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Freedom of Information Act 1982
‘An Act to give to members of the public rights of access to official documents of the Government of the Commonwealth and of its agencies.’ (Freedom of Information Act 1982)
A right of access to documents is given by section 11 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) to ‘every person’.
Generally, the right of access created under the FOI Act is to documents, not information. The Act does not generally require an agency to make available information which is not in documentary form, nor to collect information to create a new document.
Agencies are also not obliged to research information – the obligation is only to provide access to existing documents.
When you apply for access to documents, you may not necessarily get to see the whole document. You may also be refused access to a document in its entirety, as certain exemptions can apply under the FOI Act.
The following links provide further information on how you may apply for access to documents held by the Australian Research Council including exemptions, costs and your appeal rights if you do not agree with our decision on release of documents.
- How to apply for access to agency documents - PDF Format (52kb) - RTF Format (72kb)
- FOI Application Form - PDF Format (91kb) - RTF Format (88kb)
- Freedom of Information Guidelines
Further queries can also be directed to:
FOI Coordinator
Australian Research Council
GPO Box 2702
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Tel: (02) 6287 6622
Email: foi@arc.gov.au
19/03/09
