Freedom of Information
On this page
What is the FOI Act
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) gives you a general right of access to information held by the department and other Commonwealth agencies (departments and authorities).
Access to documents
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 you have a legal right (subject to some exemptions) to see documents the department holds and get copies of those documents. You can also see most manuals, rules and guidelines that the department uses to make decisions about the legislation it administers such as the Migration Act 1958.
We may refuse to give you access to documents because they are exempt documents.
Example: Where disclosure could reasonably be expected to prejudice an ongoing investigation or if it contains information about another individual.
See: Explaining and Reviewing Our Decisions
Making a request
If you make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 for access to documents, it must:
- be in writing
- provide enough information for us to identify the documents
- specify an address in Australia to reply to and be signed by you.
You will need to download Form 424A Request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. You will need to include the prescribed fee with your request. The charges are listed on the application form (currently AUD30.00) and the circumstances in which the fee can be waived.
See: Form 424A Request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (97KB PDF file)
Note: To assist us, please include photographic identification with your request.
After you lodge your application, we will acknowledge it within 14 days. We are usually required to give you our decision about your request and the reasons for that decision within 30 days of its receipt.
If we have to consult with anyone else, we have a further 30 days to tell you of our decision.
Example: If you ask for a document which contains information about a third party.
If we do not meet these 30 day time limits, you can apply to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to review our decision on the basis that we are deemed to have refused your request. Fees apply for applications to the AAT.
While we will do our best to meet the statutory time limits, circumstances (such as your file being overseas or unavailable) may prevent us meeting them in every case. If such a situation arises we will contact you to advise you of any unavoidable delays.
Why you may be refused access
We may refuse to give you access to documents under the FOI Act because they are exempt documents. Exempt documents include those where disclosure of the documents or the information in them:
- could reasonably be expected to prejudice an investigation
- could reasonably be expected to prejudice the proper administration of the law or the proper and efficient conduct of our operations
- would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information of another person or constitute a breach of confidence
- is prohibited under other legislation, for example, under the Migration Act secrecy provisions
- is subject to legal professional privilege
- is contrary to the public interest, and they are internal working documents.
We have established procedures to help us make fair and consistent decisions about requests for information under FOI. If you are refused access to documents, you can have the decision reviewed.
Sometimes we may give you a document with the exempt material deleted. You will also be provided with the reasons for the exemption and your review rights.
Charges
In addition to the application fee we may decide to impose charges in relation to processing a request. All charges are set by FOI regulations. Once a charge has been notified to you, the time for processing a request is suspended until you agree to pay the charges or we agree to vary the charges.
Note: You should contact us as soon as possible with reasons why the charges should not be paid.
A decision to impose a charge and notification to you must be made within 30 days of the receipt of your request.
Changing your personal information
You can ask us to change the personal information we hold about you if you think that the information:
- is incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading and
- has been, is being, or is available to be used for an administrative purpose.
To change your personal information download application form 424C Request For Amendment Or Annotation To Personal Records Under The Freedom Of Information Act 1982 from the department’s website. You do not have to pay a fee for this request. Your request must be in writing and, as far as possible:
- give details of the document and the information you believe is incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading
- give reasons why you are asking for the amendments
- provide an address in Australia for us to reply to.
See: Form 424C Request for amendment or annotation to personal records under the Freedom Of Information Act 1982 (97KB PDF file)
We will provide you with our decision and the reasons for that decision within 30 days of receiving your request. If we do not meet this deadline, you can ask the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to review our decision because we are deemed to have refused your request.
Adding a note to your information
If we decide we will not change our information about you, you can ask us to add a note setting out:
- what information you are concerned about
- whether you think the information is incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading
- your reasons for the claim, and
- any other information you think will correct this.
As long as your note is not considered to be irrelevant, defamatory or unnecessarily long, we will add it to our information about you. You can also apply directly for us to add to, rather than change, our information about you. Again, there is no fee for this.
If we refuse to change or add a note to your records, you can have this decision reviewed.
See: Explaining and Reviewing Our Decisions
Processing FOI requests
The department currently processes FOI requests in Melbourne and Sydney.
See: Privacy and Freedom of Information Enquiries