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• Home
• About Us
  • Role of the Information Commissioner
  • Customer Service Charter
  • Disability Access and Inclusion Plan
  • Events and important dates
    • 30 Years of Freedom of Information in WA
      • History of the OIC Website
      • Stories from OIC Annual Reports
      • The FOI Act in Hansard
      • Key note address to the FOI in WA Conference 2023
    • FOI in WA Conference 2023
      • Conference Handbook
    • Information Awareness Month
    • International Access to Information Day
      • International Access to Information Day 2020
      • International Access to Information Day 2021
      • International Access to Information Day 2022
      • International Access to Information Day 2023
      • International Access to Information Day 2024
  • Gift Statement
  • Information Access Commissioner networks
    • AIAC
    • ICIC
  • Media
  • Open Government
    • Open by Design Principles
      • Open by Design Guide
    • Information Access Studies
    • National Metrics about Information Access Rights
  • Our external review performance
    • Age of external reviews on-hand
    • External review activity summary
    • External review activity
  • Purchasing card statements
    • Purchasing Card Statements 2013/14
    • Purchasing Card Statements 2014/15
    • Purchasing Card Statements 2015/16
    • Purchasing Card Statements 2016/17
    • Purchasing Card Statements 2017/18
    • Purchasing Card Statements 2018/19
    • Purchasing Card Statements 2019/20
    • Purchasing Card Statements 2020/21
    • Purchasing Card Statements 2022/23
    • Purchasing Card Statements 2023/24
• For the Public
  • Role of the Information Commissioner
  • Steps for access applicants
  • Requirements for a valid access application
  • Is FOI my best option?
  • What documents can I ask for?
  • Can I get everything I want under FOI?
  • What is personal information?
  • Amendment of personal information
  • Who do I contact to ask for documents?
    • Accessing police & medical records
    • Local govt, public sector employment & prisoner records
  • How much does it cost?
  • Can others access information about me or my business?
  • Applying for documents during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • The public interest
  • Children and people with intellectual difficulties
  • How long should it take to deal with an access application?
  • What if the agency says it doesn’t have the documents?
  • Can the agency refuse to deal with my access application?
  • What if the agency delays making a decision?
  • Review of agency decisions
  • What happens in an external review?
  • Application form for external review
• For Agencies
  • Flowchart - Dealing with an access application
  • Thinking outside the FOI box
  • Key FOI principles for agencies
  • Key questions for decision-makers to consider
  • What is personal information?
  • Amendment of personal information
  • How long should it take to deal with an access application
  • The exemptions
  • Releasing documents that may be technically exempt
  • What if the documents cannot be found?
  • Large, complex or time-consuming applications
  • Calculating charges
  • Consulting third parties
  • What if there are many third parties to consult?
  • Writing a Notice of Decision
  • Repeated requests and unreasonable conduct
  • Information Statements and other required publications
  • What happens in an external review?
  • Making submissions to the Information Commissioner
  • Training for agencies
• Useful Resources
  • Publications
    • OIC Guidance
    • Annual Reports
    • Newsletters
    • FOI Research
    • Other
  • FOI Act 1992
  • FOI Regulations 1993
  • Decisions
    • Decisions Search
    • Noteform
    • Catchwords
    • Decs 1994-1999
      • Decisions 1994
      • Decisions 1995
      • Decisions 1996
      • Decisions 1997
      • Decisions 1998
      • Decisions 1999
    • Decs 2000-2005
      • Decisions 2000
      • Decisions 2001
      • Decisions 2002
      • Decisions 2003
      • Decisions 2004
      • Decisions 2005
    • Decs 2006-2014
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    • Decs 2015-2020
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      • Decisions 2019
      • Decisions 2020
    • Decs 2021-2025
      • Decisions 2021
      • Decisions 2022
      • Decisions 2023
      • Decisions 2024
    • Supreme Court Decisions
  • FOI & privacy in other jurisdictions
  • About our website
    • Accessibility
    • Contact us
    • Copyright
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy
    • Feedback
    • OIC sitemap
    • Making a complaint
    • Public Interest Disclosure
  • Act amendments
  • FOI training
    • Register for the FOI Fundamentals Series

Home

About Us

Role of the Information Commissioner

Customer Service Charter

Disability Access and Inclusion Plan

Events and important dates

Gift Statement

Information Access Commissioner networks

Media

Open Government

Our external review performance

Purchasing card statements

For the Public

For Agencies

Useful Resources

Media releases

 

Recent media releases

• 26/09/2024: IAID 2024 Joint Statement ‘Mainstreaming’ access to information a must for IAID 2024
• 18/06/2024: Report on the Culture of Freedom of Information in Australia, published by Monash University on 18 June 2024
• 16/11/2023: Association of Information Access Commissioners of Australia and New Zealand (AIAC) meeting communique - 3 November 2023, Perth, Australia
• 28/09/2023: Information Commissioners and Ombudsmen recognise importance of the online space in accessing information
• 27/09/2023: Results on Cross-Jurisdictional Community Attitudes Survey on Information Access 2023
• 26/07/2023: Celebrating 30 years of the Office of the Information Commissioner in Western Australia

 

Previous media releases

2021-2022

• 28/09/2022: Information Commissioners and Ombudsmen hail importance of enabling digital access
• 26/05/2022: Joint statement by Australian Information Access Commissioners and Privacy Authorities: Principles for nationally consistent approaches to accessing Stolen Generations records
• 30/09/21: Information Access Commissioners and Commonwealth Ombudsman release survey results on community attitudes
• 24/09/21: Information Access Commissioners and Ombudsmen make recommendation to support Open by Design Principles

2019-2020

• 30/10/20: 'The Accountability Agencies at Albert Facey House' article for Brief magazine
• 28/09/20: 'Information Can Save Lives': West Australian opinion piece by the Information Commissioner
• 28/09/20: International Access to Information Day 2020
• 06/05/20: COVID-19: The duty to document does not cease in a crisis, it becomes more essential
• 17/04/20: Transparency and access to information in the context of a global pandemic
• 30/09/19: Information Access Commissioners and Ombudsman release survey results on community attitudes
• 26/09/19: Right to Know essential to democracy in a digital world
• 16/07/19: Catherine Fletcher appointed Information Commissioner

2017-2018

• 21/09/18: Australia and New Zealand’s Information Access Commissioners join together in support of International Right to Know Day
• 27/11/17: Australian Information Access Commissioners and Ombudsmen release national metrics on FOI access rights
• 22/09/17: Appointment of acting WA Information Commissioner
• 21/09/17: Australia and New Zealand Information Access Commissioners unite for citizens’ Right to Know
• 29/08/17: Resignation of WA Information Commissioner

2015-2016

• 02/12/16: 250 years of FOI