The Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) commenced on 1 July 2010 and gives you the right to request access to government-held information.
This includes access to information about you or about government policies and decisions.
You have a right to obtain information that:
The aim of the Act is to improve the operation of democracy in the State by:
A copy of the RTI Act is available at View - RTI Act.
The RTI Act gives you a right to access documents held by the Tasmanian government agencies and ministers, unless an exemption applies. You also have rights when someone requests a document under the RTI Act that contains information about you or your business.
Information is a valuable and powerful resource which is at the heart of every government decision and activity. Right to Information means the right of the public to access information Tasmanian Government ministers and Tasmanian Government agencies hold, with some exceptions. This right is promoted and enforced by the RTI Act. The RTI Act recognises that the information government holds is a state resource and is managed for public purposes, and that public access to it should be prompt and at the lowest reasonable cost.
Each state and territory in Australia has a right to information law that covers the agencies of the state or territory.
RTI decisions are made by the Departmental staff with specific Delegations under the RTI Act.
The RTI Act establishes four categories of information disclosure:
Assessed Disclosure is meant to be 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.
There is a large amount of Government information publicly available online.
Before you lodge an RTI request you should check whether the information is already available somewhere else.
Information may be readily available in other places including:
The Department’s disclosure log contains information already released under RTI.
Other Department’s websites that might be useful
There are several ways to access government-held information under right to information, one of which is making a right to information request. You can request access to a document a Tasmanian Government agency holds under the RTI Act. However, some documents may be exempt from disclosure. Some agencies are also exempt from the RTI Act, while other agencies are exempt from disclosing certain documents.
Under the RTI Act you can also request access to a document a minister holds.
Your reason for seeking access to a document is not relevant to the decision whether to release it.
You can request access to a document held by a Tasmanian Government agency or minister, such as:
The RTI Act only applies to information a Tasmanian Government agency or minster holds in the form of a document.
The RTI Act defines a document as:
It also sets out what documents you can access and what documents you can’t access.
You can ask for access to a document in the form you prefer, such as in an electronic form rather than a hard copy.
You can only request access to official documents of a minister. This doesn’t include a:
A minister’s office is separate from the Tasmanian Government agency the minister is responsible for. Any RTI request sent to the minster is handled by the minister’s office (a minister may authorise an employee to handle an RTI request). Even if a minister’s office asks for the minister’s agency for help processing an RTI request, they’re still responsible for making sure the request is properly handled.
You can't access a document a Tasmanian Government agency or minister holds that is ;
Documents under the RTI Act do not apply to information in the possession of the following unless the information relates to the administration of the relevant authority.
If a document is exempt under the RTI Act, an agency or minister can refuse to disclose it. Exemptions may apply to a document:
However, an agency or minister may decide to disclose a document even if an exemption applies.
If a document meets an exemption, the agency or minister must also decide if disclosing the document would be against the public interest. They can’t refuse access to a document solely because it meets an exemption. It must also be against the public interest.
Exemptions may apply to a document that has:
When deciding whether disclosing a document is against the public interest, an agency or minister must weigh up factors favouring access and those favouring non-disclosure.
Factors favouring access are set out in the RTI Act and are specified in Schedule 1 View - Schedule 1 of the Act. They include whether giving access will promote:
The RTI Act also sets out what factors an agency or minister can’t take into account. These matters are set out Schedule 2 of the RTI Act that are irrelevant to the assessment of Public Interest. For example:
When a Tasmanian Government agency or minister collects, stores, uses and discloses any personal information about an individual, they must comply with the Australian Privacy Principles. Australian Privacy Principles quick reference | OAIC. You have the right to access your personal information under the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 and if needed, have it corrected. View - Personal Information Protection Act 2004.
You can access your personal information by:
Both the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 and the RTI Act define personal information in the same way: information or opinion in any recorded format about an individual whose identity is apparent or is reasonably ascertainable from the information or opinion: and who is alive or has not been dead for more than 25 years.
You can access the personal information of someone else if you have their authority to do so. The agency or minister that holds their personal information will let you know what proof they need.
Most agencies have arrangements in place for you to access your personal information if you ask. So, try contacting the agency first and asking for access to it.
If you want access to non-personal information, try searching the website of the agency that holds the information. An agency may often make some statistics and data sets available for public use and re-use and may also make them available on their website. If you can’t find the information on the agency’s website, contact the agency. They may supply the information if you ask.
Here are some links to other government websites;
Tasmanian Department of Health | Tasmanian Department of Health
Department for Education, Children and Young People
Department of Treasury and Finance | Treasury and Finance Tasmania
The RTI Act also requires an agency to publish certain types of information, including routinely accessed information and operational information on disclosure logs.
If you want access to information that an agency hasn’t published, you can make an RTI request. If your RTI request includes information that may be exempt under the RTI Act, such as someone else’s personal or business information, then the agency may have to consult them before deciding to disclose the document.
An agency doesn’t need to keep all its documents forever. They send documents they’re required to archive to the Office of the Tasmanian Archives under the Archives Act 1983 View - Archives Act 1983.
The State Library and Archives of Tasmania has some useful information.
Services Tasmania may also have information for you.
Before making a right to information RTI request, check if the information you want is already available on the website of the agency you think holds the information. For example, the Department of Premier and Cabinet actively disclosures information on the business of government. Or, if you want to access your personal information, try contacting the agency you think holds the information first. They may supply the information if you ask (without needing you to make an RTI request). Your request must be in writing
You must put your request in writing to the agency or minister that holds the document you want to access. Some agencies have an RTI request form on their website for you to complete and send to them. Here is the Department of Premier and Cabinet's RTI form. Application for assessed disclosure
When you write to the agency or minister:
You don’t need to give any reasons why you want the information.
