The Right to Information Act 2009 commenced on 1 July 2010 and provides the public access to information held by government bodies.
Under the Act the City or Clarence is required to make information available to the public. We do this by routinely making information available that help the public better understand what we do and how we do it.
We share information on our website, through publications (info sheets, meeting agenda documents), our Annual and Quarterly reports and by talking to us.
Some information is not released in this way, either because it is not of general public interest or because it is information the council would need to assess against the exemptions in the Right to Information Act 2009 .
If you can’t find the information you’re seeking on the Council’s website or in any of our publications, please contact us.
Applications for assessed disclosure
To make an application for assessed disclosure, an application form is available from council by contacting by phone 03 6217 9500 or by email clarence@ccc.tas.gov.au.
Applications are to be addressed to head of Governance, Clarence City Council, PO Box 96, Rosny Park 7018 or emailed governance@ccc.tas.gov.au.
The minimum information you are required to provide for assessed disclosure is:
- Your name.
- Your postal or email address to be used for communication on matters relating to the application.
- Your contact details for business hours.
- General subject matter of your application.
- Details of the information you are seeking, including all relevant dates and time periods that may relate to the information being sought, if they are known to you.
- Details of any efforts you have made to find the information from any other publicly available source.
- If you are seeking personal information, proof of your identity.
- The application will need to be signed and dated by you.
Any application will need to be accompanied by the applicable application fee. The fee is prescribed under legislation and indexed annually – As of 1 July 2024, it is $46.75.
There are select circumstances where the application fee may be waived. These circumstances are for financial hardship, Parliamentarians, journalists and if the information is in the public interest or benefit. Proof of any of these grounds must be included in the application and will be subject to approval.
What will we do once we have your application?
- Your application will be checked to make sure we have the information we need and that you have paid the application fee.
- If we are not best placed to provide you with the information your application may be transferred to another public authority.
- Before your application is accepted, we may need to contact you to ask you about your application in order for us to clearly understand your request.
- Your application will then be assessed against the Right to Information Act 2009and we will let you know the outcome of that process in writing.
- You will be notified of the decision on your application for assessed disclosure as soon as practicable, but normally this should occur within 20 working days of the application being accepted.
- If your request is complex or for a large amount of information, we may ask you to give us more time.
- If there is a need to consult with a third party about their business affairs or about their personal information, more time is automatically allowed for and we will let you know the outcome as soon as practicable, but no later than 40 working days – we will let you know if this is happening.
- If the application or part of the application is refused, then the reasons for the refusal to provide the information will be provided. You will have a right to seek a review of the decision.