The Freedom of Information Act 1992 Qld (the FOI Act) in Queensland is designed to "extend as far as possible the right of the community to have access to information held by government" (section 4 of the FOI Act). This serves the public interest in two important ways:· 

> providing a public right of access to information makes government more open and accountable, and citizens are better able to participate in it; and
> individual citizens are able to access information held by government about their personal affairs, and can take steps to ensure that such information is accurate and up-to-date.

Subject to exceptions provided for in the FOI Act, every person has a legally enforceable right to be given access to documents of an agency or an official document of a Minister.  They also have the right to apply for amendment of documents concerning their personal affairs, if they believe information in those documents is incomplete, out-of-date, inaccurate or misleading.

Agencies covered by the Queensland Act include:
> Local governments
> State government Departments
> Statutory authorities such as Boards and Commissions
> Universities
> Corporatised bodies such as QRail and electricity authorities (but only for certain types of documents)

"Document" has a very wide meaning, and includes paper documents, diaries, records held on computer, tapes, videos, CDs, computer disks, microfilm/microfiche records, photographs, maps and plans.

It doesn't matter when the document was created (before or after the FOI Act came into operation). However, if there is no document held by an agency containing the information sought, the agency does not have to create one. Although the FOI Act refers to freedom of information, it only allows access to documents.

Making an FOI request to a council
Applications under the FOI Act must be made in writing to the council that holds the document/s to which access or amendment is requested.  Under the FOI Act, the council must charge an application fee, and processing charges may be payable, if the application covers documents that do not concern the "personal affairs" of the applicant.  The FOI Act specifies the time frame within which a council must decide an FOI application.

If an applicant is dissatisfied with the decision made by council they can apply to the council for internal review by a more senior officer than the original decision-maker.  If the applicant is dissatisfied with the internal review decision, or if the council does not make a decision within the required timeframe, the applicant can apply to the Office of the Information Commissioner for external review.

For more information about the operation of the FOI Act, including how to apply, and the fees and charges for "non-personal" applications, contact the Department of Justice and Attorney-General FOI Unit on:

> Telephone: (07) 3239 3439 
> Website: http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/dept/foi.htm

For further information on the FOI Act, including the meaning of "personal affairs", timeframes for making decisions under the FOI Act, contact details for FOI Co-ordinators in a range of agencies, Information Sheets on exemption provisions in the FOI Act, and how to apply for external review, go to the Office of the Information Commissioner website at:

> Website: http://www.infocomm.qld.gov.au/