Right to information and information privacy | Redland City Council
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Right to information and information privacy

Your right to information

Redland City Council is committed to providing the community with open and transparent access to information in relation to its services, activities and business operations. To fulfil our commitment, we operate in accordance with the requirements of the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) and the Information Privacy Act 2009 (IP Act). The RTI Act promotes the release of information by Council unless this information is exempt, or its release would be contrary to the public interest.

Quick links

What is Right to Information and Information Privacy?

The Right to Information Act (RTI Act) gives people the right to access documents held by Council that are not usually publicly available and contain information that is 'non-personal'.

The RTI Act also gives you a right to access and amend your personal information.

The Information Privacy Act (IP Act) outlines how Council manages your personal information. 

Find out more about how we manage personal information by viewing our Privacy statement.

How do I access information held by Council?

Before starting the application process, check to see if the information is already available. Most information on our website can be viewed or downloaded free-of-charge.

If you are having difficulty accessing documents from our website, you can contact us to request access to the information in another suitable format, such as hard-copy, via email or OneDrive. If there are any copying fees or other charges, we will let you know prior assisting with your request.

You can use any of the following methods to find information:

Making an application for access to documents through a formal process

Sometimes, we can only release documents through the formal RTI process. 

If the documents you are wanting to access are not available via another means (even if a charge is applicable) you will need to make a formal access application under the RTI Act.  If you have any questions, please contact us prior to submitting an application. In some cases, there may be another way of giving you access to the documents you want, without having to make a formal RTI application.

Applications to access documents held by Council under the RTI Act are made by completing our new, easy to complete online application form.

If you are unable to access the online version of the form, please print and complete the Right to Information Application form [PDF, 0.2MB] and send to our postal address at PO Box 21, Cleveland, 4163. 

Applications to amend your personal information can be made in writing, or by completing the Information Privacy Personal Information Amendment Form [PDF, 0.1MB].

Fees and charges

On 28 May 2024, Council started charging a portion of the bank surcharges we incur when payments are made using a card. To avoid this surcharge, payment can be made via BPAY. Any processing charges, payable in response to a Charges Estimate Notice (see below) will be incurred at the time of that payment.

Further details about this charge are available here: Credit and Debit Card Surcharge.

RTI applications for Council held information that is 'non-personal'.

Charges are set by the State Government - for 2025/26 the application fee is $57.65.

Applications can be made using our new, easy to complete online application form.  While we continue testing the payment link included in the new form, the current options to lodge and pay the application fee, where applicable, are:

  • Complete, submit and pay in person at one of our Customer Service Centres - pay via cash, Eftpos or credit card; or
  • Complete and submit electronically – an officer from the Ethics & Integrity Unit will contact you to arrange payment of the fee, if applicable, over the telephone - pay via Eftpos or credit card.

Processing charges apply if your application takes more than five hours. For 2025/26 the fee is $8.95 for each 15 minutes, or part thereof, spent processing your application ($35.80 per hour). Council will provide you with a charges estimate notice if this is going to be applicable.

  • If you have a healthcare card or a concession card, a request in writing can be made to have the processing and/or access charges waived.
  • We provide documents free of charge via email or OneDrive. If you require printed copies of the documents an A4 black and white photocopy is $0.25 per page.

RTI applications for your personal information only

  • You do not pay an application fee or processing charges.
  • You need to provide identification 

We provide documents free of charge via email or OneDrive. If you require printed copies of the documents an A4 black and white photocopy is $0.25 per page.

How long will it take to process the application?

The RTI Act allows Council 25 business days to process an application, but this can be extended in some circumstances, for example:

  • If you provide only a postal address on your application, this will add an additional 5 business days to the timeframe
  • If we need to consult with third parties; or
  • The size and complexity of your application and current workloads within the unit.

Decision reviews

If you are dissatisfield with the decision, you can apply for:

Apply for an internal review using the form.

Disclosure log

Documents released in response to applications made under the RTI Act are contained in our Disclosure Log.

Certain information, such as personal information or information otherwise excluded by law from release will have been redacted prior to release, so will not be contained in the documents available to download.   

Accessing released documents from our Disclosure Log

To access released documents, select the Disclosure Log period from the list below, then select an application file to download the documents. If you have any questions, or need assistance, you can contact us by phone or email:

Ethics & Integrity Unit
Phone: (07) 3829 8811
Email ethics.integrity@redland.qld.gov.au 

Disclosure Logs by financial year are available below.

Complaints and disclosure of personal information

Definitions:

  • Complainant – the person making the complaint
  • Respondent – the person the complaint is about and who Council is investigating
  • Disclosure – providing or releasing personal information to a third party

What is personal information?

Under the IP Act, personal information means "information or an opinion about an individual who is reasonably identifiable from the information or opinion - (a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and (b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not’.

Requesting complaint documents

If you have made a complaint or have had a complaint made about you, the following will assist if you are now applying to access documents about that complaint.

Council collects personal information as part of its statutory responsibilities and standard business practices including to investigate and assess complaints. Information is collected in accordance with the IP Act and Queensland Privacy Principles (QPPs) so personal information will not be disclosed unless you gave consent, or the disclosure is required or authorised by law.

Disclosing another person’s personal information or information that can establish that person’s identity has been found in some cases to be contrary to the public interest. It is unlikely you will be given access to all documents, only documents that contain your personal information and procedural documents.

Information regarding the progress of an investigation by Council

Often a complainant will want to be kept informed of the progress of an investigation by Council, however, providing information about the investigation can involve disclosure of personal information.

At the start of an investigation, the investigating officer may advise the respondent that it is Council’s usual practice to disclose information about the progress of the investigation, and its outcome, to the complainant.

The respondent is encouraged to contact the investigating officer if they have any concerns about the information likely to be disclosed.

More information

Detailed information about Right to Information and Information Privacy is available on the following websites:

Related links

External websites

Quick guide – Right to Information Applications

Council Documents

Personal Information only

Council Documents

  • Any Council document

Personal Information only

  • Only documents about the applicant

Council Documents

  • Processing charges payable per 15 minutes if over five hours
  • Applicant will receive charges estimate notice
  • May be waived for pensioner.

Personal Information only

  • No charges

Council Documents

  • May be charges for printing
  • Free if provided electronically via email or OneDrive

Personal Information only

  • May be charges for printing
  • Free if provided electronically via email or OneDrive

Council Documents

  • 25 business days
  • May request extension
  • Longer if third party consultation needed

Personal Information only

  • 25 business days
  • May request extension

Council Documents

All documents related to the issue, with text removed (where exempt or contrary to the public interest).

Personal Information only

Only documents which relate to you, with other information removed.

Standard secure format – PDF document

No. Council protects the identity of complainants. Please see our Complaints web page (under what happens to the documentation section) and our Information Privacy Policy [PDF 33kB] for more information.

Council Documents

Yes, but broad RTI applications are difficult to process and can be expensive for applicants.  The more specific the application, the faster and more accurate the search and results will be.

Personal Information only

Yes, but only the documents about the particular issue that are about you will be considered.

Depending on what documents you request, you may find that some pages or parts of pages have text removed. This is because the decision maker must consider legislative requirements that may apply to each document. Types of information commonly removed are: personal information of another person, legal advice and business or commercial information.