by this Act are to be performed and exercised, as far as possible, to facilitate and promote public access to information, promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost".
12 Section 11 of the FOI Act provides that, subject to that Act, every person has a legally enforceable right to obtain access to documents of an agency and official documents of a Minister. There is an array of exceptions to that right. Certain agencies are excluded from the operation of the FOI Act altogether. Further, Div 2 of Pt IV of the FOI Act contains a range of exemptions, such as:
- (1) documents affecting national security, defence or international relations (s 33);
- (2) documents containing material obtained in confidence (s 45);
- (3) documents disclosing trade secrets or commercially valuable information (s 47); and
- (4) documents to which secrecy provisions of enactments apply (s 38).
13 There are other categories of documents that are conditionally exempt if disclosure would not be in the public interest; a concept that is developed through several provisions of Div 3 of Pt IV of the FOI Act. There are also provisions of the FOI Act that require consultation with various parties before a decision to give access to documents can be made.
14 The FOI Act sets out the process by which a person can seek access to government documents. A person who wishes to obtain access to a document of an agency or a Minister may request access to the document: s 15(1). The manner for doing so is prescribed by s 15(2). Section 11A(3) requires an agency or Minister to give access to documents of the agency or official documents of the Minister that are the subject of a request. Relatively tight timeframes (albeit extendable if the applicant agrees: s 15AA) are imposed for steps which agencies are required to undertake: see s 15(5).
15 Part VII of the FOI Act provides for the review of decisions by the Information Commissioner. Part VII of the FOI Act and the AIC Act commenced on the same day, 1 November 2010. The effect of the addition of Pt VII was to introduce a new process for external review of decisions relating to access to documents under the FOI Act. Two consequential changes were brought about. First, it was no longer necessary to request an internal review of a decision as a precursor to seeking external review, although Pt VI of the FOI Act, which was also added at that time, maintains the ability to apply to an agency for internal review. Second, access decisions by agencies are no longer amenable to review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (now the Administrative Review Tribunal). Instead, any application for external review is to be made
