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Freedom of Information

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The Freedom of Information Act 1992  (FOI Act) allows members of the public to access documents held by State and Local Government agencies. The FOI Act also allows the public to ensure their personal information held by State and Local Government agencies is accurate, complete, up to date and not misleading.

The FOI Act does not apply to information that is:

  • Available for purchase
  • Publicly available
  • Available for inspection (whether for a fee or charge or not)
  • A State archive
  • Publicly available library material held by agencies for reference purposes, or
  • Made or acquired by an art gallery, museum or library and preserved for public reference or exhibition purposes

The FOI Act defines a document as:​
a) any record; or
b) any part of a record; or
c) any copy, reproduction or duplicate of a record; or
d) any part of a copy, reproduction or duplicate of a record

Documents include (but not limited to):
  • Paper records, including correspondence
  • Electronic records including emails
  • Maps and plans
  • Diagrams and drawings
  • Photographs and videos

The Office of the Information Commissioner for Western Australia has a number of publications to assist the public in understanding Freedom of Information. They can be found on the Office of the Information Commissioner for Western Australia website.

If information is available under other legislation, then it should be obtained under that legislation rather than FOI. Examples include:
  • Building plans, building permits via Building Act 2011
  • Employee records via Industrial Relations Act 1979
  • Documents available for inspection via Local Government Act 1995

Application Information

How to Apply

All Freedom of Information applications must be in writing and cannot be accepted by phone.

Section 12 of the FOI Act states that applications must be lodged in writing, include an Australian address, and give enough information to identify the documents being requested.

A $30 application fee is applicable for non-personal information requests.

Applications can be lodged online via our website or by completing our Freedom of Information Application Form or in hard copy at our Civic Centre.

Payment of the application fee can be made via our website as part of the online application process or in person at our Civic Centre.

Online applications may be submitted via:

  • Online for non-Personal Information (which includes secure credit card payment of mandatory fees) - This is a request for any document or record containing information about a third party, commercial information or any other information which is not purely about yourself as the applicant.
  • Online for Personal Information only (no fees applicable) - This is a request for documents containing information or opinion which refers to yourself only. Proof of identity may be requested.
Fees and Charges

In addition to the $30 application fee, the Freedom of Information Regulations 1993 provide for charges which may be imposed by the agency in relation to the processing and preparation of your application.

Fees 
Application fee for non-personal information$30
Application fee for personal informationNo fee
Charges 
Charge for time taken by staff dealing with the application$30 per hour
Charge for access time supervised by staff$30 per hour
Photocopying$0.20 per page
Photocopying - staff time$30 per hour
Charge for time taken by staff transcribing  information from a tape or other device$30 per hour
Charge for duplicating a tape, film or computer informationActual cost
Charge for delivery, packaging and postageActual cost
Deposits 
Advance deposit which may be required by an agency under section 18(1) of the Act, expressed as a percentage of the estimated charges25%
Further advance deposit which may be required by an agency under section 18(4) of the Act, expressed as a percentage of the estimated charges75%

The FOI Act requires that a cost estimate be provided to applicants as soon as possible. This allows the applicant to either progress with the application or hold discussions with the agency to possibly reduce or amend the scope to bring the incurred costs down.

There is a 25% cost reduction of charges for financially disadvantaged applicants or those in receipt of pension or health benefits (proof may be required).

Timeframes of Applications

Section 13(1) of the FOI Act states that an agency is required to deal with an application as soon as practicable, but in any event, within the permitted period. Section 13(3) of the FOI Act states that the permitted period is 45 days.

If we determine that it will take longer than the permitted period to deal with the application, then we will consult with the applicant and negotiate an extension of time.

An applicant has 30 days in which they can lodge an application for internal review if they are dissatisfied with our decision. We must respond within 15 days.

An applicant has 60 days in which they can lodge an application for external review if they are dissatisfied with our internal review decision.

Please note all time limits are in calendar days and whereby the due date falls on a weekend or public holiday the next working day is considered as the due date.
 

Exemption Clauses
The FOI Act provides a general right of access to documents. It also recognises that some documents require a level of protection. Schedule 1 of the FOI Act cites the 15 exemption clauses.

The most regularly applied exemptions are:

Personal Information
Information that would reveal personal information about an individual (e.g. their name, contact details, signature) may be exempt under Schedule 1, Clause 3 of the FOI Act.

Business and Commercial Information
Information that would reveal trade secrets, information of a commercial value (e.g. documents containing technical designs that, if released, would harm the company) or the financial affairs of a person (e.g. debts owed to the City) may be exempt under Schedule 1, Clause 4 of the FOI Act. Information that could reasonably be expected to have a substantial adverse effect on the financial or property affairs of the State or an agency (e.g. income from a certain source) may be exempt under Schedule 1, Clause 10 of the FOI Act.

