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Use our online FOI Request Form
If you are seeking access to documents under the FOI Act, you can use our online FOI Request Form to assist you with your request.
Access to documents about you held by contracted service providers
These contracted service providers include organisations such as employment services providers and Apprentice Connect Australia providers. You can ask to be given a copy of personal information that the Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (the department) or its contracted employment service providers and Apprentice Connect Australia providers hold about you. The department and its contracted employment service providers and Apprentice Connect Australia providers can give you copies of some documents without the need for a FOI request.
If you would like to access documents about you held by your employment services provider or Apprentice Connect Australia provider, before you ask the department, you should ask your employment services provider or Apprentice Connect Australia providers. Your employment services provider or Apprentice Connect Australia provider is required to respond to your request within 30 days.
Access to documents under the FOI Act
The object of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) is to give the Australian community access to information held by the Australian Government.
The FOI Act aims to achieve this objective by:
- requiring agencies to publish certain information on a website
- provide for a right of access to documents.
Right of access under the FOI Act
The FOI Act gives any person the right to:
- access copies of documents (except exempt documents) we hold
- ask for information we hold about you to be changed or annotated if it is incomplete, out of date, incorrect or misleading
- seek a review of our decision not to allow you access to a document or not to amend your personal record.
Applications for access to documents must:
- be in writing;
- state that the application is made under the FOI Act;
- provide enough information concerning the documents sought as is reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the department to identify them; and
- give details of how notices may be sent to the applicant (for example, a postal or email address).
The department can refuse access to some documents, or parts of documents that are exempt under the FOI Act. Exempt documents may include documents containing material obtained in confidence, Cabinet documents, personal information, business information, or other matters set out in the FOI Act.
Certain documents released under the FOI Act can be accessed on the department’s FOI disclosure log.
How to make an FOI request
You can make an FOI request using the department’s online FOI Application Form.
The online FOI Request Form, gives you the option to exclude certain material (such as names, signatures, staff identification numbers and direct contact details of Commonwealth staff) from your FOI request through the use of a check box. Excluding this material from your FOI request is likely to reduce how long it takes the department to process your request and any charges that may apply.
Online FOI Request Form
Please use the department’s Data Request Form if you are seeking to access to data related to the department’s programs and initiatives.
To assist you in deciding whether to make your request under Freedom of Information or the Privacy Act, you can read our Guide to Accessing and Correcting Personal Information.
Charges
There is no application fee for making an FOI request but charges may apply for processing your FOI request.
There are no processing charges for requests for documents containing personal information about you.
The most common processing charges are:
| Activity item | Charge |
|---|---|
| Search and retrieval: time we spend searching for or retrieving a document | $15.00 per hour |
| Decision making: time we spend in deciding to grant or refuse a request, including examining documents, consulting with other parties, and making deletions | First 5 hours: Nil Subsequent hours: $20 per hour |
| Transcript: preparing a transcript from a sound recording, shorthand or similar medium | $4.40 per page of transcript |
| Photocopy | $0.10 per page |
| Inspection: supervision by an agency officer of your inspection of documents or hearing or viewing an audio or visual recording at our premises | $6.25 per half hour (or part thereof) |
| Delivery: posting or delivering a copy of a document at your request | Cost of postage or delivery |
What happens after your FOI request is submitted?
The department:
- will process your FOI request in accordance with the requirements under the FOI Act
- will acknowledge receipt of your FOI request
- may contact you to discuss or confirm the scope of your FOI request
- will inform you of the requirement to consult with any third parties about your FOI request
- will assess if a processing charge is required and, if applicable, send you an assessment of the charge as soon as practicable
- will make a decision on your FOI request and send you a letter explaining the decision and providing you with your rights of review.
If you disagree with the department’s decision
If you would like an explanation of your FOI decision, you can contact us by emailing FOI@dewr.gov.au and we will explain this decision to you.
You can ask for the following decisions to be reviewed:
- decisions where you consider that searches did not identify or have not identified all documents relevant to your request
- decisions where the department refuses to give you access to all or part of a documents or defer giving you access
- decisions where the department imposes a charge
- decisions where the department refuses to amend or annotate information about you that you claim is incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading.
A third party can also ask for the department’s decision to be reviewed if they disagree with the decision to give you documents that contain information about them. The department will inform you if this occurs as it will delay the ability to provide documents to you.
Internal review
You can request in writing the department reconsider its FOI decision through an internal review. You can request an internal review using the online FOI Request Form.
Online FOI Request Form
An internal review will be conducted by another FOI officer in the department. The department will inform you of its internal review decision within 30 days of receiving your request.
Information Commissioner review
You can ask the Australian Information Commissioner to review the department’s original decision or decision on internal review within 60 days of the date of decision (or 30 days after you are notified if you are an affected third party).
The Australian Information Commissioner can affirm or vary the decision or substitute a new decision. The Australian Information Commissioner may decide not to conduct a review in certain circumstances. More information is available at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
FOI Complaints
You can complain to the Australian Information Commissioner who may investigate the department’s actions under the FOI Act. More information is available at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) website.
More information
If you wish to contact the department about an FOI matter or are unable to use the online FOI request form, you can email FOI@dewr.gov.au. The department will not respond to general enquiries sent to this email address. If you have a general enquiry for the department, you can contact us or use this online enquiry form.