Freedom of Information

_{Who can make a request?}

Anyone can make an FOI request. This right does not depend on whether you are an Australian citizen, an Australian resident or you live abroad, whether you are an individual or a corporation, whether you are in prison or some other form of detention, or whether you are a child or an adult.

You can also make a request to access certain documents through a less formal process known as administrative access. This process is separate from the FOI Act and may be quicker to process. Examples where it may be appropriate to request administrative access include:

• your own personal information (such as previous communications between you and the Commission)
• data or statistics that are not already available online
• policies and guidelines that are not already published on our website.

_{Fees and charges (for requests received from 9 February 2026)}

There is no application fee to make an FOI request and we will not charge for requests seeking access to documents containing only your personal information (such as a copy of your complaint file held by our Investigation and Conciliation Service).

For other types of requests, we may charge you for the work involved to process your FOI request.

The most common charges are:

• searching or retrieving documents – $15 per hour
• making a decision on your request – first 5 hours no charge, then $20 per hour
• photocopying – $0.10 per page
• preparing transcripts – $4.40 per page
• supervising document inspection – $6.25 per half hour
• posting or delivering documents – actual cost of delivery.

These charging rates are outlined in Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information (Charges) Regulations 2019 (Cth).

If we decide to charge you, we will send you a written estimate. In response, you can:

• agree to pay the charge
• ask us to reduce or waive the charge (for example, if you are experiencing financial hardship or if the request is in the public interest)
• withdraw your request.

If the estimated charge is:

• between $20 and $100 – we may ask for a $20 deposit
• over $100 – we may ask for a deposit of 25% of the total charge.

The processing time for your request is paused while we wait for your response to a charge notice or during third party consultation.

_{Contact from the Commission}

We will usually contact you within 14 days of receiving your FOI request.

A decision on your request will be provided within 30 days, unless an extension applies. The timeframe may be extended by 30 days if we need to consult with a third party about documents that contain their information. If your request is complex, we may also ask for your agreement to extend the timeframe by up to another 30 days.

_{Your rights to review our decision}

If you disagree with our decision, you can:

• request an internal review, where a different FOI officer at the Commission will reconsider the decision and make a new decision within 30 days of receiving your request
• request a review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner within 60 days of the date of the decision.

You can ask for a review if we:

• refuse to give you access to all or part of a document or delay access
• decide to impose a charge
• refuse to correct or annotate personal information you believe is incorrect, incomplete, out of date or misleading.

If a third party is affected by our decision to release documents that contain their information, they can also ask for a review.

_{How to make a request}

Send your FOI request to:

Email: foi@humanrights.gov.au

or by post to:

Freedom of Information Officer
Australian Human Rights Commission
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001

For more information on how to make an FOI request, refer to the guidance on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's website.

_{Disclosure Log}

You can view documents released under the FOI Act in our Disclosure Log. This includes information released in response to FOI requests, unless publication would be unreasonable or impracticable.

We are committed to ensuring everyone can access information under the FOI Act. If you need documents in an alternative format—such as large print, audio, or a language other than English—we will make reasonable efforts to provide them promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost to you.

_{Information Publication Scheme}

The Commission participates in the Information Publication Scheme (IPS), which promotes open access to government information. Our IPS Plan outlines the types of information we publish and how we make it available to the public. See further information on our IPS webpage.