The Inspector-General of Water Compliance fosters a culture of appropriate information sharing. The Inspector-General of Water Compliance:
- publishes information about itself, including anything required under s8(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982
- maintains this website to keep information current and accessible to the public.
Your rights under the FOI Act
The FOI Act(Opens in a new tab/window) gives any person the right to:
- access copies of any document the Inspector-General of Water Compliance holds (except exempt documents)
- ask the Inspector-General of Water Compliance to change or annotate personal information held about you if it is incomplete, incorrect or misleading
- seek a review of Inspector-General of Water Compliance decisions if you are refused access to a document or an amendment of your personal record.
Exempt documents
The Inspector-General of Water Compliance can refuse access to some documents, or parts of documents that are exempt. Exempt documents may include those that relate to:
- national security
- material obtained in confidence
- Cabinet papers
- other matters as set out in the FOI Act.
To see if what you are seeking is already available, you should also check the:
- Information Publication Scheme(Opens in a new tab/window)
- FOI Disclosure Log(Opens in a new tab/window)
Check before you request
The Inspector-General of Water Compliance takes an active approach to sharing information with the public. The Information Publication Scheme (IPS) details the types of information government must share.
The FOI Act provides that an agency must prepare an IPS agency plan. As an Australian Government agency, the Inspector-General of Water Compliance must meet these requirements.
You may contact the Freedom of Information Officer(Opens in a new tab/window) about the Disclosure Log.
Download
Information Publication Scheme: Inspector-General of Water Compliance Agency Plan (PDF 640 KB)
Information Publication Scheme: Inspector-General of Water Compliance Agency Plan (DOCX 690 KB)
If you have difficulty accessing this file, visit web accessibility(Opens in a new tab/window) for assistance.
How to make a request
Your request must:
- be in writing
- state that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act
- provide information about the document(s) you seek to assist the processing of your request
- provide an address for reply.
You can send your request:
- By email
foi@igwc.gov.au - By post
Inspector General of Water Compliance
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
PO Box 3090, Canberra City 2601, Australia
Fees and charges
There is no fee to apply for an FOI request but fees to enable access documents may apply.
Documents that contain only your personal information have no processing charge.
Processing charges may apply to other requests. The most common charges are:
| Activity | Charge |
|---|---|
| Search and retrieval: time spent searching for or retrieving a document |
|
| Decision-making: time spent to grant or refuse a request i.e. examining documents, consulting with other parties, making deletions |
|
| Transcript: preparing text from a sound recording, shorthand or similar medium |
|
| Inspection: agency officer supervision of inspection of documents; or hearing or viewing an audio or visual recording at IGWC premises |
|
| Delivery: posting or delivering a copy of a document at your request |
|
If the Inspector-General of Water Compliance decides to impose a charge, the Inspector-General of Water Compliance will give you a written estimate and the basis of the calculation:
- Where the estimated charge is between $20 and $100, the Inspector-General of Water Compliance may ask you to pay a deposit of $20.
- Where the estimated charge exceeds $100, the Inspector-General of Water Compliance may ask you to pay a 25% deposit before processing your request.
You can ask the Inspector-General of Water Compliance to waive or reduce charges. Reasons can include financial hardship or public interest. If you do so, explain your reasons and provide some evidence.
Appealing an FOI decision
When the Inspector-General of Water Compliance has decided your FOI request, you will receive a letter:
- explaining that decision
- including your review and appeal rights.
You can ask the Inspector-General of Water Compliance to review the following decisions:
- refusal or deferral to give you access to all or part of a document
- imposition of a charge
- refusal to change or annotate your personal information that you claim is incomplete or incorrect
A third party who disagrees with the Inspector-General of Water Compliance's decision to give you documents that contain information about them can also ask the Inspector-General of Water Compliance to review that decision.
Internal review
You can request, in writing, for the Inspector-General of Water Compliance to reconsider a decision through an internal review. A staff member on behalf of the Inspector-General will conduct the internal review. A new decision will be advised within 30 days of receiving your request.
Please see the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water Privacy Policy(Opens in a new tab/window) for information on how personal information is handled.