Freedom of information (FOI)

We publish some information on our website for public access. You can also request access to documents we hold under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).

Your rights

The FOI Act gives any person the right to:

• access copies of documents we hold (except exempt documents)
• ask us to change or annotate your information if it's incomplete, out of date, incorrect or misleading
• seek a review of our decision to deny you access to a document or not to amend your personal record.

You can request access to any document we hold. We can refuse access to some documents or parts of documents that are exempt.

Exempt documents include:

• documents relating to national security
• documents containing material obtained in confidence
• Cabinet documents.

Make an FOI request

Submit your request

You can submit your application by email or post.

Your request must:

• be in writing
• state that the request is an application made under the FOI Act
• provide enough information about the documents you are seeking as is reasonably necessary to enable us to identify them
• provide a reply address.

Email

FOI@cer.gov.au

Pre-paid post

FOI Contact Officer
Legal Services and Governance
Clean Energy Regulator
GPO Box 621
CANBERRA ACT 2601

Fees and charges

There is no fee to:

• make a request
• request a review of a decision
• access documents that contain only your personal information.

Processing charges may apply to other requests. Find out what charges may apply on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) website.

After you submit a request

We'll let you know we have received your FOI request within 14 days.

An FOI officer will deal with your application as required by the FOI Act. An authorised decision maker will decide whether to give you access to the requested documents.

If a processing charge applies, we'll send you an invoice.

When we have made a decision about your request, we'll send you a letter explaining our decision with your review and appeal rights.

If you disagree with our decision

You can ask for a review of our decision if we:

• refuse access to all or part of a document
• defer access to a document
• impose a charge
• refuse to change or annotate information about you that you claim is incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading.

A third party can dispute a decision to grant someone else access to documents that contain information about them.

Internal review

You can contact us in writing and ask us to review our decision about your FOI request. A different decision maker will conduct the review within 30 days.

Information Commissioner review

If you're not happy with our decision, you can ask the OAIC for an Information Commissioner review.

Complaints

If you have any concerns with how we've handled your request, you can make a complaint with the OAIC.

FOI disclosure log

We're required to publish a log of the information we release to the public. This is subject to exceptions.

What we publish

We aren't required to publish information if:

• it's not reasonably practicable to do so
• it would involve the unreasonable publication of:
  • personal information
  • information about someone’s business, commercial, financial or professional affairs
• information the Australian Information Commissioner determines should not be disclosed.

FOI disclosure logs

We publish released FOI documents in yearly disclosure logs.