Making a right to information request

In your application to us, Brand Tasmania, the Premier or one of our ministers, include:

• That you are requesting information under the Right to Information Act. This is not required for personal information requests.
• Details of the information you want and who you want it from, giving enough detail to help us identify the information.
• A postal address or email so we can contact you about the application.
• If you are seeking personal information, you also need to include identification (photo identification or a copy of photo identification certified as a true copy either by a Justice of the Peace or a Commissioner for Declarations).

You do not need to give any reasons why you want the information, but giving this information may help us to assist you.

Note: You can only request official information held by the Premier or one of our ministers. This means you cannot ask for:

• personal information
• party political information.

You can request access to your personal information and have it corrected if needed.

Both the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 and the Right to Information Act 2009 define personal information as:

• Information or opinion in any recorded format about an individual whose identity is apparent or is reasonably ascertainable from the information or opinion.
• Who is alive or has not been dead for more than 25 years.

You can also access the personal information of someone else if you have their authority to do so. Contact us to discuss what proof you need.

We send information we are required to archive to the Office of the State Archivist under the Archives Act. This typically occurs when the information is older than 25 years.

If you are seeking information that is 25 years or older, you should first contact the State Library and Archives of Tasmania to see if it can be accessed.

The more specific you can be about the information you want, the better.

It helps to give us as much information about your request as you can so we can find the information you want more quickly. Useful information can include:

• The date the information was created.
• The reason we have the information (for example, you applied for a job or someone made a complaint).
• The quantity and kind of information you want.
• If the information is correspondence, the people who sent or received the correspondence.
• Anything else you might think would help us to search for the information.

Just saying “I want my file” or “I want everything about me” can make searching difficult.

The application fee is $47.75 for 2025-2026 and must be paid before your application can be accepted (unless you are claiming a waiver or are requesting personal information).

Note: We only accept application fees for requests made to us (the Department of Premier and Cabinet), Brand Tasmania, the Premier or one of our ministers. If you are not sure where to make your request, we encourage you to seek assistance before paying the fee to ensure you do not make a payment to the wrong place.

You can pay the application fee by using one of the methods below.

Payment by direct deposit

Account name: Department of Premier and Cabinet Collections
BSB: 037-001
Account number: 268 569
Reference: RTI [your name]

Payment by credit card

Call us on 6232 7600 and quote reference RTI [your name].

You may apply for a fee waiver if you are:

• In financial hardship (we usually ask to see evidence you receive a Centrelink or a Veterans Affairs payment)
• A member of parliament and the application is in connection with your official duty
• A journalist acting in connection with your professional duties
• Able to demonstrate that you intend to use the information for a purpose that is of general public interest or benefit.

After we receive your application, we review it to make sure it meets the minimum requirements of the Right to Information Act. We will check the application fee is paid or if you are eligible for it to be waived.

If your application is compliant and does not have a ground for refusal (such as it being an unreasonable diversion of resources), your application will be accepted within 10 working days of being received.

If your application needs to be amended for any reason, we will contact you to discuss any changes needed.

We may need to transfer your request to a more appropriate public authority or minister. If that happens, we will let you know.

If it is possible to provide the information to you without an assessment, it will be provided to you actively.

Once your request has been accepted, all information relevant to your request will be located. We do this by contacting the relevant work group and asking them to undertake a search of all relevant places (including our record management system, emails and phones). We quality assure this search by also requesting our information management team to undertake a search of relevant systems.

We then assess this information against the Right to Information Act to see whether it can be provided to you. You are entitled to receive a decision within 20 working days on whether the information can be released to you or not. If your request is complex or is for a large amount of information, we may ask you to give us more time to complete the request.

If the information contains details about a third party, we will need to consult them and may need to extend the time by another 20 working days.

If we determine that information cannot be provided because it is exempt information under the Right to Information Act, we will provide you with an explanation of why we have decided the information is exempt information.

When you receive a decision, you will be advised of your right to review the decision.

If we do not provide you with a decision within the timeframe allowed, you can apply to the Ombudsman for resolution of the matter.

You can contact us if you have any questions about the decision or if you think that something in the decision is not very clear. We may be able to provide further explanation to help you understand the decision better.

If you disagree with the outcome of the decision, you may be able to request a review of it within 20 working days from the date you received your decision.

