right to information appeals
If you are not satisfied with a decision, you can lodge an appeal.
There are three possible levels of appeal:
1. request an internal review
You can ask for an internal review if you are unsatisfied with a decision made by Community Services or if no decision has been made within 20 working days. You don’t have to be the person making the application in order to ask for a review.
You have 20 days from being advised of the decision or from the date when the decision should have been made to request a review of our decision.
These are the types of decisions that may be reviewed. A decision:
- that an application is not valid
- to transfer an application to another agency
- to refuse to deal with an access application
- to provide access or to refuse to provide access to information
- that the information applied for is already available to the applicant
- that government information is not held by the agency
- to refuse to confirm or deny that the agency holds the information
- to defer the provision of access to information
- to provide access to information in a particular way
- to impose a processing charge or require an advance deposit
- to refuse a reduction in a processing charge
- to refuse to deal further with an application because the applicant has failed to pay an advance deposit
- to include information in a disclosure log despite an objection
To request an internal review, you should send a RTI review form or a letter to Community Services, with the $40 application fee.
A senior Community Services officer will review the original decision, and will advise you of the outcome within 15 working days. We may refund the application fee if the original decision is significantly altered.
2. ask for a review by the Information Commisioner
If you are not happy with a decision or not satisfied with the results of an internal review, you can apply to the Information Commissioner to have the decision reviewed.
You do not have to be the original applicant to apply to the Information Commissioner.
You must apply to the Information Commissioner within eight weeks of receiving notice of the decision that you want reviewed.
Although the Information Commissioner cannot change or reverse a decision, he or she may make recommendations as considered appropriate, including that the matter be reconsidered by the agency.
The Information Commissioner may refuse to review a decision and cannot review a decision that is, or has been, subject to a review by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal.
There are no fees for a review by the Information Commissioner.
Email to oicinfo@oic.nsw.gov.au or call the freecall number 1800 463 626.
The Office of the Information Commissioner is located at Level 11, 1 Castlereagh Street, Sydney.
3. go to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal
You can take your appeal to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (ADT) within eight weeks of the decision or four weeks after an Information Commissioner review.
The ADT may:
- confirm the agency's or Minister's original decision
- disallow that decision and make another in its place
- pass the matter back to the agency or Minister to be dealt with as directed by the ADT.
The ADT does not have the power to determine that access can be given to an exempt document.
how much does an appeal cost?
The ADT is a low cost and accessible means of hearing appeals. A nominal application fee, approximately $80, may be charged.
Contact the ADT Registrar on ph 02 9223 4677 for advice on fees and charges.