Deliberative Process of Government
Information that would reveal a decision made during a deliberative process closed to the public (e.g. confidential item at Council meeting) may be exempt under Schedule 1, Clause 6 of the FOI Act.

Legal Professional Privilege
Information that would reveal legal advice may be exempt under Schedule 1, Clause 7 of the FOI Act.
 
Information Statement

The Information Statement is published by the City of Melville in accordance with the requirements of Section 96(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 1992. The City of Melville is pleased to comply with the legislation and welcomes enquiries. An updated Information Statement will be published every 12 months. This statement was released in October 2024.

FAQs

  • A personal application is a request  for documents containing information or opinion which refers to yourself only. This can include job applications, correspondence between yourself and us or correspondence about you. Should a document within the scope of a personal application contain both personal and non-personal information, the non-personal information is likely to be removed from the document prior to release.

    A non-personal application is a request for any document or record containing information about a third party, commercial information, or any other information which is not purely about yourself as the applicant. Examples include complaints against a property, building plans and applications, and documents relating to dog attacks.

    Please note requests for documents relating to your property, business or pet are classified as non-personal applications as the Freedom of Information Act 1992 defines personal information as:

    information or an opinion, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual, whether living or dead - 
    (a) whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion; or
    (b) who can be identified by reference to an identification number or other identifying particular such as a fingerprint, retina print or body sample.

     

  • Access to documents can be by way of:

    • Inspection
    • Hard copy (photocopying charges may apply)
    • Electronically

    Where access to documents is sought by way of inspection, an appointment will need to be made with the FOI Coordinator and we retain the right to charge for the supervision of the inspection of the records as per the fees and charges outlined above.

    Copyrighted documents will be available for inspection only as per the Information Commissioner case determination in Penfold and Shire of Exmouth and Others, Re [2015] WAICmr8.

    Where we are unable to grant access in the form requested, access may be provided in a different form.

    Our preference is to release copies of documents electronically.

  • The FOI Act provides a review and appeal process for both applicants and third parties.

    You may seek an internal review or if you are still not satisfied, a review by the Information Commissioner and still further you can appeal to the Supreme Court.

    Internal Review
    If you are dissatisfied by a decision that we make concerning your application, then you can apply to us for an internal review of this decision.

    To apply for an internal review you must put your request in writing and lodge it with us within 30 days of being notified of the original decision.

    There is no charge for an internal review.

    We will respond to you within 15 days of your internal review application.

    External Review
    If you are still dissatisfied after the internal review has been completed, you may seek a review by the Information Commissioner.

    The request must be made in writing within 60 days of the original decision giving details of the decision to which your complaint relates.

    Note: if you are requesting external review as a third party or following an application for amendment of personal information, you must lodge your external review application within 30 calendar days after being given written notice of the internal review decision.

    Supreme Court
    Any party to a complaint may appeal to the Supreme Court on any question of law arising out of a decision of the Information Commissioner, except for a decision as to the deferral of access to a document, the charges to be imposed for dealing with an access application and the payment of a deposit on account of charges.

    The procedures relating to appeals to the Supreme Court are established by the Court.

    Information on these procedures can be obtained from the Office of the Information Commissioner.

  • An FOI application received by us may include documents which contain information about third parties, both personal and commercial.

    The FOI Act includes exemption clauses which allow certain information to be deemed exempt and removed from documents prior to their release. Third party personal information (Clause 3) and third party commercial information (Clause 4) are included in these exemptions.

    If we are proposing to release your personal information (either personal or commercial) then we must consult with you prior to its release to seek your view about the information and if it should be exempt.

    Following the consultation we can still release the documents containing your personal information against your wishes. We are required to provide you a written notice of decision outlining the reasons for the release. If this occurs, you have review rights under the FOI Act and the documents cannot be released to the applicant until these review rights are concluded.
  • Our Information Statement provides an overview of the types of documents held by us.
  • We have a number of documents available to the public outside of FOI. These documents are available in the following way:
    • Website
    • Hard copy via libraries and Civic Centre
    • Available for inspection under the Local Government Act 1995
    • Available for purchase under the Building Act 2011

    Further information can be found in our Information Statement.
  • Section 5.94 of the Local Government Act 1995  makes certain documents  held by a local government available for inspection. This includes "any rate record".

    To obtain a neighbour's name you can make a rate book enquiry to the City's Customer Service team. A statutory declaration will be required prior to inspecting the rate roll (rate book) to advise why you wish to obtain the information, examples include "to contact neighbour regarding a BA20".

    The City's Customer Service team can be contacted via melinfo@melville.wa.gov.au or on 9364 0666.

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The City of Melville acknowledges the Bibbulmun people as the Traditional Owners of the land on which the City stands today and pays its respects to the Whadjuk people, and Elders both past and present.

City of Melville nagolik Bibbulmen Nyungar ally-maga milgebar gardukung naga boordjar-il narnga allidja yugow yeye wer ali kaanya Whadjack Nyungar wer netingar quadja wer burdik.