Under the Right to Information Act 2009 (Qld) (RTI Act) and Information Privacy Act (Qld) (IP Act) a decision maker is required to provide a statement of reasons for their decision. A statement of reasons is intended to explain to an applicant or a consulted third party how the decision was made. Writing good statements of reasons is a fundamental aspect of good decision making. This guideline has been developed to assist decision makers to make reasoned and consistent decisions
A statement of reasons:
The RTI and IP Acts require decision makers to provide:1
Other statutory obligations include:
Most decisions made under the RTI and IP Acts require a prescribed written notice2 which will contain a statement of reasons. Some examples are:
Decision makers must take into account the particular terms and requirements of the section under which they are making a decision.
When developing a statement of reasons for a decision under the RTI or IP Acts, decision makers could consider using subsections (a)-(e) of section 191 of the RTI Act or section 199 of the IP Act, as headings. This will help the statement of reasons to flow logically and ensure that none of the requirements are missed.
The statement of reasons must include:
The Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld)9 requires a statement of reasons to:
A material fact is a fact that can affect the outcome of a decision. Accordingly, the findings on the material facts are those that support the decision.
A statement of reasons must also refer to the evidence on which each material finding of fact is based. It is not sufficient to simply list all the documents considered in making a decision.
Importantly, a statement of reasons must detail all the steps in the reasoning process and should enable a reader to understand exactly how the decision was reached.
The statement of reasons must set out the applicant’s rights of review. This should generally include details of how long they have to exercise those rights and to whom they should direct any request for review. The OIC has an Information Sheet which decision makers can include with their statement of reasons to satisfy this requirement.
If the initial decision is made by the agency’s principal officer, the statement of reasons needs to state that the applicant can only seek an external review. There can be no internal review from a decision made by an agency’s principal officer.
The format of the statement of reasons is vital in assisting the applicant’s understanding of the decision.
A statement of reasons should be written in language and a style that can be easily understood by the recipient.
Language tips:
Template letters can be useful tools in decision writing, however they need to be adapted for the circumstances. There are tips for drafting a template decision letter at Appendix 1.
The template should be used a guide or framework for the decision and must be adjusted according to the circumstances of each decision and agency. Templates should include triggers for decision makers to:
The Information Commissioner is also required to provide reasons for decisions on external review, such as decisions affirming, varying or setting aside a decision of an agency10 and decisions not to deal with or further deal with all or part of an external review application.11
In an external review, if the Information Commissioner considers the reasons for a decision given by an agency in a prescribed written notice are not adequate, the Information Commissioner can require the agency to provide an additional statement containing further and better particulars of the reasons for the decision.12 Where such a request is made, an agency must provide the additional statement as soon as is practicable or within 20 business days.
The Information Commissioner may review statements of reasons given by agencies for a range of decisions in order to monitor and report on agencies' compliance with the requirements of the RTI and IP Acts and to develop procedures for good practice.13
When making a decision on an access application under the RTI or IP Acts, agencies are encouraged to refer to the flowchart guides in Appendix 2 to this guideline. Referring to the flowcharts when preparing decisions should assist agencies to statements of reasons which comply with the requirements of the RTI and IP Acts.
Decision makers should refer to this guideline in combination with the requirements of the legislation when making decisions under the RTI Act and IP Act; this guideline is not intended to be used as a substitute for application of the legislation.
Unless it is very lengthy, quote the scope directly from the access application, rather than paraphrasing it. Explain if the scope has changed following negotiations with the applicant.
Where an application is expressed in this form – seeking access to a complaint made by a named person – it’s important to think about whether you should neither confirm nor deny that the complaint exists.
It may be helpful to outline the searches conducted in response to the application. This won’t be necessary in every case – for example, where the applicant seeks specific documents and all documents have been located.
If you provide information about the searches, provide enough detail for the applicant to understand the nature and extent of searches that were conducted. For example:
Describe the nature of the located information while taking care not to reveal information that you are claiming is exempt or contrary to the public interest to disclose. The level of detail included in the description will depend on the number and type of documents located.
Providing reasons for decision is an important accountability mechanism that ensures transparency in decision-making. A statement of reasons provides the person affected by the decision with an opportunity to have the decision properly explained.
The reasons for decision must properly explain:
If you have different types of information or different grounds for refusal, deal with them separately. Think about how best to structure the decision. In some cases, you may be able to deal with all of the contrary to the public interest information together. However, if you have different categories of information that give rise to different public interest factors, it may be easier to separate them.
Set out any facts that you have based your decision on and explain the evidence that you have used to reach these findings of fact – for example, your discussions with the business unit, correspondence with the applicant contained in the information in issue.
The reasons must explain all of the steps in the reasoning process that led to the decision – linking the facts to the decision. The reasons should enable the applicant to understand exactly how the decision was reached – they should not have to guess. The reasons must go further than just expressing conclusions, it must give reasons for the conclusions.
If you decide that the information is, on balance, contrary to the public interest to disclose, the prescribed written notice must include a reference to section 47(3)(b) of the RTI Act and any factors that you identify either in favour or against disclosure: section 54 of the RTI Act and section 68 of the IP Act.
OIC often has Information Sheets that can help to explain issues to the applicant. Consider including these with your decision.
Current as at: March 4, 2016