You have a right to see government documents. Here is how it works in WA.
Anyone can ask a WA government agency, Minister or local council for documents, and you do not have to say why. This guide walks through the process, the deadlines, the exemptions and the fine print, using the law as at 1 July 2026 and 33 published Information Commissioner decisions.
10. Right of access to documents
(1) A person has a right to be given access to the documents of an agency (other than an exempt agency) subject to and in accordance with this Act.
(2) …a person's right to be given access is not affected by — (a) any reasons the person gives for wishing to obtain access; or (b) the agency's belief as to what are the person's reasons.
4. Agencies, duties of when applying Act
Agencies are to give effect to this Act in a way that — (a) assists the public to obtain access to documents; and (b) allows access to be obtained promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost…
ReleasedThe laws that open up WA information
The FOI Act is the main route, but it sits inside a wider set of laws. Some give you other ways in. Others decide who runs the system and what is protected. Select a card for detail.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
The Information Commissioner Act 2024 (WA) created an Information Commissioner for FOI and privacy, an Information Access Deputy Commissioner and a Privacy Deputy Commissioner. Open FOI complaints carried over. FOI Act pt 5A
The Privacy and Responsible Information Sharing Act 2024 (WA) started. It widened FOI's definition of personal information, replaced s 98, and added ss 67A and 98A. PRIS Act pt 6 div 2
Complaints and other notices can go to the Commissioner by email or the OIC's online system, and the Commissioner can reply by email. FOI Regulations reg 11
Published decisions now generally leave out individual applicants' names, except Members of Parliament, media and bodies of public significance.
The notifiable information breach scheme in the privacy Act is not yet in force. Its text is not in the 1 July 2026 compilation. PRIS Act pt 2 div 6
Which law fits what you want?
Answer a question or two. The suggestion points to the most direct route, which is not always FOI.
From asking to appealing, step by step
Seven stages, with the statutory hooks and the traps at each one. Use the arrow keys to move between stages.
What a valid application needs, and what it costs
The four legal requirements
- In writing. No particular form is required, although agencies may offer one. s 12(1)(a)
- Enough detail to identify the documents. Describe subjects, dates, people and places. s 12(1)(b)
- An address in Australia for notices. Add an email address for speed. s 12(1)(c)
- Lodged at an office of the agency with any fee. s 12(1)(e)
If you get it wrong, the agency must take reasonable steps to help you fix it. s 11(2)–(3)
Since 1 July 2026 a guardian or carer may apply for a child. For an adult who cannot apply because of disability, a person they choose may apply. If they cannot choose, a guardian, relative, de facto partner or another person with sufficient interest may. These options do not limit agency arrangements generally. s 98
Fees and charges estimator
Rates from the Freedom of Information Regulations 1993 (WA) sch 1, as at 1 July 2026. Agencies estimate the hours. This tool only shows how the rates add up.
Draft your application, review request or complaint
Fill in the fields and the letter updates as you type. Anything left blank shows as a red placeholder. Citations follow AGLC4.
The builder keeps nothing: the text stays on your screen until you copy it. Check agency names and addresses on the agency's information statement or website.
Deadline calculator
FOI time limits count calendar days. The day of the triggering event is day zero. If the last day falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day.
How the counting works, and its limits
Periods "after" a day exclude that day Interpretation Act 1984 (WA) s 61(1)(b). A deadline that falls on an excluded day moves to the next day that is not excluded s 61(1)(e). Excluded days are Saturdays, Sundays, public service holidays, and bank or public holidays throughout the State or in the relevant part of it s 61(2). Only the final day is tested: weekends in the middle still count.
The OIC guide Calculating Time and Days adds that a day ends at midnight, so an emailed document received late on the last day is in time. Post and hand delivery need to arrive during the agency's hours. If the fifth day after posting is an excluded day, the guide treats the notice as given on the next working day. One of its worked examples does not apply that rule. This calculator follows the stated rule.
WA public holidays are generated from the usual rules: New Year's Day, Australia Day, Labour Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Monday, Anzac Day, Western Australia Day, King's Birthday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, with additional days where they fall on weekends. These rules are not in the source material, and the King's Birthday date is set each year by proclamation. Check the official WA public holiday list.
