Freedom of Information Manual: Section 15

Arrangements for availing of services, accessing and amending records under the Freedom of Information Act

Information available under the FoI Act
Under the Freedom of Information Act, anyone is entitled to seek access to information from the NSWQB which is not otherwise publicly available. Each person has a right to:

access to records held by the Board,
correction of personal information relating to oneself held by the Board where it is inaccurate, incomplete or misleading,
access to reasons for decisions made by the Board affecting oneself.

The following records fall within the scope of the Act:

all records relating to personal information held by the Board irrespective of when created,
all other records created from the commencement date 21 October 1999,
any other records necessary to the understanding of a current record.

Please note that the following information is not covered by the FoI Acts:

information already available from the Board,
non-personal information created before the commencement date 21 October 1999,
personal information relating to a third party (with some exceptions),
sensitive information excluded by the Minister under the terms of the Act.

Application procedures
Applications under the Freedom of Information Act should be made on a special Application form entitled €Request for Access to Records under the Freedom of Information Acts, 1997 and 2003ê, (.doc file). You may be required to present proof of identity, i.e., passport or Irish long-form birth certificate. Please be as detailed and precise as possible when requesting information as this will facilitate the NSWQBês processing of your application. If you require a reply in a particular format (e.g., photocopy, computer disk), please outline this. The NSWQB staff will be happy to answer queries and assist you in preparing your request. It is obligatory to respond to your application within four weeks.

Fees
Fees may be charged for the processing of requests. The NSWQB is committed to fee guidelines set up by the Department of Finance.

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