Annual Report 1999 - 2000
Appendix 4
Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act gives the general public legal access to government documents.
Freedom of Information statistics
During 1999-2000, the Commission received the following 31 requests for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act:
- 29 access requests to documents relating to complaints; and
- 2 related to administrative matters.
A total of 32 applications were processed, including the resolution of applications from 1998-1999.
Categories of documents
Documents held by the Commission relate to:
- administration matters, including personnel, recruitment, accounts, purchasing, registers, registry, library records and indices;
- conciliation matters, including the investigation, clarification and resolution of complaints;
- legal matters, including legal documents, opinions, advice and representations;
- research matters, including research papers in relation to complaints, existing or proposed legislative practices, public education, national inquiries and other relevant issues;
- policy matters, including minutes of Commission meetings, administrative and operational guidelines;
- operational matters, including files on formal inquiries; and
- reference materials, including press clippings, survey and research materials, documents relating to conferences, seminars and those contained in the library.
Freedom of Information procedures
Initial inquiries about access to Commission documents should be directed to the Freedom of Information Officer by either telephoning (02) 9284 9600 or by writing to:
Freedom of Information
Officer
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
GPO Box 5218
| Sydney NSW 1042
Procedures for dealing with Freedom of Information requests are detailed in section 15 of the Freedom of Information Act.
A valid request must:
- be in writing;
- be accompanied by a payment of $30 application fee;
- include the name and address of the person requesting the information;
- specify the documents to be accessed; and
- be processed within 30 days of receipt.
Some documents are exempt from public perusal under the Freedom of Information Act. Where documents are not accessible by the applicant, valid reasons will be provided. The Commission's decisions about accessibility of documents may be reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
The general public can obtain Commission publications and information from offices listed in Appendix 4.
Purchasing
The Commission's purchasing procedures address a wide range of purchasing situations, allowing managers to be flexible when making purchasing decisions whilst complying with government key purchasing objectives including: - value for money; - open and effective competition; - accountability and reporting; - national competitiveness and industry development; and - support for other Commonwealth policies.
Last updated 1 December 2001.