The decision you receive will explain what rights to appeal you have and how to request one.

A third party who disagrees with the decision to give you information that contains details about them can also ask for the decision to be reviewed. If they do, you will not be able to be provided the information until that review process ends.

The Right to Information Act aims to improve democratic government in Tasmania.

It does this by:

• Increasing the accountability of government to Tasmanians.
• Increasing the ability of Tasmanians to participate in government decision-making.
• Acknowledging the information held by public authorities belongs to Tasmania and has been collected for (and on behalf of) Tasmanians.

Information is defined as:

• any paper or other material on which there is writing or a mark, figure or symbol
• electronically stored information
• a map, a plan, drawing or photograph
• any article from which sounds, images or writing are capable of being produced.

You can ask for access to information in the form you prefer, such as in an electronic or hard copy.

There are four categories of information disclosure:

1. Required disclosure. This is information required by law to be published, such as an annual report.
2. Routine disclosure. This is information of interest to the public that is released on a routine basis, such as statistics.
3. Active disclosure. This is information released upon request without the need for applying for an assessed disclosure.
4. Assessed disclosure. This is information released on application after it has been formally assessed under the provisions of the Right to Information Act.

Assessed disclosure is the method of last resort. Public authorities are expected to release as much relevant information as possible in response to enquiries (active disclosure) or that may be of public interest (routine disclosure) without the need for a formal application and assessment process.

Decisions of information disclosures are usually made by officers in a public authority with specific delegations.

When deciding whether the disclosure of information is against the public interest, a decision-maker must weigh up factors favouring release and those favouring non-disclosure.

The Right to Information Act sets out matters that must be considered by the decision-maker when applying the public interest test. Factors that typically favour disclosure of information include:

• The general public need for government information to be accessible.
• Whether information would contribute to debate on a matter of public interest.
• Whether the information would inform a person about the reasons for a decision.
• Whether the information would improve scrutiny of government actions, processes or decisions.
• Whether the information would promote the interests of a person or organisation.
• Whether the information would promote the economic or environmental interests of Tasmania.

Factors that might require information to be exempt from release include:

• Whether the information would hinder debate on a matter of public interest.
• Whether the information would harm public health or safety.
• Whether the disclosure would harm the economic development of Tasmania.
• Whether the disclosure would harm the environment and or ecology of Tasmania.
• Whether the information would harm the interests of an individual or group of individuals.
• Whether the disclosure would make it harder for the government to get the information in the future.
• Whether the disclosure would harm the business or financial interests of a public authority or any other person or organisation.

The decision-maker can consider any other matter that is relevant to the information being assessed.

There are also matters a decision-maker must not consider when deciding whether to release information, including:

• loss of confidence in the government
• misunderstanding
• confusion or unnecessary debate
• the seniority of a document’s author or the seniority of the subject of a document.

It can be difficult to decide whether the release of information is not in the public interest and there is usually no clear right answer. The decision-maker needs to look at all the relevant factors and consider whether releasing the information would cause harm to a person, organisation or to Tasmania. The starting point is that information should be released, unless there are strong reasons not to.

If information is considered exempt information, a public authority or minister can refuse to disclose it. Exemptions may apply to information:

• of the Executive Council
• of Cabinet
• that is an internal briefing of a minister
• that is information not relating to official business
• that is information affecting national or state security, defence or international relations
• relating to the enforcement of the law
• concerning legal professional privilege
• relating to closed meetings of council.

A public authority or minister may decide to disclose information even if an exemption may apply.

Some exemptions also require the decision-maker to consider whether it would be contrary to the public interest to release the information before they decide to exempt it from release.

If they cannot satisfy themselves that disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest, they must release the information.

Exemptions that require the public interest to be considered are:

• information communicated by other jurisdictions
• internal deliberative information
• personal information of a person
• information relating to the business affairs of a third party
• information relating to the business affairs of a public authority
• information obtained in confidence
• information on procedures and criteria used in certain negotiations by a public authority
• information likely to affect Tasmania's economy
• information likely to affect the cultural, heritage and natural resources of Tasmania.

When determining whether an exemption should apply under the Right to Information Act, the decision-maker must carefully consider the requirements within the relevant section and be satisfied all of those details are met. The information can only be exempt from release if those requirements are met. The decision-maker is required to explain to you why they have decided that.