❓ Dr. Constable asks about the frequency of government agencies using specific provisions of the Freedom of Information Act regarding access to documents. The Attorney General provides data on Section 28 but states data for Section 26 is not separately tracked.
AnsweredQoN 3007Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(a) how many times have Government agencies given access to a document to a suitably qualified person, but not to an applicant, pursuant to section 28 of the Act, in each of the years from 2000–2001 to 2006–2007; and
(b) how many times have Government agencies advised an applicant that access to a document cannot be granted, pursuant to section 26 of the Act, in each of the years from 2000–2001 to 2006–2007, on the basis that the agency is satisfied that the requested document:
(i) is in the possession of the agency but cannot be found; or
(ii) does not exist?
(b) how many times have Government agencies advised an applicant that access to a document cannot be granted, pursuant to section 26 of the Act, in each of the years from 2000–2001 to 2006–2007, on the basis that the agency is satisfied that the requested document:
(i) is in the possession of the agency but cannot be found; or
(ii) does not exist?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
17 March 2008
Response time
20 days
(a) Section 28 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1992
provides that medical and psychiatric information may in appropriate cases be provided to a suitably qualified person nominated by the access applicant rather than directly to the applicant, and that this will be sufficient compliance with the Act. Section 111(2) (b)(iv) of the Act requires the Commissioner to report annually to Parliament in relation to each agency the number of decisions to give access to a document in the manner referred to in section 28. According to data provided by agencies, the following statistics has been reported (Statistical Tables - Decisions Made - Outcome) by the Information Commissioner in her annual reports for the relevant years:
2000 - 2001: 19
2001 - 2002: 16
2002 - 2003: 22
2003 - 2004: 16
2004 - 2005: 12
2005 - 2006: 13
2006 - 2007: 22
(b) Section 26 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1992
provides that an agency may notify an access applicant that it cannot give access to a document because the document cannot be found or does not exist. Such notifications are considered to be decisions to refuse access and as such are subject to review and appeal. These decisions are included in the data of decisions by agencies to refuse access in the annual statistics reported by the Information Commissioner. The Act does not require that agencies must identify and report to the Commissioner the number of notifications made under section 26 of the Act and accordingly this data is not separately available.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Freedom of Information Act 1992
provides that medical and psychiatric information may in appropriate cases be provided to a suitably qualified person nominated by the access applicant rather than directly to the applicant, and that this will be sufficient compliance with the Act. Section 111(2) (b)(iv) of the Act requires the Commissioner to report annually to Parliament in relation to each agency the number of decisions to give access to a document in the manner referred to in section 28. According to data provided by agencies, the following statistics has been reported (Statistical Tables - Decisions Made - Outcome) by the Information Commissioner in her annual reports for the relevant years:
2000 - 2001: 19
2001 - 2002: 16
2002 - 2003: 22
2003 - 2004: 16
2004 - 2005: 12
2005 - 2006: 13
2006 - 2007: 22
(b) Section 26 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1992
provides that an agency may notify an access applicant that it cannot give access to a document because the document cannot be found or does not exist. Such notifications are considered to be decisions to refuse access and as such are subject to review and appeal. These decisions are included in the data of decisions by agencies to refuse access in the annual statistics reported by the Information Commissioner. The Act does not require that agencies must identify and report to the Commissioner the number of notifications made under section 26 of the Act and accordingly this data is not separately available.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.