Your Rights to Information and Privacy
Did you know that you have the right to access information held by Council?
What is Council doing? - Council’s Publication Scheme
What is Right to Information?
What Does RTI Cover?
What is Information Privacy Act?
What does the IP Act Cover?
How to make an RTI application
How to make an IP application or amend personal details
Did you know that you have the right to access information held by Council?
Cairns Regional Council collects and stores information about the region, properties, land, individuals, even animals. New legislation supports your access to much of this information, while maintaining appropriate access restrictions for personal or confidential information.
Much of this information is available on Council's website or in freely available publications. You can also make requests to access information if you can’t find what you are looking for, and as long as it is not personal, access will be granted.
On 1 July 2009 legislation changed. The new legislation includes the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI) which replaces the old Freedom of Information Act 1992 (FOI), and the Information Privacy Act 2009 (IP) which replaces the former information standards. The new Acts now cover access to Council Information: the RTI Act covers non-personal applications and the IP Act is for access to personal information or to change personal details held by Council.
What is Council doing? - Council’s Publication Scheme
The RTI Act requires Council to publish a list of information on its website that is routinely available to residents, known as a 'publications scheme'. The information in the publication scheme is grouped into seven classes:
For a full list of Council services, projects, strategies and policies see the A-Z list.
The Queensland Government recognises that the public has a right to know the information that is created and used by government on their behalf.
The Solomon Report recommended, and the Queensland Government accepted, the need for a “push model” of proactively releasing information rather than waiting for the public to “pull” information under legislation such as the FOI Act.
The Right to Information reforms mean increased public access to government information. Access to information using legislation such as the Right to Information Act (RTI Act) and Information Privacy Act (IP Act) should be a` last resort’. RTI promotes a culture of openness, accountability and transparency, balanced with appropriate protection for certain information, including personal information. In practice, this means that information will be released unless, on balance, its release is contrary to public interest.
The RTI Act covers document of a non-personal nature that cannot be accessed from another source for example Council’s internet.
RTI Application
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Public Documents
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What is Information Privacy Act?
The Information Privacy Act 2009 (the IP Act) contains two sets of privacy principles, which regulate how personal information is collected, secured, used and disclosed by Queensland public sector agencies. There are 11 Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) for Queensland public sector agencies, and 9 National Privacy Principles (NPPs) for Queensland Health. Both the IPPs and NPPs are adapted from the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988. The IP Act sets out a limited number of situations where the privacy principles will not apply, such as for law enforcement purposes.
The IP Act also provides a formal mechanism for a person to apply to access or amend their own personal information. This mechanism, which is set out in chapter 3 of the IP Act, is intended to be a last resort. Agencies are encouraged to provide informal (administrative) access and amendment options to people wherever practicable.
How to make an RTI application
How to make an IP application or amend personal details