What is the RTI Act?

The Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) (RTI Act) gives you the right to apply for access to documents held by Queensland government agencies and Ministers.

Departments, local councils, public hospitals, public universities and statutory bodies like the Ombudsman are all agencies.

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

Do I have to make an RTI application?

You may be able to get the information you want without having to make an RTI application.

  • Many agencies have administrative access schemes, which is a way of getting information without a formal process.
  • Some information is available under other laws, for example land titles and land valuation data.

There may be a fee for this information.

You can make an RTI application, but this information is highly protected by the RTI Act.  It is almost guaranteed that you will not get access to it.

The agency may be able to give you general information about the outcome of your complaint. If not, or if you want more information than they can give you, you will need to make an RTI application. You will probably not be given access to details about what happened.

You can make an RTI application, but this information is protected by the RTI Act. You cannot be given access unless the information is only about you and the investigation is finalised. Even then, you may not get access.

The Queensland Police Service (QPS) website explains what information you can get from QPS without an RTI application.

Some police reports and traffic incident reports are available from CITEC confirm. CITEC Confirm does not provide domestic violence or abuse reports.

If the information you want is not listed, you will need to make an RTI application.

You can get this from the Department of Transport without an RTI application.

Court transcripts are available from QTranscripts.

For court records, you will need to search for the court file.

You can make an RTI application, but this information is protected by the RTI Act. You cannot be given access unless the information is only about you and the investigation is finalised. Even then, you may not get access.

You can do a search on the Motor Accident Insurance Commission website.

If you want medical records held by a private healthcare professional or facility, you will need to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

If you want medical records held by a Queensland public hospital, you may be able to access them without making an RTI application. Contact the Hospital and Health Service information access unit or check the hospital website for more information. If you cannot get them administratively, you will need to make an RTI application.

Under the Health Sector (Clinical Records) Retention and Disposal Schedule medical records are eligible to be destroyed ten years after the date you were last seen by the hospital. If you were a child when you were last seen by the hospital, the date the record becomes eligible for destruction is ten years from the date you turned eighteen.

If you believe you are in this situation you may want to consider checking with the relevant HHS before making an application.

Some health records are available through your My Health Record.

In most cases you will not be able to access information about a deceased family member without making an RTI application.

If their death is being investigated by the Coroner, you may be able to access some information under the Coronial guidelines.

If you make an RTI application, it will be important to include evidence of your relationship with the deceased. This is because the RTI Act respects the privacy of deceased people but recognises that eligible family members can have a legitimate interest in their information.

You will need to make an RTI application to access video recordings, such as CCTV and body worn camera footage. This kind of footage is only kept for a short time, so you should apply as soon as you can.

Applications for video footage may take longer than other applications, because dealing with video records can be complex. It is helpful if you only apply for what you actually need, for example, ten minutes of footage rather than a whole day.

If screenshots of the footage would be useful, you could apply for that instead.

You can access some reports administratively from the Queensland Ambulance Service. If what you want is not available, you will have to make an RTI application.

You will need to make an RTI application to Queensland Fire, Queensland Ambulance Service, or the Queensland Police Service for a copy of your call.

Queensland Fire has an administrative access scheme for some fire reports. If the one you want is not available, you will have to make an RTI application.

You will need to make an RTI application. The RTI Act recognises that it is in the public interest for people to have the option to exercise their right to take legal action when they have been harmed.

For example, you were bitten by a dog and want to recover medical expenses from the dog owner. If there is no other way for you to get the name and address of the dog owner, which you need to take legal action against them, you are likely to get access to it under the RTI Act.

When you make the application, it will be important to include information about the legal remedy you want to pursue. You will also need to tell the agency about the loss, damage, or wrong you have suffered and why there is no other way for you to get access to this information.

You cannot apply for your RTI file. RTI processing documents are excluded from the RTI Act.

How to make an RTI application

You need to make your RTI application to the agency that holds the documents you want to access.

If you want documents from two agencies, you need to make two different RTI applications. There is no central ‘RTI department’.

The easiest way to make an RTI application is to fill out the form. There is an online form and a PDF form.

You can only use the online form if you are applying to a department, like the Department of Education or Queensland Police Service. You must use the PDF form if you are applying to a different kind of agency, like a local council or a public hospital.

Some agencies have made their own forms on their website, which you can use instead.

You can send an email or letter instead, but the forms ask for all the information the agency will need. Check the agency’s website for where you should send your application.

You need to explain what documents you want to access. Be clear and concise and include any relevant dates or reference numbers. If the agency can’t tell what you want, or if your application is too big, the agency may not be able to process it.

You also need to give the agency an address they can send correspondence to. This can be an email address.

Do I have to send ID?

If you are applying for any documents that will have your personal information in them (for example, your name) you must give the agency evidence of your identity.

This could be:

  • A certified copy of your passport, birth certificate, driver licence, photo identification card, personal watercraft licence or recreational marine drivers licence.
  • A PDF extracted from the Queensland Digital Licence app of your driver licence, photo identification card, personal watercraft licence or recreational marine drivers licence. This must be emailed to the agency. You cannot post it.
  • A statutory declaration from someone who has known you for more than 12 months.

Certified copies must be certified by a Justice of the Peace, lawyer, Commissioner for Declarations, pharmacist or Notary Public as a true and correct copy.

You may also be able to attend an agency and show them your ID. Check with the agency you are applying to.

