The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) provides the community with the right of access to documents held by Australian Government agencies.

This right of access is limited only by certain exceptions and exemptions, which are contained in the FOI Act. Under the FOI Act, to request access to information an application must:

1. be made in writing
2. state that the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act
3. provide enough information about the document(s) for a responsible officer of the agency to indemnity it (them)
4. provide an address in Australia at which notices under the FOI Act may be sent to the applicant.

Freedom of information requests should be sent to:

The FOI Officer

C/- Legal Services

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

PO Box 1379

TOWNSVILLE QLD 4810

Australia

Alternatively, they can be lodged via email to FOI [at] gbrmpa.gov.au.

Freedom of information requests can also be delivered to the Authority’s Townsville office at Northtown, 280 Flinders Street, Townsville, Queensland, 4810.

If the applicant decides to proceed with a request, charges may also be payable for the time spent searching for and retrieving relevant documents, decision making time, photocopying and postage, etc. In the event that the Authority decides that an applicant is liable to pay a charge for processing a request, the applicant would be notified of the preliminary assessment of the charge and have the opportunity to contend that the charge should not be imposed, or should be reduced.

If any difficulty arises in identifying a document or in providing access in the form requested, an officer of the agency will contact the applicant to resolve the difficulty. In consultation with the applicant, documents will be made available by mail to the address specified by the applicant or at the official freedom of information access point.

The authorised decision-makers in respect of a request made under the FOI Act for the agency are the Chief Executive Officer, the general managers, the director of legal services and the senior legal officers.

Documents released under the FOI Act are listed on the agency’s disclosure log, located at www.gbrmpa.gov.au/home/freedom-of-information-requests/foi. This does not include those documents excepted under section 11C of the FOI Act.

Freedom of information operations

During the 2018–19 financial year, the agency received 15 requests for access to documents under the FOI Act.

Of those, four applications were granted full access, three applications were granted partial access, three applications were withdrawn, three applications were refused and access was deferred for two applications.