RTI & Information Privacy

Matters involving the Right to Information Act 2009 and the Information Privacy Act 2009 are a significant feature of our practice.  We’ve been involved in all aspects of this work since the legislation became applicable to local government advising on RTI matters such as:

• the validity of requests;
• exemptions and refusals;
• methods of access;
• fees;
• internal reviews;
• the rights of third parties.

We’ve also frequently represented local governments in matters referred to the Office of the Information Commissioner of Queensland (OIC) for external review.

As for information privacy, our expertise extends to advising on the practical application of the information privacy principles to local governments including:

• requests for access to personal information;
• strategies for lawful collection of personal information;
• collection notices;
• data share arrangements between local governments and other public sector agencies;
• privacy considerations arising from the use of video recordings, photography and CCTV.