1 Citation [see Note 1]
These Regulations may be cited as the Freedom of Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations.
2 Interpretation
(1) In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears:
relevant agency, in relation to a request, means the agency to which the request has been made or is to be deemed, by virtue of section 16 of the Act, to have been made.
relevant Minister, in relation to a request, means the Minister to whom the request has been made or is to be deemed, by virtue of section 16 of the Act, to have been made.
the Act means the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
written document, in relation to a request, means a document other than:
(a) a document produced for the purposes of the request by an agency by:
(i) the use of a computer or other equipment that is ordinarily available to the agency for retrieving or collating stored information; or
(ii) the making of a transcript from a document held in the agency, being a document by which words are recorded in a manner in which they are capable of being reproduced in the form of sound or in which words are contained in the form of shorthand writing or in codified form; or
(b) a document that is an article or thing from which sounds or visual images are capable of being produced.
(2) In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears, a reference to the time spent by an agency or a Minister in searching for or retrieving a document does not include:
(a) where the document is not found in the place in which, according to the filing system of the agency or of the office of the Minister, as the case may be, (in this subregulation referred to as the ‘relevant filing system’) it ought to be located — any time other than such time as would have been spent by the agency or Minister in searching for or retrieving the document if the document had been found in that place; or
(b) where the relevant filing system ought reasonably to have indicated, but does not indicate, the place in which the document is located — any time other than such time as would have been spent by the agency or Minister in searching for or retrieving the document if the relevant filing system had indicated the place in which the document is located and the document had been found in that place.
(3) For the purposes of these Regulations, time spent by a person in searching for or retrieving an official document of a Minister shall be taken to be time spent by the Minister in searching for or retrieving the document.
3 Liability to pay charges
(1) Where an applicant has made a request for access to a document of an agency or an official document of a Minister, the agency or Minister may make a decision whether the applicant is liable to pay, in respect of the request or in respect of the provision to the applicant of access to the document, any of the charges applicable under these Regulations, other than an application fee.
(2) Where an agency or a Minister has, under subregulation (1), made a decision that an applicant is liable to pay a charge, then, except where regulation 8, 9 or 10 applies, the charge is payable by the applicant in the amount or at the rate fixed by, or in accordance with, the Schedule.
(3) A reference in items 2A and 6 of Part I of the Schedule to a maximum charge in respect of a request for access does not apply to an applicant:
(a) who is not an Australian citizen; or
(b) whose continued presence in Australia is subject to a limitation as to time that is imposed by law.
4 Charges applicable generally
Subject to these Regulations:
(a) the charges set out in Part I of the Schedule are applicable in respect of a request for access to a document; and
(b) the charges set out in Part II of the Schedule are applicable in respect of the provision of access to a document to which a request relates.
5 Application fees
For the purposes of subsection 4 (8) of the Act:
(a) an application fee of $30 is, subject to regulation 6, applicable in respect of an application under subsection 15 (1) of the Act; and
(b) an application fee of $40 is, subject to regulation 6, applicable in respect of an application under subsection 54 (1) of the Act.
6 Charges and fees not applicable in relation to certain documents
(1) In this regulation, prescribed benefit means a pension, allowance or benefit payable under:
(a) the Seamen’s War Pensions and Allowances Act 1940;
(b) the Social Security Act 1991;
(c) the Student Assistance Act 1973; or
(d) the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986;
and any payment of a like nature the purpose of which is to provide income support to persons of inadequate means.
(2) Regulation 4 does not apply in relation to a request for, or the provision of, access to a document:
(a) that contains information (in this subregulation referred to as ‘relevant information’) relating to a claim for, or a decision in relation to, the payment to the applicant of a prescribed benefit; and
(b) to which the applicant:
(i) has not, pursuant to a request, had access during the period of 3 months immediately preceding the day on which the first‑mentioned request was made; or
(ii) has, pursuant to a request, had access during the period referred to in subparagraph (i) but the contents of which, in so far as they relate to relevant information, have (whether by way of addition, omission or alteration) been modified in a material particular after the day on which the applicant last had, pursuant to a request, access to the document.
