Right to Information and Information Privacy
Access to Council Documents
- Right to Information Legislation
- Your Right to Information
- How do I Access Information
- Making an Application
- Third Party Consultation
- Lodgement and Payment
- Amendment of Records
- Appeal Rights
- Further Information
- Your Privacy
- Disclosure Log
- Publication Scheme
Right to Information Legislation
The Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) and the Information Privacy Act 2009 (IP Act) aim to make more information available, provide equal access to information across all sections of the community and provide appropriate protection for individuals' privacy.
The right to information gives you the right to access information held by public sector agencies in Queensland, unless there is an exemption or justification for it not to be provided. You have a right to access personal and non-personal information held by Government under the RTI Act. You have a right to access and request amendment of your personal information held by Government under the IP Act.
This legislation replaces the former Freedom of Information Act 1992.
Further information about Whole of Government policy and the relevant legislation is available from the Right to Information website.
Your Right to Information
In accordance with the requirements of s.21 of the RTI Act, Council has prepared and adopted a Publication Scheme that sets out the kinds of information that Council should make routinely available. The information provided through the Publication Scheme replaces the Statement of Affairs published under s.18 of the Freedom of Information Act 1992.
Please note that the Publication Scheme documents are not the only documents that Council must make available. Other documents held by Council are discoverable unless legislative or other appropriate protections, including personal information or commercially sensitive material for example, apply.
How do I Access Information
Check to see if the information you are looking for is already available from Council's:-
- Publication Scheme document – Council's Publication Scheme document helps you find information which is routinely published by Council. In most cases, this information is available online and can be accessed directly from the Publication Scheme.
- Disclosure Log – released Right to Information requests – in the disclosure log, you will find details of non-personal information released under the Right to Information Act 2009. The RTI Act 2009 came into effect from 1 July 2009.
- Website – try using the search function on the website located at the top right of the screen or try using the advanced search.
- Administrative Access – contact Council if the information is not available in any of the abovementioned formats. We will then determine if Council holds and can release the information administratively. We may require you to make an RTI request to access the information.
Current employees are entitled to access their own employee records. For details on how to apply for administrative access to employee records, please refer to the People and Performance Section on phone 07 4761 5300.
Making an Application
If you are seeking information held by Council that is not available through the Publication Scheme and which Council cannot release without application, you will be requested to submit a Right to Information request on the application form below. The procedure to be followed in lodging an information request is located on the Right to Information website.
Fee and Charges apply for applications under the RTI Act - for the current fee, please view the following page: RTI Fees and Charges.
Council has 25 business days in which to provide applicants with a decision regarding access for information. There are some factors that can alter this limit as per s.69 of the RTI.
Third Party Consultation
If the documents requested contain information which may reasonably be expected to be of concern to a government, agency or relevant third party, then the documents may not be released until consultation with the third party occurs. Should consultation be required, a further 10 business days is added onto the timeframe to allow for this.
Lodgement and Payment
Applications can be submitted in the following forms:
By post addressed to:
The Chief Executive Officer
Charters Towers Regional Council
PO Box 189
Charters Towers QLD 4820
In person at the following office:
Administration Office, 12 Mosman Street, Charters Towers
Opening hours are Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4:00pm.
Payment can be made in the following forms:
- Cheque
- Eftpos and Credit Card Payment
- Cash (do not send through the mail)
Amendment of Records
A person may apply to Council for an amendment of information relating to their personal information that they claim is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date or misleading.
An application for an amendment of information must be done with the application form for Information Privacy Amendment and identify what information they claim is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date or misleading. The application should also state the amendments necessary for the information to be accurate.
Appeal Rights
If you are unhappy with a decision on your application, you have a right to ask for an internal review except where the decision is made by the Chief Executive Officer, Charters Towers Regional Council.
If you are not satisfied with the internal review decision, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner for an external review.
Further Information
You can find out more about the Right to Information or Information Privacy Principles on the Queensland Government's Right to Information website.
You can find out more about how the Charters Towers Regional Council manages personal information by perusing Council's Privacy Statement.
Your Privacy
Council's privacy statement is designed to protect your rights and govern the use of information on this website.
Privacy statement
Council will take all reasonable and appropriate steps to protect the privacy of individuals as required by the Information Privacy Act 2009 and the Information Privacy Principles contained in that Act.
Collecting your personal information
When collecting your personal information, Council will:
- tell you for what purpose we will be collecting the information
- tell you what information is necessary to access Council's products and services, including payments and transactions
- tell you when the information needs to be passed on to Council's contractors and agents who carry out activities on Council's behalf
- not ask for or collect any sensitive information about you unless it is necessary to meet legal, public interest or statistical requirements
- not pass the information on to other entities without your consent unless it is required by law or for public interest
Using your personal information
When you provide Council with your personal information, Council will:
- use the information to help you use Council services
- gather the data for analysis
- remove personally identifiable characteristics, unless you have given us specific consent to recognise your usage on an individual basis
Disclosing your personal information
Council will not disclose your personal information to any other person or organisation unless one of the following reasons applies:
- you have given us your consent to do so
- Council is required by law or authorised to do so under a law
- there are grounds to believe disclosure will prevent a threat to life or health
- that person or organisation is providing a service to Council and is required to maintain the same or similar privacy legislation principles
- Council is of the opinion that it is unable to assist with your request and that another government agency or authority is more capable of assisting, or has the appropriate jurisdiction to assist with your request
Security of your personal information
When handling your personal information, Council will:
- take reasonable steps to ensure that all information we collect, use or disclose is securely stored
- monitor transmissions sent to or from Council for quality control and systems administration
- strive to protect your personal information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access
- operate secure servers to minimise the risk of unauthorised use of your credit card information