Freedom of information

Requesting information or documents

We make a range of information available for public access. Most requests for information or copies of documents can be dealt with informally and quickly. A phone call or email may be all that is needed.

Freedom of information

You can formally request information that we hold under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

The FOI Act gives any person the right to:

• access copies of documents (except exempt documents)
• ask for information held about you to be changed or annotated if it is incomplete, out of date, incorrect or misleading
• seek a review of our decision refusing you access to a document or to amend your personal record

You can ask to see any document held at AIATSIS. However, we can refuse your request to access some documents, or parts of documents, that are exempt. These may include documents:

• relating to national security
• containing material obtained in-confidence
• Cabinet documents
• covering other matters set out in the FOI Act

Except where material is exempt, or inappropriate to publish because it is personal information, all material released under Freedom of Information is published on our disclosure log below.

How to make a freedom of information request

Your request must:

• be in writing (including email)
• state that the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act
• provide information about the document(s) you wish to access so that we can process your request
• provide an address for reply

You can email your request foi@aiatsis.gov.au, or post it to:

Director, Executive
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
GPO Box 553
Canberra ACT 2601

Fees

There is no application fee for an FOI request and there are no processing fees when requesting access to documents containing only your personal information. However, processing fees may apply to other requests. If this is the case, we will provide you with a quote for the fees before we proceed.

Disclosure log

AIATSIS is required by the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (section 11C) to publish a disclosure log on its website. The Disclosure Log lists information which has been released in response to an FOI access request.

The Disclosure Log requirement does not apply to:

• Personal information about any person if publication of that information would be ‘unreasonable’.
• Information about the business, commercial, financial or professional affairs of any person if publication of that information would be ‘unreasonable’.
• Other information covered by a determination made by the Australian Information Commissioner if publication of that information would be ‘unreasonable’.
• Any information if it is not reasonably practicable to publish the information because of the extent of modifications that would need to be made to delete the information listed in the above dot points.