Information about Council's community initiatives and support.
Information about Council's regular services and programs.
Information about doing business and investing in the shire.
Information about how Council operates.
Under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act), all government agencies, including Council, must disclose or release information unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure. When deciding whether to release information, staff must weigh the factors in favour of disclosure against the public interest factors against disclosure.
Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA ACT)
The new right to information system in NSW aims to foster responsible and representative government that is open, accountable, fair and effective.
Under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act), all government agencies, including Council, must disclose or release information unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure. When deciding whether to release information, staff must weigh the factors in favour of disclosure against the public interest factors against disclosure.
Unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure, Council must provide the information. There are some limited exceptions to this general rule, for example where dealing with an application would constitute a significant and unreasonable diversion of Council's resources.
The public interest test involves three steps:
Identify relevant public interest considerations for disclosure
The GIPA Act provides examples of factors that Council may consider in favour of disclosure. These are:
This is not an exhaustive list and Council may identify other factors in favour of disclosure. The Information Commissioner may also issue guidelines on additional considerations favouring disclosure.
Identify relevant public interests against disclosure
The Act provides an exhaustive list of public interest considerations against disclosure. These are the only considerations against disclosure that Council may consider in applying the public interest test. Considerations are grouped under the following headings:
The Act says that in applying the public interest test, Council are not to take into account:
Council must consider any submissions made by an applicant in relation to public interest considerations, as well as any factors personal to the applicant.
Assess if the public interest against disclosure outweighs the public interest in favour of disclosure, giving appropriate weight to each consideration
The identification of one or even several public interest considerations against disclosure is not sufficient justification to refuse to provide information. Council will make their decision after balancing the relevant considerations for and against disclosure. In each case, Council will consider a range a factors, including:
Council should refuse to disclose information only where, on balance, there is an overriding public interest against disclosure. Where considerations on balance favour disclosure, or are evenly balanced, the presumption in favour of disclosure stands, and information should be published or released.
Zingel Place
PO Box 492
Bega NSW 2550
Monday to Friday 9.00AM to 4.30PM
Administration building Zingel Place Bega
Australia
ABN: 26 987 935 332