Schedule 1: what can be withheld, and when it cannot
There are seventeen exempt-matter clauses. Some protect whole classes of information. Others need the agency to show likely harm. Several give way to the public interest.
Who has to prove what
The agency must justify its decision s 102(1). A third party opposing release must show access should not be given s 102(2). Where a clause says matter is not exempt if disclosure would be in the public interest, the applicant carries that onus s 102(3).
Exempt does not mean secret
Agencies "may" refuse exempt documents s 23(1) and can release outside the Act where proper s 3(3). The Commissioner, though, cannot order release of a document established as exempt s 76(4).
Edit, don't withhold
If an edited copy is practicable and you would want one, the agency must give it, even for a document covered by an exemption certificate s 24. Editing need not go so far as to leave a document unintelligible.
Public interest scales
An illustration of the three-step balancing the Commissioner uses for cl 3(6), cl 4(7), cl 6(1)(b) and similar tests: identify the competing public interests, weigh them, and decide where the balance lies. The factors come from the OIC's FOI Coordinator's Manual and recent decisions. The scale counts ticks only. A real decision weighs the strength of each factor. Public curiosity, and an applicant's purely private interest or litigation, carry little weight.
Favouring disclosure
Against disclosure
Your information, other people's information, and fixing records
Personal information is where FOI meets the new privacy law. Since 1 July 2026 both use the same, wider definition: information or opinion about an identifiable person, living or dead, including identifiers, location, behavioural and inferred information Glossary cl 1.
Getting your own information
- Free. No application fee and no charge for access to your own personal information. s 16(1)(d); reg 4
- A factor in your favour. That it is your information weighs for disclosure in any public interest or effect assessment. s 21
- Identity checks. The agency must check who you are and give it only to you or your nominated agent. s 29
- Medical and psychiatric information may be given to a registered medical practitioner you nominate, if direct access might seriously harm your health. s 28; reg 7
- Children and capacity. Access can be refused if not in the best interests of a child under 16 who lacks capacity, or of a person with a cognitive impairment. s 23(4)–(5) A parent could not apply for a capable 15-year-old who did not consent. [2026] WAICmr 14
- Mixed information. If your information is inseparable from other people's, the whole may stay exempt. [2026] WAICmr 1, 9, 21
Other people's information, and officers
- Prima facie exempt. Personal information about anyone else is exempt unless a limit applies. sch 1 cl 3(1)
- Consent needs evidence that the person agrees to FOI release. Appearing in court or swearing an affidavit is not consent. cl 3(5); [2026] WAICmr 10, 21
- Officers' prescribed details, meaning name, position, qualifications, job-description functions and things done in them, are generally not exempt. cl 3(3); reg 9(1)
- Only the agency's own officers fall in that limit. For others, the agency runs the public interest test, which usually favours naming officers acting in public roles. I v Department of Agriculture and Food [No 2] [2016] WASC 272; [2026] WAICmr 20
- Personal employment matters, such as leave or grievances, are protected. [2026] WAICmr 17
- Consultation. The agency must try to get the person's views before release, and defer release if they object. ss 32, 34
Correcting your records: Part 3 amendment
Who and what
You can apply to amend personal information that relates to you if it is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date or misleading. A dead person's nearest relative can apply for them. s 45(1)–(2) Not available where another law provides a way to amend, such as the births, deaths and marriages register. s 45(5); [2026] WAICmr 13
How
In writing, identifying the document, saying what is wrong and why, and the amendment wanted: alter, delete, insert or add a note. Free. Decided within 30 days. ss 46, 49(2), 53 Agencies cannot obliterate information or destroy a document without the Commissioner's certificate. s 48(3)
If refused
Ask for a notation or attachment recording your view. The agency must make it unless it is defamatory or unnecessarily voluminous, and must pass your claim on when it later discloses the information. ss 50–51 You can also seek internal and external review. ss 54, 65(3)
A disagreement does not make a record wrong. Contested clinical entries usually get a notation, not deletion. [2026] WAICmr 5 Amendment does not let you change an opinion someone else genuinely held. Re A and Heathcote Hospital (1994)
The privacy Act: what it adds from 1 July 2026
Privacy and Responsible Information Sharing Act 2024 (WA). It covers Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, public entities including local governments, and contracted service providers bound by a privacy clause ss 6, 14. It does not apply to the Corruption and Crime Commission, its Parliamentary Inspector or the Information Commissioner s 17.