Email or post your letter to the agency or minister’s address on their website. Here are the dedicated RTI email addresses for some government departments you might need to send your application to.
Department of Health rti@health.tas.gov.au
Department of State Growth rti@stategrowth.tas.gov.au
Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania right2info@nre.tas.gov.au
Department of Education Children and Young People RTI.PIP@decyp.tas.gov.au
Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management rti@dpfem.tas.gov.au
Department of Justice rti@justice.tas.gov.au
You can make an RTI application as long as it:
You don’t have to fill in a form to make an application as long as you satisfy the requirements above, however, to make the process easier, some government departments have their own forms for making an application. For example
Check the government department website that you are wanting the information from, as they will have a downloadable form.
The postal address for the Department of Premier and Cabinet to send your assessed disclosure application to is
Right to Information
Department of Premier and Cabinet
GPO Box 123
Hobart TAS 7001
Or email: righttoinformation@dpac.tas.gov.au
Public authorities or Ministers have a lot of information, so the more specific you can be about the information you want the better.
It helps to give the public authority or Minster as much information about your request as you can so that it can find the information you want more quickly. Useful information can include:
Just saying “I want my file” or “I want everything about me” can make searching difficult.
Contacting the public authority or Minister before you make an application can give you a guide about how to ask for the information you want. Make sure you have looked for the information before you make a formal application, because if the information is otherwise available your application may be refused without the return of your application fee.
The above application form should be used for both Department of Premier and Cabinet applications and for applications to the Premier, Minister for Planning, Minister for Science and Technology, and Minister for Local Government, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Minister for Veteran’s Affairs, Minister for Disability Services, Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Women, and Minister for Community Services and Development.
If you are not using the form, please note that your applications must be made in writing and include the information that is requested in the form - this is a requirement of regulation 5 of the Right to Information Regulations 2021.
There is an application fee of $47.75 for 2025 that must be accompanied with your application for assessed disclosure unless you are claiming a fee waiver.
Please check the website of the department you are wanting the information from as the payment details will be different.
The application fee payment details for Department of Premier and Cabinet or Ministers ONLY are below.
You may apply for a fee waiver if:
We will tell you within 5 days that we have received your request.
We will review your application to ensure it meets the minimum requirements according to the RTI Act. If you are seeking personal information, please include identification. We will check that the application fee is paid or if you are eligible for it to be waived
The Department will locate all information relevant to your request.
A delegated RTI Officer will assess this information against the RTI Act to see whether or not it can be provided to you. If your request is complex or is for a large amount of information, we have 10 working days to negotiate with you. We may ask to give us more time to complete the request. Other options may include splitting the request or releasing information in stages.
We may contact you to confirm the exact nature of the information you want or to transfer your request to a more appropriate public authority or Minister.
We may provide this information to you actively.
We may need to assess if the information is exempt under the Right to Information Act 2009.
A delegated RTI Officer has 20 working days to assess your application against the RTI Act. If the document contains information about a third party, we will need to consult them and may need to extend the time to give your decision by another 30 days. We may also seek your agreement to extend the time by up to 30 days if your request is complex.
If your request is complex or is for a large amount of information we may work with you to amend your request or ask you to grant us more time to make the decision.
We can refuse your application if our resources are unreasonably diverted but we will discuss this with you first.
We can refuse your application if we decide it is a repeat application or it is vexatious.
You will receive a written decision, called a Notice of Determination. If your request is refused, or part of it is refused, the notice will explain why this has happened.
If we do not provide you with a decision within the timeframe allowed you are entitled to apply to the Ombudsman for a resolution of the matter.
When we have decided about your RTI request, we will send you a letter explaining our decision and your review and appeal rights.
You can ask for the following decisions to be reviewed if we:
A third party who disagrees with our decision to give you documents that contain information about them can also ask for our decision to be reviewed.
If you disagree with the outcome of a decision, you may be able to request a review of that decision within 20 working days from the date you received your decision.
If you disagree with our decision on your RTI request, you have the right to apply for an internal review of the decision. An internal review will be conducted by another member of our staff who did not make the original decision.
If you wish to apply for an internal review, you must do so in writing within 20 days of receiving notice of our decision. There is no application fee for internal review.
If you disagree or you are still unhappy with the Department’s handling of your matter or the outcome of your internal review, you can apply to the Ombudsman within 20 working days for a resolution of the matter.
The Office of the Ombudsman can be contacted by telephone on (03) 6166 4566 or 1800 001 170 (cost of a local call outside the Hobart area) or by email at rti@ombudsman.tas.gov.au
A manual and guidelines published by the Ombudsman provide more detail on making requests under the Act and how they are processed by the agency to which the request is sent.
You can find past decisions of the Ombudsman here Right to Information Decisions.
You can view, download and print the Right to Information Act 2009 andRight to Information Regulations 2021 from the Tasmanian Legislation website.
These reports contain statistical information on right to information requests for all public authorities.
The Department may publish information it releases to you on its Disclosure Log.
We will do this if it is in the public interest to do so and supports the Department’s commitment to making information available to a wider audience.
We will not publish:
Your identity will not be published, however we will identify the category of applicant, such as Member of Parliament, media representative or private individual. Here is the link for past RTI decisions Department of Premier and Cabinet
Links to Department of Premier and Cabinet Routine Disclosure Logs Department of Premier and Cabinet