Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
Annual Report 2000-2001
Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act gives the general public legal access to government documents.
Freedom of Information Statistics
During 2000-01, the Commission received the following 19 requests for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act:
- 17 access requests to documents relating to complaints; and
- 2 related to administrative matters
A total of 27 applications were processed, including the resolution of applications from 1999-2000.
Categories of documents
Documents held by the Commission relate to:
- administration matters, including personnel, recruitment, accounts, purchasing, registers, registry, library records and indices;
- complaint handling matters, including the investigation, clarification and resolution of complaints;
- legal matters, including legal documents, opinion, 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 1042Procedures 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.
HREOC Consultancy Services 2000 - 01
During 2000 - 01 the Commission used a range of consultancy services where there was, for example, a need for rapid access to latest technology and experience in its application; limitations on executive time; lack of in-house resources; the need for independent study; or a need for a change agent or facilitator. There were 8 consultants under engagement during the financial year and total payments of $439,780.00 were made to consultants. A full listing of the names and amounts is available on the Commission website.