| IPP | Principle | In one line |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collection | Collect only what your functions need, fairly and not intrusively, with a written record of purpose. Sensitive information needs extra grounds. |
| 2 | Use and disclosure | Use or disclose only for the primary purpose unless an exception applies, and only if fair and reasonable. |
| 3 | Information quality | Take reasonable steps to keep it accurate, complete and up to date. |
| 4 | Security | Protect it from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, and destroy or de-identify it when no longer needed, subject to other laws. |
| 5 | Openness | Publish a plain-language privacy policy, including whether automated decision-making is used. |
| 6 | Access and correction | Access and correction within 45 days. Does not apply to FOI agencies: requests to them become FOI applications. PRIS s 27; FOI s 98A |
| 7 | Unique identifiers | Assign or adopt identifiers only where necessary. |
| 8 | Anonymity | You can deal anonymously unless the law requires otherwise or it is impracticable. |
| 9 | Disclosure outside Australia | Only to recipients bound by substantially similar rules, with consent, or another listed ground. |
| 10 | Automated decision-making | Assess significant automated decisions, tell you they were used, and offer human intervention. |
| 11 | De-identified information | Protect it and do not re-identify it except in listed cases. |
Making a privacy complaint
- Complain to the agency first, through its complaints process, and keep its response. PRIS ss 82(2), 90(1)(a)
- Complain to the Information Commissioner in writing within 12 months of becoming aware of the conduct. Late complaints can be declined. s 90(1)(d)
- Conciliation comes first. Lawyers take part only if the Commissioner or conciliator allows. ss 95–97
- Orders can include compensation of up to $75,000, including for hurt feelings and humiliation. ss 98(3)–(4), 104
- Review of a determination, or of a decision to decline, goes to the State Administrative Tribunal. ss 90(5), 105
Where FOI and privacy cross
- The Commissioner can switch a matter between an FOI complaint and a privacy complaint. FOI s 67A; PRIS s 92
- No IPP overrides the FOI Act or the State Records Act. PRIS s 153(1)
- Documents an agency receives under an information sharing agreement cannot be sought from that agency under FOI. Ask the agency that shared them, and an application must be transferred there. PRIS s 213
- Exempt agencies: neither Act gives access, but FOI amendment rights remain. PRIS s 27; FOI s 98A(4)
- An IPP breach cannot be sued on in court. The complaint scheme is the route. PRIS s 152
Three levels of review, compared
| Internal review | External review | Supreme Court appeal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who decides | Another officer of the agency, not the original decision maker or their subordinate s 41 | Information Commissioner or Information Access Deputy Commissioner ss 97A–97B | Supreme Court of WA s 85 |
| Time to apply | 30 days. Late applications by the access applicant can be accepted s 40(2)–(3) | 60 days, or 30 for third parties. Late complaints can be accepted s 66(2)–(4) | Set by the Rules of Court s 85(7) |
| Grounds | Any decision listed in s 39(2) | Any decision listed in s 65 | Question of law only. Not deferral, charges or deposits s 85(1), (3) |
| Cost | Free s 44 | Free. Each party bears its own costs unless the Commissioner orders otherwise for unreasonable conduct s 84 | Court may order costs. An agency that appeals bears its own s 89 |
| Deadline to decide | 15 days, or deemed confirmed s 43(2) | 30 days unless impracticable s 76(3). In practice there is a backlog | No statutory period |
| Not available | Principal officer or Minister decisions; review decisions s 39(3) | Matters outside power, or frivolous, vexatious, misconceived or lacking substance s 67 | No other court review of FOI decisions s 103 |
"Documents cannot be found"
A s 26 notice is a refusal you can review. The Commissioner asks two questions:
- Are there reasonable grounds to believe the documents exist, or should exist, and are or should be held by the agency?
