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Summary of Government Information (Public Access) Act Activity
On 16 May 2022 a draft Agency Information Guide (AIG) was submitted to the Information Privacy Commissioner (IPC) as part of its annual review of its Agency Information Guide and Open Access information. Proposed changes included the removal of the register of open access information not published on website(section 16). Council has now made this available via a separate link on our main Government Information (Public Access) Act (GIPA) page as per advice from the IPC.
Council’s Government Information (Pubic Access) Annual Report for the 2021/2022 reporting year, prepared in accordance with Section 125(1) of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 and Section 8 of the Government Information (Public Access) Regulation 2018, was submitted to the Information and Privacy Commission and the Office of Local Government on 10 and 11 October 2022 respectively.
Council received fifty-seven applications (including withdrawn applications, but not including invalid applications). This figure is more than double that of the previous financial year (21). A significant proportion (91%) of the formal applications processed were for access to planning records prior to 2010 (52). The remaining five applications were for access to information relating to incidents or reports used to inform decision making.
Council granted access in part to 86% of applications. This was to protect the release of personal information that might reveal an individual’s identity or compromise safety or to protect the business interests of agencies or other persons. Council did not hold information for 12% of the applications and one application was withdrawn. Three invalid applications were recorded with applicants not proceeding to pay the $30 application fee.
One application outcome was varied following an external review. All applications were decided within the statutory timeframe or within any extension granted by agreement.
Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 s 125 (1) Government Information (Public Access) Regulation 2011, cl 4
