Report 26 - Access to Information Review Task Force

ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT -
REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE LIMITS

Published: June 2002

Robert Jelking

HIGHLIGHTS OF COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATION

This section summarizes the manner in which FOI laws have dealt with administrative limits. While the language of each Act may vary, similar concerns and issues are dealt with in all legislation.

Canada’s Access to Information Act

The Act provides that:

• There is a right of access to information in records and that government information should be available to the public and that exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific,
• It is intended to complement existing procedures for access to government information,
• Records which do not exist in a physical form but which can be produced from a machine readable record are deemed to be a record for the purposes of the Act,
• a request shall provide sufficient detail so as to enable an experienced employee with a reasonable effort to identify the record,
• a government institution may extend the time limit for processing a request for a reasonable period of time if it would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the institution, if consultations cannot be completed, or if a third party must be notified,
• there is no obligation to give access under the Act for published material, material available for sale to the public, or to museum materials,
• fees may be charged for finding the records and for preparing them for release, but not for the work needed in deciding whether they will be disclosed.

There are similar provisions in the legislation of other jurisdictions, the following provisions demonstrate the nature of some provisions which have been made for dealing with certain kinds of troublesome requests.

U.K. Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Act provides that:

• a public authority may, but is not obligated to comply with a request if the cost of complying exceeds the “appropriate limit”,
• several requests can be considered as one request,
• a separate fee mechanism may be established for requests which exceed the “appropriate limit”,
• where a person has previously been granted a request, a public authority is not required to comply with another substantially similar request from that same person until a reasonable time interval has elapsed,
• a public authority may refuse if it would cause a substantial and unreasonable interference or disruption of the other work of the public body,
• a public authority is not required to comply with a request if it is vexatious,
• where a public authority may refuse to comply with a request on the grounds of excessive costs, it is required to provide assistance to a requester to reformulate his request for information that may be disclosed.

Australia Freedom of Information Act 1982

The Act (S.24) provides that:

• the agency may refuse to grant access if doing so would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations or would substantially and unreasonably interfere with the performance of a Minister’s functions,
• there is no obligation to comply with a request if the request is vexatious,
• in considering whether to refuse, the agency may take into consideration the resources that will be needed for: identifying, locating, copying, and reviewing the records, and for undertaking any consultations,
• the agency may not take into consideration: the amount of the fees which may be payable or the reasons the person may have for making the request.

The agency must not refuse access under this provision until it has identified an officer with whom the applicant may consult with a view to making the request in a form that would remove the grounds for refusal,

New Zealand Official Information Act 1982

The Act (S.18) provides that a request may be refused if:

• The information requested cannot be made available without substantial collation or research; this does not include time taken to review the documents prior to deciding what needs to be withheld,
• The request is frivolous or vexatious or the information requested is trivial.

The Act also imposes an obligation upon the agency to give reasonable assistance to a requester to make a request in the appropriate manner.

Ireland Freedom of Information Act 1998

The Act (S.10) provides that a request for access may be refused if:

• the record does not exist or cannot be found after all reasonable steps to ascertain its whereabouts have been taken,
• the request contains insufficient information to enable the record to be identified by the taking of reasonable steps,
• granting the request would cause substantial and unreasonable interference with or disruption of the work of the public body by virtue of: the number or nature of the records, the nature of the information, the number and nature of the records which need to be retrieved and examined,
• the record is required by another law to be published within 12 weeks of the receipt of the request,
• the request is, in the opinion of the agency, frivolous or vexatious.

The agency is not entitled to refuse a request for access unless it has assisted, or offered to assist, the requester in an endeavor to amend the request so as to remove the preceding grounds for refusal.

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