- If so, has the agency taken all reasonable steps to find them? Reasonable steps, not every possible step.
Give concrete reasons why the document was created and where it might be. General assertions will not prompt more searches. [2019] WAICmr 4; [2026] WAICmr 11, 18, 20
"Too much work"
A refusal to deal under s 20 must pass three tests, each answered yes:
- Did the agency take reasonable steps to help you narrow the application?
- Would the work still divert a substantial portion of its resources?
- Would that diversion be unreasonable?
Estimates must show their assumptions. Under-resourcing is no excuse. Applicants must cooperate in narrowing. [2026] WAICmr 16
Third parties
If your personal or business information is in documents someone else wants, the agency must try to consult you before releasing it ss 32–33. Respond on time: the OIC says a third party who does not respond loses involvement.
If release goes ahead over your objection, access is deferred while you seek review. You have 30 days for internal review, with no late applications, and 30 days to complain ss 34, 40(3), 66(3). You carry the onus s 102(2).
Inside an external review
1 · Assessment
The OIC checks the complaint is valid and notifies the parties. The agency notifies third parties where cl 3 or cl 4 is claimed s 68. The agency must produce complete copies of the disputed documents and its whole FOI file, including drafts. Legal professional privilege is no answer to production ss 75, 81(2).
2 · Investigation
Inquiries, meetings and often a compulsory conciliation conference ss 70–71. Bring a one-page summary and someone with authority to settle. Parties get the nature and content of adverse material, not copies of every submission Lee v Department of Health [2020] WASC 103. A preliminary view lets parties reconsider.
3 · Finalisation
A written decision with reasons, given to each party and published s 76(5)–(8). The agency then gives effect to it. The Commissioner may refer a question of law to the Supreme Court s 78, and may report an officer's misconduct in administering the Act s 79.
External review is a fresh look at the merits. Where a third party joins, or a scope agreement is applied strictly, the result can be less than the agency first offered. [2024] WAICmr 6; [2025] WAICmr 1
Offences that protect the system
| Conduct | Provision | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Concealing, destroying or disposing of a document to prevent access, whether or not an application has been made | FOI Act s 110 | $6,000 |
| Deceiving or misleading an officer to get someone else's personal or business information | FOI Act s 109 | $6,000 individual; $10,000 body corporate |
| Failing without reasonable excuse to give information, produce a document or attend when the Commissioner requires | FOI Act s 83 | $6,000 individual; $10,000 body corporate |
| An employee destroying a government record other than as the record keeping plan allows | State Records Act 2000 (WA) s 78(3) | $10,000 |
Officers who release documents in good faith believing the Act permits it are protected from defamation, breach of confidence and criminal liability ss 104–106.
What the Commissioner actually decided
Plain-English notes on 33 decisions in the source material: 27 from 2025 and 2026, and six earlier ones. Search, or filter by provision. Paragraph numbers in square brackets point to the decision.
Most 2025–26 decisions are published in note form only. Citations follow AGLC4. Where a decision has no medium neutral citation, the decision reference and date are given instead.
The fine print that changes outcomes
Points that are easy to miss, each tied to the Act or a decision.
FOI gives you documents, not answers
The Act gives access to existing documents. An agency does not have to create a document, a summary or statistics. One it makes as a courtesy sits outside the Act. s 10; [2026] WAICmr 18 Word your application around the records you think exist.
Your reasons don't matter to the right, but they can matter to the public interest
The right of access is unaffected by your reasons s 10(2). In a public interest weighing, though, a purely private purpose such as litigation adds little. FOI is not a substitute for subpoenas or discovery. [2026] WAICmr 1, 6, 17
Emails on personal accounts and phones can be caught
A "document of an agency" includes one in the possession or under the control of an officer in their capacity as an officer, and one the agency is entitled to access. Ownership and authorship do not matter. Glossary cl 4(1) Under the State Records Act, records on private accounts can be government records too.
Ministers' documents have their own test
A Minister's document is covered only if held in an official capacity and relating to the affairs of another agency that is not a Minister. It does not include documents of an agency the Minister is responsible for: apply to that agency instead. Glossary cl 4(2) Party-political documents are outside.
