Access to Information

What is the Right to Information?

The Right to Information Act 2009 (Tas) commenced on 1 July 2010 and provides for greater access to information held by government and public bodies by:

1. Authorising and encouraging greater routine disclosure of information held by public authorities without the need for requests or applications;
2. Authorising and encouraging greater active disclosure of information held by public authorities in response to informal requests without the need for applications;
3. Giving members of the public an enforceable right to information held by public authorities; and
4. Providing that access to information held by government bodies is restricted in only limited circumstances which are defined in the Act.

King Island Council is a public authority.

Why do we have a Right to Information Act?

Section 3 of the Act includes this statement of the objects of the Act:

• The object of this Act is to improve democratic government in Tasmania –
  • (a) by increasing the accountability of the executive to the people of Tasmania; and
  • (b) by increasing the ability of the people of Tasmania to participate in their governance; and
  • (c) by acknowledging that information collected by public authorities is collected for and on behalf of the people of Tasmania and is the property of the State.
• This object is to be pursued by giving members of the public the right to obtain information held by public authorities and Ministers.
• This object is also to be pursued by giving members of the public the right to obtain information about the operations of Government.
• It is the intention of Parliament –
  • (a) that this Act be interpreted so as to further the object set out in subsection (1); and
  • (b) that discretions conferred by this Act be exercised so as to facilitate and promote, promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost, the provision of the maximum amount of official information.

How do I get access to information?

King Island Council is required by the Right to Information Act 2009 (Tas) to make information available to the public through proactive disclosure, this means we are to routinely make information available which will assist the public in understanding what it is we do and how we do it.

This may be done via our website or through publications (eg fact sheets or discussion papers) via reports (eg our Annual Report).

Some information is not released in this way, either because it is not of general public interest or because it is information the Council would need to assess against the exemptions in the Right to Information Act 2009 (Tas) prior to disclosure.

If you have been unable to access the information you are seeking on this website or through customer services 03 6462 9000, kicouncil@kingisland.tas.gov.au or the information is not freely available, you make an application for assessed disclosure by completing an application form: Right to Information Act 2009 – Application for Assessed Disclosure.

Please refer to Council’s Right to Information Policy for further detail about where and how to find information, how we are able to assist with accessing information and, where necessary, assist you to make an application for assessed disclosure.

Right to Information Manual and Guidelines

The Manual and Guidelines will provide you with a little more detail on making requests under the RTI Act and how they are processed by the agency to which the request is sent.

These are available on the Office of the Ombudsman’s website www.ombudsman.tas.gov.au

Related Acts and Regulations

You can view, download and print the following Acts and Regulations made available by the Tasmanian Legislation Online website.

Right to Information Act 2009 (Tas)

https://www.legislation.tas.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2009-070

Right to Information Regulations 2010 (Tas)

https://www.legislation.tas.gov.au/view/whole/html/asmade/sr-2010-051

The Public Interest Disclosures Act (Tas) (the Act) was passed by parliament on 25 June 2002.  It is an Act to encourage and facilitate disclosures of improper conduct by public officers and public bodies, to protect persons making those disclosures and others from reprisals, to provide for the matters disclosed to be properly investigated and dealt with and for other purposes.

Public bodies need to ensure they appropriately assess serious complaints from staff and contractors to determine if the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002 (Tas) applies.

A disclosure can only be about serious or significant improper conduct.

Improper conduct includes reprisal against someone who makes a protected disclosure.

What can a disclosure be about?

It needs to be about ‘improper conduct’, which includes:

• illegal activity;
• corrupt conduct;
• endangering public health, safety or the environment;
• misusing or wasting government funds;
• maladministration; and
• breaches of professional codes of conduct.

A disclosure can only be about serious or significant improper conduct.  The Ombudsman has issued a guideline to assist in understanding what that means.  This document is an important guide when assessing a disclosure.  It can be found on the Publications of the Ombudsman Tasmania website www.ombudsman.tas.gov.au

Improper conduct also includes detrimental action (reprisal) by a public officer or public body against someone who makes a protected disclosure under the Act.

King Island Council is a public body as defined under the Act.

The right to make a disclosure

The right to make a disclosure under the Act is given by Section 6 of the Act. That states:

6. Disclosures about improper conduct or detrimental action

(1) A public officer who believes that another public officer or a public body –

(a) has engaged, is engaging or proposes to engage in improper conduct in their capacity as a public officer or public body; or

(b) has taken, is taking or proposes to take detrimental action in contravention of section 19 –

may disclose that improper conduct or detrimental action in accordance with this Part.

(2) A contractor who believes that the public body with which the contractor has entered into a contract –

(a) has engaged, is engaging or proposes to engage in improper conduct in its capacity as a public body; or

(b) has taken, is taking or proposes to take detrimental action in contravention of section 19 –

may disclose that improper conduct or detrimental action in accordance with this Part.

Please refer to Council’s Public Interest Disclosures Policy for further detail.

A form to assist in making an application is available here.

Related Acts and Regulations

You can view, download and print the following Act made available by the Tasmanian Legislation Online website.

Public Interest Disclosures Act 2002 (Tas)

https://www.legislation.tas.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2002-016