(3) Regulation 5 does not apply in relation to:
(a) an application under subsection 15 (1) of the Act requesting access to a document; or
(b) an application under subsection 54 (1) of the Act requesting the review of a decision relating to a request for access to a document;
being a document:
(c) that contains information (in this subregulation referred to as ‘relevant information’) relating to a claim for, or a decision in relation to, the payment to the applicant of a prescribed benefit; and
(d) to which the applicant:
(i) has not, pursuant to a request, had access during the period of 3 months immediately preceding the day on which the application referred to in paragraph (a) or the request for access referred to in paragraph (b), as the case may be, was made; or
(ii) has, pursuant to a request, had access during the period referred to in subparagraph (i) but the contents of which, in so far as they relate to relevant information, have (whether by way of addition, omission or alteration) been modified in a material particular after the day on which the applicant last had, pursuant to a request, access to the document.
8 Liability for charges where access may be provided in more than one form
Where:
(a) access to a document to which a request relates may be provided in any of 2 or more forms;
(b) the applicant has not requested access to the document in a particular form; and
(c) the amount of the charge or charges that, but for this regulation, the applicant would be liable to pay in respect of the request and the provision of access, in the form selected by the relevant agency or the relevant Minister, to the document exceeds the lowest amount (in this regulation referred to as the ‘prescribed amount’) of the charge or charges that the applicant would have been liable to pay in respect of the request and the provision of access to the document if access had been given in some other form;
the amount of the charge or charges that the applicant is liable to pay shall not exceed the prescribed amount.
9 Charges based on estimates of time etc may be fixed in certain cases
(1) Where, at the time (in this subregulation referred to as the ‘relevant time’) that an agency or a Minister proposes to notify an applicant under section 29 of the Act that he is liable to pay a charge in respect of the request that he has made for access to a document, the agency or Minister has not taken any or all of the steps necessary to enable the agency or Minister to make a decision on the request, the agency or Minister may fix, as the amount of the charge, such amount as would be the amount ascertained in accordance with the Schedule in respect of the charge if, at the relevant time, all steps that would, in the opinion of the agency or Minister, be necessary to enable a decision to be made on the request had been taken by the agency or Minister.
(2) Where, at the time (in this subregulation referred to as the ‘relevant time’) that an agency or a Minister proposes to notify an applicant under section 29 of the Act that he is liable to pay a charge (other than a charge in relation to which subregulation (3) applies) in respect of the provision of access to a document, the agency or Minister has not taken any or all of the steps necessary to enable the applicant to be given access to the document, the agency or Minister may fix, as the amount of the charge, such amount as would be the amount ascertained in accordance with the Schedule in respect of the charge if, at the relevant time, all steps that are, or would, in the opinion of the agency or Minister, be, necessary to enable the applicant to be given access to the document had been taken by the agency or Minister.
(3) Where:
(a) access to a document is to be given to an applicant in the form of an opportunity to inspect the document under the supervision of an officer; and
(b) the relevant agency or the relevant Minister makes a decision that the applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect of the period during which the officer is to supervise the inspection;
the relevant agency or the relevant Minister may fix, as the amount of the charge, such amount as would be the amount ascertained in accordance with the Schedule in respect of the charge if:
(c) at the time that the decision is made, the applicant had availed himself of the opportunity so to inspect the document; and
(d) the period during which the officer supervised the inspection was such period as is determined by the agency or Minister to be the period reasonably required for the inspection.
(4) Where an agency or a Minister has, in accordance with subregulation (1), (2) or (3), fixed an amount in respect of a charge that an applicant is liable to pay, the applicant is, subject to regulation 10, liable to pay the charge in the amount so fixed.
(5) In subregulation (3), a reference, in relation to a document, to an opportunity to inspect the document shall, in relation to a document that is an article or thing from which sounds or visual images are capable of being produced, be read as a reference to the arrangements made for the applicant to hear or view those sounds or images and ‘inspection’ shall, in relation to such a document, be construed accordingly.