Courts are agencies, but only for administrative documents
A court is an agency, but judicial officers are not, and only documents about matters of an administrative nature are documents of the court. Glossary cll 3, 5 Documents held for the Commonwealth or another State are not documents of the agency. cl 4(3)
Not every statutory body is an FOI agency
A body established under a written law is an agency only if its public purposes appear in the statute and are exceptional, special or regulatory. WALGA was found not to be an agency. [2024] WAICmr 16
FOI overrides most secrecy provisions
Access is given despite secrecy provisions in other laws, unless the other law expressly says it applies despite the FOI Act. Officers do not commit an offence by complying. s 8(1)–(2) The secrecy provisions listed in Schedule 1 clause 14 still apply. s 8(3)
Narrowing your application can backfire
Agreeing to exclude "all commercial information" removed a whole exploration statement from scope. Agreeing to exclude third-party personal information removed whole grievance reports. [2025] WAICmr 1; [2026] WAICmr 22 Exclude specific details, such as contact numbers and signatures, not categories.
External review can leave you with less
The Commissioner decides afresh and can make any decision the agency could have made. s 76(1) Where a third party joined, documents the agency would have released in part were found wholly exempt. [2024] WAICmr 6
An exempt document can still be released, but not by order of the Commissioner
Agencies "may" refuse exempt documents and can release outside the Act where proper. ss 3(3), 23(1) The Commissioner and the Supreme Court cannot order access to a document established as exempt. ss 76(4), 87(3) At conciliation, asking an agency to exercise its discretion is legitimate.
FOI release is release to the world
Decisions treat disclosure under the Act as disclosure to anyone, which is why private information about others rarely comes out even when the applicant already knows much of it. [2018] WAICmr 2; [2026] WAICmr 17
The five-day postal rule works both ways
A posted application is lodged, and a posted notice is given, at the end of the fifth day after posting ss 12(4), 101(1). That date can be earlier if receipt on an earlier day is proved. Email avoids the uncertainty, and a day runs to midnight.
Refusing an extension gets you to review sooner
You do not have to agree to extra time. If the agency misses the permitted period, it is taken to have refused access and you can move to review s 13(2); [2025] WAICmr 5. It changes timing, not the merits.
Internal review isn't available for decisions by the agency head
If the principal officer or a Minister made the decision, go straight to the Commissioner s 39(3). The same applies to decisions on internal review.
Third parties get less time and no late internal review
Third parties have 30 days for internal review and 30 days to complain. Only access applicants can ask the principal officer to accept a late internal review application. ss 40(3), 66(3) The OIC says a third party who does not respond to consultation loses further involvement.
What agencies can and cannot charge for
Time charges cannot cover looking for lost or misplaced documents. Inspecting information statements and internal manuals is free. s 16(1)(a), (f) The Commissioner has held that receiving, searching, identifying and collating documents are not chargeable Re Hesse and Shire of Mundaring [1994] WAICmr 7. Charges are discretionary.
Destroying documents is an offence even before anyone applies
Concealing or destroying a document to prevent access is an offence "whether or not an application for access has been made" s 110. Destroying a government record outside the record keeping plan is a separate offence State Records Act 2000 (WA) s 78.
Officers of other agencies are treated differently
The prescribed-details limit covers only officers of the agency that received the application. For anyone else, the agency applies the public interest test, which usually favours naming officers acting in public roles. I v Department of Agriculture and Food [No 2] [2016] WASC 272; [2026] WAICmr 20
Documents of exempt agencies held elsewhere are fair game
A document that came from an exempt agency is still a document of the agency holding it. That agency must decide access under the Act and notify the exempt agency, which has no veto. s 15(8)
Shared government data is sought from the source
Documents an agency received under a privacy Act information sharing agreement cannot be obtained from that agency under FOI. Apply to the agency that shared them. An application to the recipient must be transferred. PRIS Act s 213
Internal manuals cannot be withheld as deliberative or privileged
Agencies must make their internal manuals available for inspection and purchase. Matter in them cannot be exempt under cl 6 or cl 7. ss 95, 97; sch 1 cll 6(2), 7(2)
Good-faith release protects the agency
Officers who release documents believing in good faith that the Act permits it are protected from defamation, breach of confidence and criminal liability. Release under FOI does not authorise you to republish. ss 104–106
Check your understanding
Terms of art
Sources and currency
Built from the legislation, Office of the Information Commissioner guidance and decisions supplied for this guide. Citations follow AGLC4.
