AITKEN WILSON LAWYERS > Current Issues - Business and Companies

The Queensland Government's new freedom of information (FOI) regime under the Right to Information Act 2009 and the Information Privacy Act 2009 commenced on July 1. The new system differs from the previous FOI regime in a number of respects, including:

• Applications must now be made on an approved form available from www.rti.qld.gov.au;
• Evidence of identity is required for applications seeking personal information of an individual (details of acceptable evidence are contained in the Right to Information Regulation 2009 and the Information Privacy Regulation 2009);
• If acting as an agent, evidence of authorisation to act as an agent as well as evidence of identity is required under section 24 of the Right to Information Act 2009 and section 43 of the Information Privacy Act 2009;
• Correspondence for the applicant will be directed by the processing agency to the address for notices nominated in the application form.

Additional information is available on the website located at www.rti.qld.gov.au and the Office of the Information Commissioner's website at www.oic.qld.gov.au.