Freedom of Information and Privacy Unit
Role of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Unit
The Freedom of Information (FOI) and Privacy Unit manages FOI & privacy legislation for the Department of Corrective Services. That legislation being:
- Freedom of Information Act 1989 (FOI Act);
- Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998;
- Privacy Code of Practice (General) 2003;
- Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002;
- Workplace Surveillance Act 2005;
The Unit's main functions are to:
- Oversight and provide advice on FOI and privacy matters
- Process and determine applications and requests made under FOI and privacy legislation
- Prepare the half-yearly Summary of Affairs
- Prepare the yearly Statement of Affairs (available in the Department's Annual Report)
- Prepare and Update the Privacy Management Plan
- Prepare and update the Privacy Code of Practice
- Develop policies and procedures regarding FOI and privacy matters
Information about the FOI Act is available on the Department of Premier and Cabinet website, including the FOI Procedure Manual.
Detailed information about privacy legislation and matters can be found at the
Privacy NSW website.
The Department's Privacy Code of Practice is Part 5 of the Privacy Code of Practice (General) 2003
Documents
- Privacy Management Plan
- Freedom of Information Application Form
- Application for Review of Determination
- FOI Amendment Application Form
- Public Access to Records, Documents, Personal Information and Health Information - November 2007
- FOI and Privacy Unit Proof of Identity Policy
- Summary of Affairs
- Application for an Internal Review of Conduct
Contacts
Staff of the Unit can be contacted by telephone on:
- (02) 8346 1067
- (02) 8346 1359
- (02) 8346 1476
- (02) 8346 1329
The Freedom of Information and Privacy Unit is generally staffed between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm
Privacy Notice
The personal or health information that you provide to the Department of Corrective Services’ FOI & Privacy Unit may be used/disclosed for identification purposes, to process your application/request, and to process any appeals that you or others may make in regard to that application/request. Staff members of the Department of Corrective Services who process or store your application/request and any related appeals will view some or all of the personal information that you have provided.
You should be aware that senior staff of the Department and staff in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and the office of the Minister for Justice may be advised of the fact that you have lodged an application/request, the scope of your application/request, the results of your application/request and the details of any appeals.
In order for your FOI application for access to or amendment of documents to be accepted, section 17 of the FOI Act requires you to supply a postal address in Australia. Further, you may be required to provide such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the requested document to be identified and/or amended. In regard to an application for access to documents, if you provide no more personal information than that, your application will be accepted; however, where applicable, without proof of identity you will be charged the non-personal rate and will in all likelihood be denied access to documents that contain personal information. Further, in determining an application the decisionmaker may ask you to provide reasons for wanting the requested documents – you do not have to provide reasons but without those reasons the decision-maker may not be able to determine that it is in the public interest that you have access to the documents you seek.
In order for your privacy internal review application to be accepted, section 53 of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998, (PPIPA) requires you to specify an address in Australia. Without that information your application cannot be accepted.
In summary, you may refuse to provide personal or health information, as applicable. However, if you refuse to provide certain information, your application/request may not be able to be processed, or processed to the greatest benefit to yourself.
Under section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act 1989 (FOI Act) you have the right to apply to the Department of Corrective Services for access to any document held by it. Under section 39 of the Freedom of Information Act 1989 you may apply to the Department of Corrective Services to have any document held by it about you amended if you consider that the information contained in the document is incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading.
Under sections 14 and 15 of PPIPA you have the right to request access to, and correct, personal information about you that is held by this Department.
Nevertheless, section 20(5) of PPIPA provides:
“Without limiting the generality of section 5, the provisions of the FOI Act that impose considerations or limitations (however expressed) with respect to any matter referred to in section 14 or 15 are not affected by this Act, and those provisions continue to apply in relation to any such matter as if those provisions were part of this Act.”
This sub-section has the effect of importing into any decision regarding sections 14 and 15 of PPIPA (otherwise known as Information Protection Principles 7 and 8), provisions of the FOI Act, which impose considerations or limitations with respect to any matter referred to in sections 14 and 15. Those matters referred to in sections 14 and 15 respectively are as follows:
- Right of access
- Right of alteration
Accordingly, any request made under sections 14 and 15 of PPIPA will be largely processed as if it had been made under the FOI Act.
In addition, under clauses 7 and 8 of Schedule 1 to the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIPA), also known as Health Privacy Principles – HPPs 7 and 8, you may request access to your health information held by this Department, or request amendment to health information held by this Department.
Section 22(3) of HRIPA provides:
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“Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the provisions of the FOI Act that impose conditions or limitations (however expressed) with respect to any matter referred to in HPP 7 (Access to health information) or HPP 8 (Amendment of health information) are not affected by this Act, and those provisions continue to apply in relation to any such matter as if those provisions were part of this Act.”
Accordingly, any request made pursuant to HPPs 7 and 8, will be largely processed as if it had been made under the FOI Act.