review

Anyone who is aggrieved by a decision regarding the release of government information can ask for a review.

What sorts of decisions are reviewable?

A range of reviewable agency decisions is set out in the GIPA Act (Part 5, Division 1):

(a) A decision that an application is not a valid access application,

(b) A decision to transfer an access application to another agency, as an agency-initiated transfer,

(c) A decision to refuse to deal with an access application (including such a decision that is deemed to have been made),

(d) A decision to provide access or to refuse to provide access to information in response to an access application,

(e) A decision that government information is not held by the agency,

(f) A decision that information applied for is already available to the applicant,

(g) A decision to refuse to confirm or deny that information is held by the agency,

(h) A decision to defer the provision of access to information in response to an access application,

(i) A decision to provide access to information in a particular way in response to an access application (or a decision not to provide access in the way requested by the applicant),

(j) A decision to impose a processing charge or to require an advance deposit,

(k) A decision to refuse a reduction in a processing charge,

(l) A decision to refuse to deal further with an access application because an applicant has failed to pay an advance deposit within the time required for payment,

(m) A decision to include information in a disclosure log despite an objection by the access applicant (or a decision that the access applicant was not entitled to object).

What are the rights of review?

There are a number of review rights under the GIPA Act outlined in Part 5.

If someone is refused access to information, they have a number of options. They may seek an internal review through the agency to which they originally applied for the information.

They may approach the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) for a review of the agency’s decision.

They may also go to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal to request a review.

If the person seeking the review was the applicant for access to the information, they can choose which review option to take.

If the person seeking the review was not the applicant, but was for example, a third party whose information will be released, they may seek an internal review or review by the ADT. If a third party wants the Information Commissioner to review the decision, they must seek internal review first.

.