10 Readjustment of liability for charges in cases where regulation 9 applies
(1) Where:
(a) an agency or a Minister has, in accordance with subregulation 9 (1), (2) or (3), fixed an amount in respect of a charge that an applicant is liable to pay; and
(b) after:
(i) in the case of a charge in respect of a request for access to a document — the agency or Minister has made a decision on the request;
(ii) in the case of a charge (other than a charge in respect of which an amount has been fixed in accordance with subregulation 9 (3)) in respect of the provision of access to a document — the agency or Minister has taken all steps necessary to enable the applicant to be given access to the document; or
(iii) in the case of a charge in respect of the provision of access to a document, being a charge in respect of which an amount has been fixed in accordance with subregulation 9 (3) — the applicant has had access to the document;
it is ascertained that the amount so fixed in respect of the charge does not equal the amount (in this regulation referred to as the ‘prescribed amount’) that, but for regulation 9, the applicant would, under these Regulations, be liable to pay in respect of the charge;
the agency or Minister shall, subject to subregulation (2), fix, as the amount of the charge, an amount equal to the prescribed amount.
(2) Where an agency or a Minister makes a decision not to grant a request for access to a document, the agency or Minister shall not fix, under subregulation (1), an amount in respect of a charge unless the prescribed amount in relation to the charge is less than the amount fixed in respect of the charge in accordance with subregulation 9 (1), (2) or (3), as the case may be.
(3) Where an agency or a Minister has, in accordance with subregulation (1), fixed an amount in respect of a charge that an applicant is liable to pay, the applicant is liable to pay that amount in respect of the charge in lieu of the amount fixed in respect of the charge in accordance with subregulation 9 (1), (2) or (3), as the case may be.
(4) Where an applicant is, under subregulation (3), liable to pay to an agency or Minister in respect of a charge an amount fixed in accordance with subregulation (1), then:
(a) if the applicant has, under subregulation 9 (4), paid to the agency or Minister in respect of the charge an amount that exceeds the first‑mentioned amount — the applicant is entitled to a refund in an amount equal to the amount of the excess; or
(b) if the applicant has, under subregulation 9 (4), paid to the agency or Minister in respect of the charge an amount that is less than the first‑mentioned amount — the amount so paid by him shall be deemed to have been paid as a deposit on account of the charge.
11 Charges to be paid before access is granted
(1) Subject to subregulation (2), where an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect of a request for access to a document or in respect of the provision of access to the document, the charge shall be paid to the relevant agency or the relevant Minister before access is granted to the document.
(2) Subregulation (1) does not apply to or in relation to a charge of a kind referred to in Item 1 of Part II of the Schedule except where the charge is payable in an amount fixed in accordance with subregulation 9 (3).
(3) In this regulation, ‘charge’ does not include a charge or any part of a charge that has been remitted.
12 Deposits
(1) Where:
(a) an agency or a Minister has made a decision that an applicant is liable to pay, in respect of a request or in respect of the provision of access to the document to which the request relates, a charge or charges other than a charge or charges applicable by virtue of regulation 6 or 7; and
(b) the amount, or the estimated amount, of that charge or of those charges exceeds $25;
the agency or Minister may make a decision whether the applicant is required to pay a deposit on account of the charge or charges that the applicant is liable to pay under these Regulations.
(2) Where an agency or a Minister has made a decision that an applicant is required to pay a deposit on account of the charge or charges that the applicant is liable to pay under these Regulations, the amount of the deposit is such amount not exceeding:
(a) where the amount, or the estimated amount, of the charge or charges exceeds $25 but does not exceed $100 — $20; or
(b) where that amount or estimated amount exceeds $100 — 25 per centum of that amount or estimated amount;
as is determined by the agency or Minister.
13 Applicant to be notified of liability to pay deposit
(1) Where, by virtue of a decision of an agency or a Minister, an applicant is required to pay a deposit on account of a charge or charges, the agency or Minister shall notify the applicant, in writing, accordingly and shall specify in the notification the amount of the deposit.
(2) A notification under subregulation (1) in respect of a deposit on account of a charge or charges shall be given to the applicant at the same time as the notification under section 29 of the Act in relation to the charge or charges is given to him.
14 Deposit not to be refunded
A deposit paid by an applicant on account of a charge or charges, or any part of such a deposit, shall not be refunded to the applicant otherwise than in compliance with a decision to remit in whole or in part the charge or charges.