- The FOI Act and Regulations are as at 1 July 2026. The Information Commissioner Act is as at 1 July 2025, and the privacy Act as at 1 July 2026.
- None of the OIC guides, including those marked "updated 13 August 2026", reflects the July 2026 changes such as ss 67A and 98A or online lodgement. Several are from 2001 to 2020. The FOI Coordinator's Manual says it is only partly updated.
- The Industrial Relations Act copy is as at 1 July 2022 and has since been amended.
- The privacy Act's breach notification provisions start on 1 January 2027 and are not in the compilation, so this guide does not describe them.
- Public holiday dates in the calculator come from the usual WA rules, not from the source material.
- The two 1994 decisions carry no medium neutral citation in the source files, so their decision references are used.
- This is general information, not legal advice.
A · Reports and guidance
- Office of the Information Commissioner (WA), Accessing Government Documents in Western Australia (Guide, 1 April 2023, updated 13 August 2026).
- ——, Calculating Time and Days (FOI Process Guide, 1 January 2018).
- ——, Consulting Third Parties during External Review (External Review Guide for Agencies, 1 January 2018).
- ——, Dealing with Personal Information about an Officer of an Agency (FOI Process Guide, updated 13 August 2026).
- ——, Dealing with Requests for Documents Related to an 'Exempt Agency' (FOI Process Guide, 1 October 2019, updated 13 August 2026).
- ——, Decisions of the Information Commissioner (External Review Guides for Agencies, Access Applicants and Third Parties, 1 June 2018).
- ——, Documents that Cannot Be Found or Do Not Exist (External Review Guide for Access Applicants, 1 February 2020).
- ——, Exchange of Submissions and Procedural Fairness (External Guide for Parties, undated).
- ——, Exemption Guides: Clause 4(2), Clause 4(3), Clause 6, Clause 7 and Clause 8 (October 2001; Clause 7 updated March 2009).
- ——, External Review Procedure Guide for Parties (Guide, 8 July 2026).
- ——, Freedom of Information in Western Australia: FOI Coordinators Manual (Version 2.8A, August 2026).
- ——, Information Statement Guidelines (1 January 2018).
- ——, Open by Design: FOI and Information Release in WA (Version 1.0, September 2022).
- ——, Preparing for a Conciliation Conference (External Review Guide for Parties, 1 January 2018).
- ——, Producing Documents to the Information Commissioner (External Review Guide for Agencies, 1 April 2020).
- ——, Queue Management Policy 2026 (Version 3, 21 July 2026).
- ——, Third Parties and Their Rights (FOI Process Guide, 1 January 2018, updated 13 August 2026).
- ——, Understanding the Conciliation Process (External Review Guide for Parties, 16 February 2026).
B · Cases
C · Legislation and instruments
- Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (Compilation No 122, 29 September 2026).
- Freedom of Information Act 1992 (WA) (as at 1 July 2026).
- Freedom of Information Regulations 1993 (WA) (as at 1 July 2026).
- Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA) (as at 1 July 2022).
- Industrial Relations (General) Regulations 1997 (WA) (as at 23 January 2025).
- Information Commissioner Act 2024 (WA) (as at 1 July 2025).
- Interpretation Act 1984 (WA) (as at 18 December 2025).
- Local Government Act 1995 (WA) (as at 26 June 2026).
- Local Government (Administration) Regulations 1996 (WA) (as at 1 January 2026).
- Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1971 (WA) (as at 1 July 2026).
- Privacy and Responsible Information Sharing Act 2024 (WA) (as at 1 July 2026).
- Public Sector Management Act 1994 (WA) (as at 26 June 2026).
- State Records Act 2000 (WA) (as at 25 September 2025).
- Public Sector Commissioner (WA), Commissioner's Instruction No 40: Ethical Foundations (commenced 2 October 2023).