You cannot black out or remove any information from your ID before you give it to the agency. If you do, your ID will not be valid for the RTI Act. The agency will ask you to send them a new copy of your ID showing all the information. They will not be able to process your application until they have this.

Applicants who are incarcerated have different ID requirements. They can send a copy of their prisoner ID card that has been certified by a corrective services officer.

Can someone make the application for me?

Yes, someone else can make the application on your behalf. This might be a friend, your social worker, or your lawyer. You will still be the applicant, but the other person will deal with the agency for you.

If any of the documents will have your personal information in them, the person making the application for you will need to give the agency evidence that you have authorised them to make the application.

The agency will still need evidence of your identity.

What if I'm a parent applying for my child?

If you are a parent applying on behalf of your child for your child’s personal information, you will need to give the agency evidence of your relationship with the child. You must also give them evidence of the child’s identity.

You are a parent under the RTI Act if you are the mother, father, or a person exercising parental responsibility for the child, for example, under a court order or an Act.

For an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, a parent is a person who, under Aboriginal or Island custom, is regarded as a parent of the child.

What if I'm incarcerated

If you want to access your personal information you need to include evidence of identity with your application.

If you are in custody in Queensland, you can meet this requirement by having a copy of your Prisoner Identity Card signed by a Corrective Services Officer as a true copy of your Prisoner Identity Card.

How much will it cost?

The RTI Act has three costs:

  • Application fee – currently $57.65.
  • Processing charges – currently $8.95 per fifteen minutes working on the application. If the agency takes less than five hours these won’t apply.
  • Access charges – 25 cents per A4 page for paper copies or the actual cost of giving access.

If every document you want to access will contain your personal information, there will  be no application fee or processing charges. There may be access charges if you want paper copies.

If some or all of the documents won’t contain your personal information, there will be an application fee and processing charges. There may be access charges if you want paper copies.

If there are processing or access charges, the agency will give you a charges estimate notice that gives you an estimate of how much the application will cost. You will have the chance to make changes to your application to lower the cost.

Can the costs be waived?

The application fee can never be waived.

Processing and access charges can be waived if you are in financial hardship. The application fee can never be waived.

The RTI Act says you are in financial hardship if you are named on a:

  • Services Australia Health Care Card
  • Services Australia Pensioner Concession Card; or
  • Department of Veterans’ Affairs Pensioner Concession Card.

Photocopy, scan, or take a picture of your card, send it to the agency, and ask them to waive the charges.

If you are a nonprofit organisation you can apply to the OIC for financial hardship status.

How long will it take?

The agency has a base 25 business days to give you a decision. This time does not start until your application is valid. It is valid when it meets all of the RTI Act’s requirements.

The agency will let you know if there is a problem with your application and will tell you how to fix it.

The RTI Act gives the agency more time if the agency has to do certain things, like give you a charges estimate notice.

The agency can also ask you for extra time so they can finish your application.

If the agency doesn’t give you a decision in time, the RTI Act steps in and decides that the agency has refused access to everything you applied for. This is called a deemed decision. You can apply to the OIC for an external review if this happens.

Does the agency have to process my application?

The agency does not have to process your application if:

  • It does not meet the RTI Act’s requirements, for example you don’t pay the application fee or it is not clear what you are applying for.
  • You apply for something that is not covered by the RTI Act. These are listed in schedule 1 and 2 of the RTI Act.
  • Your application is too large and would be a substantial and unreasonable diversion of the agency’s resources. If the agency thinks your application is too large, they will give you a notice letting you know you need to make it smaller.
  • You previously applied for the documents and haven’t given a good reason for applying again.

You can apply for a review if the agency makes one of these decisions.

Will I get access?

There are several categories of information Parliament decided should not be released. This means you may not get access to everything you applied for.

The most common reasons access is refused is because the information is exempt or is contrary to the public interest to release.

There is a list of exempt information categories in schedule 3 of the RTI Act. They include information that:

  • was used in a CCC investigation
  • was part of a Public Interest Disclosure
  • would endanger an investigation if released; and
  • is subject to Cabinet confidentiality or legal professional privilege.

It also includes information that is protected from release by other legislation, such as the Child Protection Act 1999.

If the information is not exempt the agency must consider the lists of public interest factors in the RTI Act. The agency will weigh up all the relevant factors for and against disclosure and decide if, on balance, releasing the information would be contrary to the public interest.

Other people’s personal information will almost always be contrary to the public interest to release. This includes the name of someone who made a complaint.

Do my interests or concerns count as the public interest?

Just because information interests you doesn’t mean it is in the public interest to release it.

For something to be in the public interest it needs to affect more than just your private or personal interests. It needs to affect a significant part of the public or community.

This is reflected in the public interest factors for disclosure, which include:

  • government accountability
  • discussion of public affairs
  • effective oversight of government funds; and
  • protection of the environment.

In some circumstances your private interests and the public interest can align. This can be the case, for example, where you’re seeking information so you can pursue a legal action.

How does the agency decide the public interest?

Balancing the public interest is not a simple maths equation: two factors for disclosure and one factor against disclosure does not mean the information will be released.

The agency decide how much ‘weight’ to give the factors. If the factors against disclosure outweigh the factors for disclosure the agency can refuse access.

An agency can also refuse access to:

  • Information that would not be in the best interests of a child to release.
  • Healthcare information that could harm someone if released to them.
  • Information that they cannot locate or that does not exist.
  • Information that you can get another way.

I received a decision I don’t agree with

The agency will give you a decision notice that explains why they made their decision.

If you disagree with their decision, you have review rights under the RTI Act.