of a similar kind; 14
that is used by the agency in connection with the performance 15
of such of its functions as affect or are likely to affect rights, 16
privileges or other benefits, or obligations, penalties or other 17
detriments, to which members of the community are or may 18
become entitled, eligible, liable or subject, but does not 19
include an enactment that has already been published. 20
prescribed information means-- 21
(a) exempt information mentioned in schedule 3, section 1, 22
2, 3, 4, 5, 9 or 10; or 23
(b) personal information the disclosure of which would, on 24
balance, be contrary to the public interest under section 25
47(3)(b). 26
prescribed written notice means a notice under section 191. 27
principal officer means-- 28
(a) in relation to a department--the chief executive of the 29
department; or 30
(b) in relation to a local government--the chief executive 31
officer (however described) of the local government; or 32
Page 195
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 6
(c) in relation to a government owned corporation--the 1
chief executive officer (however described) of the 2
government owned corporation; or 3
(d) in relation to a subsidiary of a government owned 4
corporation--the principal officer (however described) 5
of the subsidiary; or 6
(e) in relation to a public authority for which a regulation 7
declares an office to be the principal office--the holder 8
of the office; or 9
(f) in relation to another public authority-- 10
(i) if it is an incorporated body that has no 11
members--the person who manages the body's 12
affairs; or 13
(ii) if it is a body (whether or not incorporated) that is 14
constituted by 1 person--the person; or 15
(iii) if it is a body (whether or not incorporated) that is 16
constituted by 2 or more persons--the person who 17
is entitled to preside at a meeting of the body at 18
which the person is present. 19
privacy commissioner means the Privacy Commissioner 20
under the Information Privacy Act. 21
processing charge see section 56. 22
processing period see section 18. 23
publication scheme see section 21. 24
public authority see section 16. 25
public library includes-- 26
(a) the State library; and 27
(b) a local government library; and 28
(c) a library in the State that forms part of a public tertiary 29
educational institution. 30
quasi-judicial entity means an entity that exercises 31
quasi-judicial functions. 32
Page 196
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 6
relevant healthcare information means healthcare 1
information given by a healthcare professional. 2
reviewable decision means any of the following decisions in 3
relation to an access application-- 4
(a) a decision that an access application is outside the scope 5
of this Act under section 32(1)(b); 6
(b) a decision that an access application does not comply 7
with all relevant application requirements under section 8
33(5); 9
(c) a decision-- 10
(i) to disclose a document contrary to the views of a 11
relevant third party obtained under section 37; or 12
(ii) to disclose a document if an agency or Minister 13
should have taken, but has not taken, steps to 14
obtain the views of a relevant third party under 15
section 37; 16
(d) a decision refusing to deal with an application under 17
part 4; 18
(e) a decision refusing access to a document under section 19
47; 20
(f) a decision deferring access to a document under section 21
72; 22
(g) a decision about whether a processing charge or access 23
charge is payable in relation to access to a document 24
(including a decision not to waive charges); 25
(h) a decision giving access to documents subject to the 26
deletion of information under section 73, 74 or 75; 27
(i) a decision giving access to documents in a form 28
different to the form applied for by the applicant, unless 29
access in the form applied for would involve an 30
infringement of the copyright of a person other than the 31
State; 32
(j) a deemed decision. 33
Page 197
Right to Information Bill 2009
Schedule 6
review under this Act means internal review or external 1
review. 2
revision period see section 18. 3
RTI commissioner see section 147(1). 4
schedule of relevant documents see section 36. 5
strategic review report see section 188. 6
subsidiary see the Government Owned Corporations Act 7
1993. 8
transfer period see section 18. 9
© State of Queensland 2009
Page 198
AMENDMENTS TO BILL
Right to Information Bill 2009
Right to Information Bill 2009
Amendments agreed to during Consideration
1 Clause 7 (Relationship with other Acts regulating
disposal of information)--
Page 18, line 13, `8'--
omit, insert--
`13'.
2 Clause 14 (Meaning of agency)--
Page 21, lines 14 and 15--
omit, insert--
`(b) without limiting paragraph (a) and to remove any doubt,
it is declared that a school council is not a separate
agency, but is taken to be comprised within the
department in which the Education (General
Provisions) Act 2006 is administered; and
(c) a reference to an agency includes a reference to a body
that is taken to be comprised within the agency.
(4) In this section--
school council means a school council established under the
Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, section 79.'.
3 After clause 97 (Conduct of reviews)--
Page 82, line 21, `4A'--
omit, insert--
`5'.
Page 1
Right to Information Bill 2009
4 After clause 109 (Exception for successful challenge of s
55(2) notice)--
Page 89, line 6, `5'--
omit, insert--
`6'.
5 Clause 110 (Decision on external review)--
Page 89, line 14, after `remove'--
insert--
`any'.
6 After clause 111 (Correction of mistakes in decisions)--
Page 90, line 15, `6'--
omit, insert--
`7'.
7 Schedule 2 (Entities to which this Act does not apply)--
Page 146, line 14, `its'--
omit, insert--
`QR'.
8 Schedule 2 (Entities to which this Act does not apply)--
Page 146, line 18, `its'--
omit, insert--
`QR'.
Page 2
Right to Information Bill 2009
9 Schedule 5 (Amendment of Acts and Regulations)--
Page 173, line 9, `146I, note'--
omit, insert--
`146I(2), editor's note'.
10 Schedule 5 (Amendment of Acts and Regulations)--
Page 174, line 13, after `Act'--
insert--
`; or'.
11 Schedule 5 (Amendment of Acts and Regulations)--
Page 174, lines 20 to 22--
omit, insert--
`Part 8A Transitional provision for Right
to Information Act 2009
`325A Effect of regulation amendment'.
12 Schedule 6 (Dictionary)--
Page 196, after line 30--
insert--
`QR freight operations means the freight operations of QR
Limited ACN 124 649 967 and its subsidiaries other than--
(a) ARG Risk Management Ltd ABN 76 535 579 451; or
(b) On Track Insurance Pty Ltd ACN 095 032 670; or
(c) QR Surat Basin Pty Ltd ACN 122 385 568.'.
Page 3
Right to Information Bill 2009
13 Schedule 6 (Dictionary)--
Page 197, line 18, before `part'--
insert--
`chapter 3,'.
© State of Queensland 2009
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