The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) provides the public with a legal right of access and appeal rights concerning Commonwealth records and exposes the decision-making process of the Government and its agencies to public scrutiny. Chief Executive Officers are responsible for the proper application of the Act in their organisations.
The FOI Act gives the public a right to:
• access documents (including access by individuals to personal information held about themselves) held by Commonwealth Ministers, their Departments, statutory authorities and other agencies
• ask for personal information to be changed or annotated, and
• appeal against a decision not to grant access to a document, amend or annotate a personal record.
While there may be occasions where information is not disclosed as the result of an FOI request, the general presumption should be that most documents produced can and will be disclosed.