Right to information

What is right to information?

The Queensland Government is committed to providing access to information held by the Government unless, on balance, it is contrary to the public interest to provide that information.

Trade and Investment Queensland is therefore committed to providing the Queensland public with easier access to our information.

The Right to Information Act 2009 came into effect on 1 July 2009, replacing the Freedom of Information Act 1992. The Information Privacy Act 2009 was created in order to protect the privacy of individuals.

The Right to Information Act 2009:

• gives you the right to apply for access to documents held by Government agencies and Ministers, and
• establishes the Information Commissioner and Right to Information Commissioner to oversee the Right to Information in Queensland

For more information about Right to Information, refer to the Office of the Information Commissioner Right to Information.

How to access Trade and Investment Queensland information

Publication scheme – published information

Trade and Investment Queensland’s publication scheme describes and categorises information which is routinely published by the agency. In most cases, this information is available online and can be accessed directly from the publication scheme page.

Disclosure log – right to information requests

Trade and Investment Queensland’s disclosure log provides details of non-personal information released under the Right to Information Act 2009 that is considered to be of significant interest to the wider public.

Administrative access

Administrative access is where we decide to provide access to certain types of information without the need for a formal application under legislative schemes such as the Right to Information Act 2009 and the Information and Privacy Act 2009.

Applying for information

While we proactively release information to the community about our activities, the Right to Information Act 2009 provides a formal means of requesting access to information held by Trade and Investment Queensland that is not normally publicly available.

The Information Privacy Act 2009 provides members of the public with the means to access personal information and to ensure that this information is accurate, complete, up-to-date and is not misleading.

How to access or amend information

Right to Information and Information Privacy access or amendment applications to Trade and Investment Queensland are processed by Queensland Treasury.

Queensland Treasury will help determine if the information is accessible through an administrative access process, or will advise if you need to make a Right to Information or Information Privacy access application to access it.

How to make an access application

Fees and charges

There is no application fee or processing charge for Information Privacy access or amendment applications, but you may be charged for access to copies of documents (Note: there are no access charges for documents provided by email or on CD/DVD).

Right to Information access applications must be accompanied by an application fee to the department. This fee cannot be waived.

In addition to the RTI access application fee, you may be charged for:

• processing (if your application takes longer than five hours to process); and
• access to documents (no access charges if documents are provided by email or on CD/DVD).

Processing and/or access charges may be waived in certain circumstances.

View the current fees and charges for Right to Information and Information Privacy applications.

What to do if you are not satisfied

If you are not satisfied with the decision made by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in relation to your Right to Information application or your Information Privacy application, you are able to seek a review of the decision. You can do this by:

• requesting an internal review within 20 business days of being told of the decision. A person, senior to the original decision-maker, will review your application and inform you of the review decision
• requesting an external review by writing to the Office of the Information Commissioner Queensland. The Information Commissioner may change or confirm the decision made on your Right to Information or Information Privacy application, or try to mediate a settlement between the parties. For more information about external reviews, visit the Office of the Information Commissioner website.

Enquiries and feedback

If you have any queries or feedback regarding Right to Information or Information Privacy, please contact:

RTI and Privacy team

Phone: +61 7 3035 1863
Email: rtiadmin@treasury.qld.gov.au

Related information

Right to Information
Right to Information Act 2009 – Queensland Legislation
Information Privacy Act 2009 – Queensland Legislation