Freedom of Information

FOI means you can apply for access to any document in our possession. Documents you can access include:

• hard copy or electronic records
• files
• maps or plans
• photographs, recordings, films or videotapes
• any other means of storing information.

Documents can include copies of whole documents or parts of or extracts from documents.

Many of our documents, such as minutes and agendas for Council and committees, annual reports, budget statements and rates assessment books are already publicly available.

It's not necessary to lodge an FOI application to gain access to these. You can view them by contacting or visiting us. Many of these resources are also available on our website.

While FOI aims to give you access to the maximum amount of information possible, a number of exemptions are necessary.

These are to make sure that the privacy of others is not unduly invaded or the proper administration of the Council is not unduly affected.

The types of documents that are exempt include (but are not limited to):

• historical records (where they exist)
• documents subject to legal professional privilege
• documents that lead to unreasonable disclosure of another’s affairs
• documents that contain information of commercial value relevant to Council or any other person, where disclosure could be reasonably expected to destroy or diminish the commercial value of the information.

Only documents held by the City of West Torrens are accessible.

You can chat with one of our accredited FOI Officers about what you need before lodging a request by contacting us on 8416 6333 or by completing our new online application process, it should only take about 10 minutes to complete. You can also download the FOI application form and visit our service centre to process your payment. Due to the current COVID-19 challenges our community faces, you're encouraged to use the online process however, our public facing service centre is here to assist you if necessary. Please contact us on 8416 6333 if you need assistance.

If you don’t want to use an application form, you can make a valid FOI request in writing as long as it:

• informs us that you’re making an application under the Freedom of Information Act 1991
• clearly states your name, address and a contact telephone number
• specifies the documents you would like access to or what matter they concern
• specifies whether the documents contain information about your personal affairs
• informs us what kind of access to the document you need (do you want to view the information or get a copy?)
• includes the application fee (via cheque, credit card or money order)
• specifies whether you are financially disadvantaged (please provide a copy of supporting documentation)
• is sent directly to our offices if you believe we hold the information.

FOI applications must be submitted along with an application fee. Additional charges may be levied as per the Freedom of Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations 2018 to process your request. These are scheduled as follows:

If the cost of dealing with your application is likely to exceed the application fee, you also may be asked to make an advance deposit payment.

If you're financially disadvantaged you can apply for a waiver of fees. You must provide evidence of financial disadvantage with your application.

Once we’ve received your written application, we have 30 days to respond. We must notify you within 20 days if we need more time than this and give you reasons for the extension.

Our accredited FOI Officer must not give access to a document unless they consult with all relevant third parties to seek their views about the disclosure. The other person has 30 days to seek a review of the decision. Access to documents may be deferred until consultation has taken place with all other parties and no documents in dispute will be released until the review period ends or until any review applications have been determined.

Our accredited FOI Officer will contact you in writing to inform you of the decision made about your FOI application. If you’re granted access to a document, we’ll make arrangements with you to give you that access.

Access to documents may be deferred until consultation has taken place with other parties and cannot be provided until the appeal period (30 days) has expired. If you’re refused access to a document, given partial access, or refused amendment of a document, you’ll be given written reasons for the decision as well as information about your rights of appeal.

If you are dissatisfied with our decision about your FOI application you can ask for an internal review by completing the FOI Internal Review of Determination Application Form.

You must lodge this application with us within the appeal period - 30 days after you’ve been notified of the decision to grant/refuse access to documents.

If you are still dissatisfied after the internal review you may consider an external review of the determination by the Ombudsman of South Australia or by the District Court.

Under FOI you can apply to have documents corrected if they are incomplete, incorrect, misleading or out-of-date. This must be in writing or you can complete the FOI Request for Amendment Form.

Write to:

Accredited Freedom of Information (FOI) Officer 
City of West Torrens Civic Centre
165 Sir Donald Bradman Drive
Hilton SA 5033

or:

Email the Governance Team or contact 8416 6333