Accessing information

Right to Information is the Boulia Shire Council's approach to giving the community greater access to information. We are committed to provide access to information held by the Council, unless on balance it is contrary to the public interest to provide that information.

The Right to Information Act 2009 and Information Privacy Act 2009 came into effect on 1 July 2009, replacing the Freedom of Information Act 1992.

Right to Information reforms aim to make more information available, provide equal access to information across all sectors of the community, and provide appropriate protection for individuals' privacy.

Searching for information

Before submitting a Right to Information application or Information Privacy application for access solely to your own personal information, you should check to see if the information is already available. The disclosure log publishes information that has been released in response to other Right to Information requests, while our publication scheme describes and categorises information we routinely make available.

Some of our information may be released administratively by business units. You can access this information without having to lodge a formal application.

Administrative access may be used for the following information:

• certain types of non-personal information devoid of sensitivity and confidentiality
• an individual's own information but not that of another person, unless consent has been provided.

Where a document contains the personal or commercial information of more than one person, the information will only be accessible through administrative access when all parties have given prior written consent.

Please contact the relevant business unit directly for any information which may be released administratively.

If you are unable to find the information you are searching for, please contact Right to Information Services.

Requesting information

You can request information by downloading the Right to information and information privacy access application form and submitting it:

• in person at the Boulia Shire Council office.
• by mail, fax or email to Right to Information Services Officer – Boulia Shire Council.

Fees and Charges

There is an initial application fee for all Right to Information applications. This fee cannot be waived.

There is no application fee for Information Privacy applications.

No processing charges are payable if the agency spends less than 5 hours processing an application. If the agency spends more than 5 hours a charge for each 15 minutes (or part thereof) spent processing the application is applicable.

The applicant is not charged for processing of documents that contain personal information.

The department may also charge a fee per A4 page if the applicant wishes to receive black and white photocopies. No charge will apply to access documents on CD/DVD.

Please refer to Council's Fees and Charges for current pricing.

Statutory time frames

Valid applications must be processed within 25 business days of receipt. A further 10 business days can be added if we need to consult with third parties.

The Council may negotiate a further extension of time with the applicant if additional processing time is required. This extension of time does not affect an applicant's right of review.

Amending personal information held by the Council

You can apply to have any of your personal information held by the Boulia Shire Council amended if you believe it is:

• inaccurate
• incomplete
• out of date
• misleading

If you wish to amend the information, you must first complete the Information Privacy Personal Information Amendment Application Form and submit it to Right to Information Services Officer – Boulia Shire Council.

Right of review

If you are dissatisfied with our decision, you can apply to have that decision examined under internal review by an officer within the department of equal or higher level. Alternatively, you may apply for an external review direct to the Office of the Information Commissioner, irrespective of whether the department has internally reviewed the decision.

An application to have a decision internally reviewed must be made within 20 business days of the date of the letter communicating the original decision. If you remain dissatisfied with the department's internal review decision, you may still request an external review by the Information Commissioner.

For external review, you must apply in writing to the Information Commissioner within 20 business days of the date of the internal review decision, or within 20 business days of the original decision if you elect to bypass internal review and proceed direct to external review.

Please contact the Right to Information Services for more information.

Contact Right to Information Services

More information

• Accessing government-held information – Office of the Information Commissioner
• Amending personal information held by government - Office of the Information Commissioner
• Right to information and information privacy – Queensland Government