New South Wales Consolidated Acts

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1989 - SECT 14

14 Publication of information concerning affairs of agencies

(1) The responsible Minister for an agency (other than a local authority):

(a) shall (within 12 months after the commencement of this section and at intervals of not more than 12 months thereafter) cause to be published, in such manner as the Minister administering this Act may approve, an up-to-date statement of the affairs of the agency, and

(b) shall (within 12 months after the commencement of this section and at intervals of not more than 6 months thereafter) cause to be published in the Gazette an up-to-date summary of those affairs.

(1A) The general manager of a local authority has, in relation to the local authority, the same functions under subsection (1) as the responsible Minister has in relation to an agency.

(2) A statement of the affairs of an agency shall contain:

(a) a description of the structure and functions of the agency, and

(b) a description of the ways in which the functions (including, in particular, the decision-making functions) of the agency affect members of the public, and

(c) a description of any arrangements that exist to enable members of the public to participate in the formulation of the agency’s policy and the exercise of the agency’s functions, and

(d) a description of the various kinds of documents that are usually held by the agency, including:

(i) a description of the various kinds of documents that are available for inspection at the agency (whether as part of a public register or otherwise) in accordance with the provisions of a legislative instrument other than this Act, whether or not inspection of any such document is subject to a fee or charge, and

(ii) a description of the various kinds of documents that are available for purchase from the agency, and

(iii) a description of the various kinds of documents that are available from the agency free of charge, and

(e) a description of the arrangements that exist to enable a member of the public to obtain access to the agency’s documents and to seek amendment of the agency’s records concerning his or her personal affairs, and

(f) a description of the procedures of the agency in relation to the giving of access to the agency’s documents and to the amendment of the agency’s records concerning the personal affairs of a member of the public, including:

(i) the designation of the officer or officers to whom inquiries should be made, and

(ii) the address or addresses at which applications under this Act should be lodged.

(3) A summary of the affairs of an agency:

(a) shall identify each of the agency’s policy documents, and

(b) shall identify the most recent statement of affairs published under this section, and

(c) shall specify the designation of the officer or officers to whom inquiries concerning the procedures for inspecting and purchasing the agency’s policy documents and statements of affairs should be made, and

(d) shall specify the address or addresses at which, and the times during which, the agency’s policy documents and statements of affairs may be inspected and purchased.

(4) Nothing in this section requires the publication of information that is of such a nature that its inclusion in a document would cause the document to be an exempt document.