Request for access to documents under Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act)

​​The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) gives you a legal right to request access to documents held by the government.

What you can request

You can request access to any document in the possession of:

  • us (the department)
  • certain agencies, such as portfolio Ministers. 

We can refuse access to some documents, or parts of documents that are exempt. Exempt documents may include those relating to national security, documents containing material obtained in confidence and Cabinet documents, or other matters set out in the FOI Act.

Publicly available documents

Before making a request, check what is already publicly available:

How to make a request

You can submit an FOI request to us by either emailing foi@aff.gov.au or completing our online request form.

All FOI requests must:

  • be in writing
  • state the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act
  • provide information about the document(s) you want to access
  • provide an address for reply
  • state which agency your request is about.

We may ask you for further information if we don't know which documents you want to access.

Personal details

You don't have to give us your real name, or any name at all, or provide proof of your identity. We do need this to give you access to:

  • your own personal information or documents about your business affairs
  • information on behalf of another person with their consent.

FOI Request form

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) must be completed before you can submit your request.

Your details

Note: Please type in your email address correctly so you receive a copy of your request.
Post is my preferred method of receiving correspondence from the department.
(including area code and no gaps)

Your FOI request

I am requesting documents in the possession of:

Scope of request

Unclear or excessively large requests

We may refuse to process requests that are

  • unclear
  • would involve a substantial and unreasonable diversion of resources to process (eg too broad in scope or involve too many documents).

This is more likely to happen if your request is in general terms about a topic on which significant work has been undertaken.

This may be less likely to happen if you

  • are specific about the type of document or information you seek, and
  • provide a time frame for the document.

Details of documents

Please provide a detailed description of the document/s you are seeking in the fields below. (e.g. the decision brief about [x], emails, the letters between [x] and [y] about [z]).

Date range

Specify a date range and time if you seek documents over a period of time

Note: The end date can be no later than the date this application is received by the department.

Privacy Statement

By completing and submitting this form you consent to our collection of your personal or sensitive information (as defined in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)) and use and disclosure of it to administer your FOI request and related purposes. You are not required to provide your name or contact details beyond those required for us to send you notices and documents. However, this information may assist us to deal with your request more effectively. If you want to receive your personal information through FOI requests, we need to confirm that the information we release is to you or someone you have authorised to receive it. This website is hosted on a public ASD certified cloud service by GovCMS through a contract arrangement with the Department of Finance. Information submitted through this web form may be stored on GovCMS for a short period.

Your personal information is managed in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

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