Annotation

Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld)

43 Previous application for same documents

(1) This section applies if—

(a) an applicant makes an access application, whether under this Act or the Information Privacy Act, to an agency or Minister (the first application); and

(b) the applicant makes another access application under this Act (the later application) to the same agency or Minister for access to 1 or more of the same documents sought under the first application and the later application does not, on its face, disclose any reasonable basis for again seeking access to the document or documents.

(2) For subsection (1)(a)—

(a) the first application, if made under this Act—

(i) does not include an access application taken to have been withdrawn under section 36(3) or 42(4); and

(ii) if an access application has been narrowed under section 36 or 42—means only the access application as changed; and

(b) the first application, if made under the Information Privacy Act—

(i) does not include an access application taken to have been withdrawn under section 61(4) of that Act; and

(ii) if an access application has been narrowed under section 61 of that Act—means only the access application as changed.

(3) The agency or Minister may refuse to deal with the later application to the extent it is for access to a document or documents sought under the first application if—

(a) when the later application was made, the agency or Minister had not decided the first application; or

(b) in relation to the first application, if made under this Act—

(i) the applicant had been given notice under section 54 that access was to be given to the document sought or to some or all of the documents sought; or

(ii) the agency or Minister had decided that the application was for a document to which this Act does not apply; or

(iii) the agency or Minister had decided the document or documents sought were documents access to which was refused under section 47; or

(iv) the agency or Minister had refused to deal with it under this part; or

(c) in relation to the first application, if made under the Information Privacy Act—

(i) the applicant had been given notice under section 68 of that Act that access was to be given to the document sought or to some or all the documents sought; or

(ii) the agency or Minister had decided that the application was for a document to which chapter 3 of that Act does not apply; or

(iii) the agency or Minister had decided the document or documents sought were documents access to which was refused under section 67 of that Act; or

(iv) the agency or Minister had refused to deal with it under chapter 3, part 4 of that Act; or

(d) the agency's or Minister's decision on the first application—

(i) is the subject of a review and the review is not complete; or

(ii) has been the subject of a completed review (other than an internal review).

(4) For subsection (3), if a document sought under the later application is merely a record of the first application having been made (a record document), access to a record document is taken to have been sought under the first application.

(5) For subsection (3)(d)—

review means—

(a) an internal review under this Act or the Information Privacy Act; or

(b) an external review under this Act or the Information Privacy Act; or

(c) a proceeding under part 11 or under the Information Privacy Act, chapter 3, part 11.

(6) For subsection (3)(d), a review is complete if the review has ended because of an informal resolution or because of a decision of the entity conducting the review.

Overview of section 43 RTI Act

Last updated: December 20, 2020

Section summary

This provision applies where an applicant makes an access application under the RTI Act or IP Act (first application) and subsequently makes another application under the RTI Act (later application) to the same agency or same Minister for one or more of the same documents and does not disclose any reasonable basis for again seeking the documents.1

An agency or Minister may refuse to deal with the later application to the extent that it seeks access to the same documents sought under the first application if:2

However, if the document sought under the later application is merely a record of the first application having been made, access to a record document is taken to have been sought under the first application.10 The first application does not include an access application taken to have been withdrawn under the RTI Act or the IP Act.11 If an access application has been narrowed under the RTI or IP Act, the first application means only the access application as changed.12

Other relevant RTI/IP Act sections

Section 62 IP Act

Section 62 of the IP Act replicates section 43 of the RTI Act with no substantive alterations.

Sections 36(3) and 42(4) RTI Act

An access application may be withdrawn under sections 36(3) and 42(4) of the RTI Act.  When an application is withdrawn under one of these provisions, a later application for the same information cannot be refused under section 43 of the RTI Act.

Application of section 43 RTI Act

Last updated: November 25, 2021

If an applicant applies for documents they have previously applied for, without a reasonable basis for doing so, an agency can refuse to deal with all or part of the later application. This does not apply if the earlier application was withdrawn by the applicant, deemed withdrawn by the Act, or the scope of the earlier application was narrowed by the applicant to remove the documents currently being applied for.

Refer to Refusal to deal - Previous application for same documents for guidance on applying this section.

Key published decisions applying section 43 RTI Act

Last updated: April 23, 2013

Bourne and Queensland Building and Construction Commission [2014] QICmr 18 (9 May 2014)

Vanbrogue Pty Ltd and Department of Natural Resources and Mines (Unreported, Queensland Information Commissioner, 17 December 2012)

This decision applies section 43(3)(d)(ii) of the RTI Act which allows an agency to refuse to deal with a later application if the agency’s decision on the first application has been the subject of a completed review.  In particular, the decision considers whether sufficiency of search issues raised by the applicant constituted a ‘reasonable basis’ for again seeking access to the documents.

Disclaimer

General

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Annotated legislation

The reprints used for the Office of the Information Commissioner’s annotated versions of the Freedom of Information Act 1992 (Qld) (FOI Act), RTI Act and IP Act (annotated legislation) are sourced from, and used with the permission of, the Office of The Parliamentary Counsel.   Although the Office of the Information Commissioner endeavours to ensure the text of the legislative provisions reproduced within the annotated legislation is current, we do not warrant its currency or accuracy.  Please consult the Office of The Parliamentary Counsel’s website for authorised current reprints of the legislation.

The annotated legislation deals with issues in a general way and is not legal advice.  The Office of the Information Commissioner carefully considers the specific circumstances arising in each external review.  Additional factors, which are not detailed in the annotations, may be relevant in specific circumstances.

The annotated legislation is updated from time to time to incorporate significant amendments and to reflect significant decisions.  The “Last updated” date indicates when any amendment was last made to the particular page of the annotated legislation; please note this does not mean that the annotated legislation has captured all legal developments as of that date.

Any summary of a decision included in the annotated legislation is not intended to be a substitute for the reasoning contained within the whole decision, and is not to be used as additional or different reasoning from the original decision.

Many of the legal concepts and principles explained and applied in decisions under the now repealed FOI Act may continue to be relevant when applying the RTI Act and IP Act.  Accordingly, the related links for RTI Act and IP Act annotations sometimes include links to FOI Act annotations.  Please note though that care needs to be taken in assessing the applicability of FOI Act decisions as the schemes of the RTI and IP Acts are quite different from that of the earlier Act.

Please note: the Office of the Information Commissioner developed the annotated legislation for use by its staff as part of the office’s commitment to proactively managing its knowledge resources.  We consider it a valuable resource and have therefore decided, in the interests of openness and transparency, to make it available for others to use.