Annual Report 1999-2000: Appendix 4

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to 1999 - 2000 Annual Report Contents

Annual Report 1999 - 2000

Appendix 4

Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information
Act gives the general public legal access to government documents.

Freedom of Information
statistics

During 1999-2000,
the Commission received the following 31 requests for access to documents
under the Freedom of Information Act:

• 29 access requests
  to documents relating to complaints; and
  
  
  
• 2 related to
  administrative matters.

A total of 32 applications
were processed, including the resolution of applications from 1998-1999.

Categories of documents

Documents held by the Commission
relate to:

• administration
  matters, including personnel, recruitment, accounts, purchasing, registers,
  registry, library records and indices;
  
  
  
• conciliation
  matters, including the investigation, clarification and resolution
  of complaints;
  
  
  
• legal matters,
  including legal documents, opinions, advice and representations;
  
  
  
• research matters,
  including research papers in relation to complaints, existing or proposed
  legislative practices, public education, national inquiries and other
  relevant issues;
  
  
  
• policy matters,
  including minutes of Commission meetings, administrative and operational
  guidelines;
  
  
  
• operational
  matters, including files on formal inquiries; and
  
  
  
• reference materials,
  including press clippings, survey and research materials, documents
  relating to conferences, seminars and those contained in the library.

Freedom of Information procedures

Initial inquiries
about access to Commission documents should be directed to the Freedom
of Information Officer by either telephoning (02) 9284 9600 or by writing
to:

Freedom of Information
Officer

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

GPO Box 5218

| Sydney NSW 1042

Procedures for dealing
with Freedom of Information requests are detailed in section 15 of the
Freedom of Information Act.

A valid request
must:

• be in writing;
  
  
  
  
• be accompanied
  by a payment of $30 application fee;
  
  
  
• include the
  name and address of the person requesting the information;
  
  
  
• specify the
  documents to be accessed; and
  
  
  
• be processed
  within 30 days of receipt.

Some documents are
exempt from public perusal under the Freedom of Information Act. Where
documents are not accessible by the applicant, valid reasons will be provided.
The Commission's decisions about accessibility of documents may be reviewed
by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The general public
can obtain Commission publications and information from offices listed
in Appendix 4.

Purchasing

The Commission's
purchasing procedures address a wide range of purchasing situations, allowing
managers to be flexible when making purchasing decisions whilst complying
with government key purchasing objectives including: - value for money;
- open and effective competition; - accountability and reporting; - national
competitiveness and industry development; and - support for other Commonwealth
policies.

Last
updated 1 December 2001.