Right to Information

The Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) and the Information Privacy Act 2009 (IP Act):

• make information available that is held by the government
• provide access to government information to all sectors of the community
• provide appropriate protection for individuals' privacy.

Search for information

You can search online for:

• routinely released information, organised into categories (called a ‘publication scheme’)
• information previously released through Right to Information (RTI) applications (called a ‘disclosure log’)
• released Cabinet documents by date or topic.

If you cannot find what you are looking for, contact the relevant agency's RTI officer who will advise if the information is accessible through their Administrative Access Scheme, or if you need to make an RTI or IP application to access it.

Publication schemes—Routinely released information

Agencies routinely publish released information through their publication scheme, in which information is organised for each agency into seven classes.

You can access publication schemes on the relevant agency’s website.

Disclosure logs—RTI released information

Information released in response to RTI applications is also made available by agencies through disclosure logs.

Disclosure logs publish information to a wider public audience after it has been accessed by the applicant under the RTI Act, subject to certain restrictions.

For example, documents containing an applicant's personal information will not be published.

You can access information on the relevant agency’s website.

Where information isn't already available—through a publication scheme, on a disclosure log or otherwise—you may decide to apply to access information through RTI Act or IP Act applications. You may also apply to amend your personal information under the IP Act.

Apply for information

You can make an RTI application for information in any documents we hold. You can only make an IP application for a document that has your own personal information in it.

Find out more about the application process

You can’t use the RTI Act or the IP Act process to ask for general information or for answers to your questions.

You will need to pay an application fee when you make an RTI application. Our fees and charges increase on 1 July each year. Please contact the relevant agency to find out their preferred payment method.

There is no application fee for making an IP application, however you will need to give the agency evidence of your identity (e.g. a certified copy of your driver licence).

The agency you are seeking access from may not be able to give you access to all the documents you request, as some documents are exempt from release or contrary to the public interest to release. If an agency refuses access to the documents you’ve asked for, you may be able to review its decision. Visit the Office of the Information Commissioner website for details.

Amend personal information

You may apply to amend documents containing your personal information if you believe they are inaccurate, misleading, out of date or incomplete. You need to have seen or accessed the documents before you can apply to have them amended.

Find out more about amending your personal information

There is no application fee for this service, but you will need to give the department evidence of your identity (e.g. a certified copy of your driver licence).