Freedom of Information
Council captures and retains a huge amount of information about the services and activities that are carried out each year. Under the Freedom of Information Act 1991 you have the right to request information that is held by Council, and to apply to have amendments made to documents that related to you which are incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading. Under the Act, Council should respond to your request within 30 days.
Because Council responds so promptly to Freedom of Information requests, it helps if your application is very specific about the information you require. In some cases, before we can release information, we may need to consult with another party, allowing them time to state an objection to the release of information which also relates to them. This may add a delay to the processing of your request. Council has trained and accredited Freedom of Information Officers who will process your request. They will access, identify and refer to any information relevant to your request. Council is not bound to release all information you request.
The Freedom of Information Officer will make a decision about whether the information you requested can be released to you, partially released, or not released to you. Once an assessment has been made about your request, in most cases, we will either post or email the relevant information to you. In some cases, you will be asked to attend Council’s Civic Centre to view the documents you have requested.
Once the request has been completed, Council can also provide you with further rights of access or explain how the determinations were made and provide information about how to request a review of the findings.
You can help us to process your request by completing a Freedom of Information Application Form online, or by down loading, completing and returning an application form (available via the FOI Forms link below), and stating as clearly as possible the details about the information you wish to seek access to. There is also a fee making a Freedom of Information application, which can be waived if you also provide valid evidence of a concession.
A Freedom of Information Statement, to assist members of the public to identify the types of information held by Council, is also available below.