• Home
• Courses & Careers
• Future Students
• International Students
• Business & Employers
• Schools
• Current Students
• Services
• About Us

How Do I Access Information?

Information held by government departments can be accessed in four key ways:

Publication Scheme

Provides access to non-personal information

A publication scheme assigns the agency key information sets in areas such as services, finances, priorities, decisions and policies. This could include things such as meeting agendas, minutes  and statistics. The purpose of the publication scheme is to increase transparency of government information. The Department of Education and Training's publication scheme is available at www.deta.qld.gov.au/right-to-information.

Disclosure Log

Provides access to information given out in response to a non-personal legislative application

A disclosure log is another method that enables the public to access information. The log contains information released through formal, non-personal Right to Information requests. It ensures that any information given out in response to a legislative application is made available to a wider public, not just the person that requested it. DET's disclosure log is located at www.deta.qld.gov.au/right-to-information/disclosure-logs.html. If you have been unable to find the information you are seeking on our Publication Scheme or Disclosure Log, please contact the Institute to discuss whether the information is able to be released under our Administrative Access Policy.

Please direct your enquiries to:

Administrative Access Scheme

Provides access to personal and non-personal information

The phrase ‘administrative access' or ‘administrative release' simply means providing information to a person in an informal way - it could be provided verbally over the phone, in an email, or by post, for example. It is a quick and simple way to give you information, without you having to resort to formal legal processes to obtain information. In the first instance, please contact:

• Sunshine Coast TAFE
  RTI request
  Strategy, Governance and Planning
  PO Box 5252 SCMC
  Nambour Qld 4560
  Telephone: 07 5459 3247
  Facsimile: 07 5459 3156
  Email: rti.scit@deta.qld.gov.au

If a TAFE Director (or their nominated officer) decides the information requested could not be provided administratively (for example, if there are commercial sensitivities), you will be instructed to complete a formal Right to Information Application.

Right to Information Applications

Provides access to personal and non-personal information

There will be situations where a member of the public seeks information that isn't available through the Publication Scheme, Disclosure Log or Administrative Access Scheme. If a TAFE Director (or their nominated officer) decides the information requested could not be provided administratively, you will be instructed to complete aFormal Right to Information Application and lodge it to:

• Manager, RTI and Information Privacy
  Legal and Administrative Law Branch
  Department of Education and Training
  PO Box 15033
  City East QLD 4002
  Telephone: 07 5459 3247
  Facsimile: 07 5459 3156
  
  Email: rti@deta.qld.gov.au

All applications under the RTI Act must:

• Be in the approved form and accompanied by the application fee;
• Give sufficient information concerning the documents to enable a responsible officer of the department to identify the documents;
• State an address to which notices under the RTI Act may be sent;
• [if you are also seeking access to your personal information]. Provide evidence of your identity within 10 business days
• [if you are an agent applying on behalf of someone else]. Provide evidence of your identity and evidence of your authorisation (e.g. court order) within ten (10) business days.

Under the RTI Act, applications under the RTI Act (whether non-personal or coupled with a request for personal information) incur the following charges:

• $38.00 application fee
• $23.20 per hour processing charge for applications taking longer than five hours to process
• $0.20 per A4 page access charges.

How long will it take to process an information access or amendment request?

You will receive acknowledgement of receipt of your request within 15 business days. The Institute is required to respond to your application within 25 business days of receipt. If consultation with another person or entity is required under the RTI Act or IP Act, another ten 10 business days is permitted to process the application. You will be advised if consultation is necessary. Also, if the decision maker needs more time to consider your application for other reasons, you will be notified and your permission will be requested to extend the processing period.

Applications made on behalf of children

Section 25 of the RTI Act and Section 45 of the IP Act provides that a parent or guardian of a child may make an application on behalf of the child for access to documents. In making an application pursuant under the RTI or IP Act, the parent or guardian must:

• Specify in writing that the application is made on behalf of the child
• State his/her name and the names of the child or children concerned; and
• Provide documents proving his or her identity and evidence of their relationship to the child or children concerned.

Access to or amendment of your ‘personal information'

'Personal informationi is information or an opinion, including information or an opinion forming part of a database, whether true or not and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion. The Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) (IP Act) provides safeguards for the handling of personal information in the public sector and allows access to and amendment of that personal information. If you wish to access documents held by Sunshine Coast TAFE containing your personal information or if you wish to amend the personal information that Sunshine Coast TAFE holds about you, we recommend you lodge a request by downloading and completing a Formal Right to Information Application and lodge it to:

• Manager, RTI and Information Privacy
  Legal and Administrative Law Branch
  Department of Education and Training
  PO Box 15033
  City East QLD 4002
  Telephone: 07 5459 3247
  Facsimile: 07 5459 3156
  Email: rti@deta.qld.gov.au

There are no application fees or processing charges for a personal information request or amendment under the IP Act. If you have had access to a document that contains your personal information and which is inaccurate, incomplete, out-of-date or misleading, please ensure that your application specifies:

• What particulars you wish amended
• Why you believe the information to be incomplete, incorrect, out-of-date or misleading
• The amendments you wish to make
• Your address and telephone number so you can be advised of the result of your application.

Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy | Right to information | Access keys | Other languages

Sunshine Coast Institute of TAFE  |  CRICOS Code 02004B
© The State of Queensland (Department of Education and Training) 2011.
Queensland Government