What if I disagree with my RTI decision

If you apply to access or amend information under the RTI Act, the agency will give you a decision. The decision notice will explain why they made their decision.

If you disagree with their decision, you can apply for a review.

You can also apply for a review if:

  • you were consulted as a third party under the RTI Act and the agency decided to release information even though you objected
  • the agency did not make a decision on time. This is called a deemed decision.

When we say agency on this page, we also mean a Minister.

Important

You must apply for a review within 20 business days of the date of your decision.

Can all decisions be reviewed?

Only reviewable decisions can be reviewed. They are listed schedule 4A of the RTI Act and include a decision:

  • that your application does not comply with all the requirements of the Act
  • refusing to give you access to information
  • refusing to amend your personal information
  • refusing to deal with your application.

You can also apply for a review if you think the agency didn’t find all the documents you applied for. This is called ‘sufficiency of search’.

When can I apply for review?

You cannot apply for a review until you have actually received a reviewable decision from the agency (unless it is a deemed decision).

A formal decision will be sent to you in a letter or email.

The agency sent me a substantial and unreasonable diversion of resources notice

This is not a decision. You cannot apply for a review of this notice.

The notice means that your application to too big to process, but the agency wants to work with you to change it so they can process it.

You must reply to the notice by the date in the notice. If you don't, your application will come to an end and you will have no review rights. If you need more time, ask the agency for an extension.

What you need to do to change your application will depend on what you are applying for and the agency’s specific reasons for why they believe they do not have the resources to deal with it.

It is a good idea to talk about this with the agency to see if they can assist you. The agency may be able to recommend some options as they know what resources they have available to manage your application.

Some ways you could make your application smaller are:

  • providing a specific date range or reducing the date range for the documents you are seeking
  • excluding certain categories of documents (for example, duplicate documents, bank statements, receipts, or documents you sent to the agency)
  • stating that you are not requesting access to other people’s personal information
  • being specific about what documents you want (for example, “all correspondence, reports and Environmental Impact Statements about Council’s decision to build a waterfall in Green Park” instead of “all documents about the waterfall in Green Park”).

If you write back to the agency and tell them you are not changing your application, or you change it but the agency thinks it is not changed enough, they will give you a decision notice saying they refuse to deal with your application.

If you disagree with the decision, you can apply for review once you have the decision notice.

The agency said the documents I want are available from somewhere else

Many government agencies make information and documents available outside of the RTI Act, for example land title and valuation information and some police reports.

If you make an RTI application for these documents, the agency can refuse access to them because you can already access them. This applies even if the other access method involves paying a fee.

If you disagree with the decision, you can apply for review once you have the decision notice.

The agency said I already applied for the documents

An agency can refuse to deal with your application (or part of it) if you previously applied for the documents and you haven’t given them a reasonable reason why you’re applying for them again.

It doesn’t matter if you asked for them in a different way this time. If the earlier application covered the same documents as your current application, the agency can refuse to deal with the new one if:

  • the earlier application is still going, whether with the agency or on review; or
  • you received a decision on the earlier application from the agency and/or on review.

If you disagree with the decision, you can apply for review once you have the decision notice

The agency said they could neither confirm nor deny

A neither confirm nor deny decision means the agency has considered your application and decided that they cannot deal with it in the usual way. If you disagree with the decision, you can apply to have it reviewed.

The agency may have made the decision because of what you asked for or how you asked for it.

An agency can make a neither confirm nor deny decision when they believe that:

  • if no documents existed, explaining that to you could reveal information which would generally not be released under the RTI Act; or
  • if the documents did exist, the agency would have legitimate reasons to refuse access, but explaining that to you would reveal the information they are trying to protect.

For example, someone applies for “copies of the complaints Robert made about my dog”:

  • If the agency refuses access to the documents, they have confirmed that Robert made the complaint.
  • If the documents don’t exist, and the agency makes that decision, they confirm that Robert wasn’t the person who made the complaints.

When an agency makes a neither confirm nor deny decision it may or may not hold documents of the type you have asked for.

Internal Review or External Review

For most decisions you can choose an internal review from the agency or an external review from the OIC. If you choose internal review and are not happy with the outcome, you can apply for external review.

You cannot have an internal review and an external review at the same time. If you apply for internal review, you must wait for it to finish before you can apply for external review.

Deemed decisions and healthcare decisions can only be externally reviewed. Judicial function decisions can only be appealed to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).

A deemed decision happens if an agency does not make a decision on your application in the time allowed by the Act. If that happens, the Act deems that the principal officer of the agency has refused you access to the documents or refused to amend the documents.

You can only apply for an external review of a deemed decision; there is no internal review in this scenario.

You should be given a notice of a deemed decision. If you are not given a deemed decision notice, you can apply for an external review as soon as you become aware that your application has become deemed.

Agencies can refuse access to healthcare information if giving access to it might be prejudicial to the physical or mental health or wellbeing of the applicant.

This is called a healthcare decision.

The agency’s decision notice will explain why they formed this view.

Why does the decision notice say I can access the document through a healthcare professional that I nominate?

Even though the agency refused you direct access to the healthcare information, they have decided you can access it through a healthcare professional.

This means you need to choose a healthcare professional that you want the agency to give your healthcare information to and tell the agency who they are.

Who should I choose as my healthcare professional?

It is up to you to decide, but the agency has to approve them.

You may want to choose a healthcare professional who is familiar with your history (for example, your current General Practitioner or psychologist).

Will the healthcare professional give me copies of my healthcare information?

It is up to the healthcare professional whether to give you access to the healthcare information.

  • They may decide to give you access to all of it or only part of.
  • They may give you copies or just discuss it with you.
  • They may decide that it is not appropriate to give you access to any of it.
Do I have review rights?

If you disagree with the healthcare decision you can apply to the OIC for external review.

You cannot apply for a review if:

  • the agency refuses to approve your chosen healthcare professional
  • the healthcare professional refuses to give you access.

A judicial function decision is a decision that documents you applied for relate to the judicial or quasi-judicial functions of courts, tribunals, or quasi-judicial entities.

A judicial function decision can only be reviewed by appealing to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).

It must be appealed to QCAT within 20 business days from the date of the decision.