Right to Information

What is Right to Information?

The Right to Information is the Queensland Government's approach to giving the community greater access to information.

The Queensland Government has made a commitment to provide access to information held by the Government, unless on balance it is contrary to the public interest to provide that information.

• The Right to Information Act 2009 (PDF)
• The Information Privacy Act 2009 (PDF)

We have arrangements in place for the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women to manage RTI and Information Privacy applications made to our department.

More information about Right to Information is available on:

• The Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women’s RTI website, including contact information
• the Queensland Government RTI website.

[ Return to top ]

Accessing information

Information about the department's services and business operations is provided in many of our corporate documents, which are available through our publication scheme. We also make available information already released through RTI in a disclosure log.

Publication scheme - published information

Our publication scheme describes and categorises information which is routinely published by the department. In most cases, this information is available online and can be accessed directly from the publication scheme.

Disclosure log - released Right to Information requests

Our disclosure log provides information of wider public interest that has been released under the Right to Information Act 2009.

Open data

The Queensland Government’s Open Data Revolution aims to make as much government data as possible freely available to the public to support the development of innovative solutions and real improvements to the way government services are delivered. The department publishes datasets on the Open Data portal.

Administrative release

We make particular information available free of charge through administrative release, including information relating to ‘time in care’ and ‘redress'.

(In May 2007, in response to the recommendations of the Forde Inquiry, the Queensland Government established the $100 million Redress Scheme to acknowledge the abuse or neglect suffered by children placed in Queensland institutions by providing ex-gratia payments to those who were harmed.)

To find out more information on these schemes, please refer to the contact information on the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women’s RTI website.

Subpoena and other notices of the court

If a court proceeding is on foot, parties to the proceeding can access the department’s documents via subpoena or other orders of the court (for example, Notices of Non-Party Disclosure or Notices to Produce). Discuss the option of accessing documents via subpoena or similar notice with your legal representative and contact the Registry of the relevant court or tribunal to have a notice issued to the department.

To find out more information about how notices of the court are managed, please refer to the contact information on the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women’s RTI website.

Formal access applications

To access other information, you may need to make a formal application under the Right to Information Act 2009 or the Information Privacy Act 2009 - if it relates to your personal information (see ‘Applying for information’ for more information).

[ Return to top | Return to section ]

Applying for information

Where the information you require is not available on our publication scheme or disclosure log, you may make an application under the Right to Information Act 2009. Where the information you require is your own personal information, you may make an application under the Information Privacy Act 2009.

We recommend that you contact the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women's RTI team prior to lodging a formal application.

[ Return to top ]

Enquiries and feedback

If you have any enquiries or feedback regarding Right to Information, notices of the court (including subpoenas) or administrative release, please refer to the relevant contact information on the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women’s RTI website.

[ Return to top ]

• Publication scheme

  The publication scheme describes and categorises information routinely available from the department.

• Disclosure log

  The Right to Information Act 2009 requires agencies to publish information and documents on RTI disclosure logs.