Introduction
The Department of Education (DoE) values the principles and practices of openness and accountability to its clients, staff and members of the public about departmental operations and record-keeping.
Information held by the department is released administratively as a matter of course, unless there is a good reason not to.
Formal applications under the RTI Act should be used only as a last resort.
A Right to Information application is a formal application for non-personal documents under the Right to Information Act 2009. An Information Privacy application is a formal application for your personal information under the Information Privacy Act 2009. These applications are processed by the department's Legal and Administrative Law Branch.
If you wish to access information held by the department, we recommend that in the first instance you peruse our
Publication Scheme,
Disclosure Log and
Open Data Portal.
If you are unable to find the information you are seeking on our Publication Scheme, Disclosure Log or Open Data Portal, please contact the department to discuss whether the information is able to be released under our Administrative Access Scheme.
A formal application under the Right to Information Act 2009 or Information Privacy Act 2009 will be required if administrative access is not appropriate.
What information you can access?
Due to the size and complexity of the department, a large number of documents are held at various locations.
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School records contain administrative and educational information relating to the school and students. Parents have access rights to records about their children. These rights are explained in the Access to Records Held in Schools Policy located in the Department Policy and Procedures Register (PPR), which is available at all district offices and schools or via the internet at the
Policy and procedures register.
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Early Childhood Education and Care is an area bringing together responsibility for early education and child care services in one agency. It is aligned with the department and shares the department's corporate files.
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Central Office, regional and district offices records are stored in paper-based or electronic files created for specific subjects based on functions, located at various locations depending on the nature of the file and its access requirements. These include corporate files, personnel records and accounts records.
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Vocational Education and Training Services generates a large number of documents that are not produced or published specifically for distribution to the public.
What is Administrative Release?
Administrative release is an informal process by which you request the information and it is provided directly to you by the relevant branch or State school.
Administrative access requests for your own information are free of charge.
For other applications, charges are listed in Attachment 4 of the
Administrative Access Scheme for Central and Regional Offices (DOCX, 890KB).
If you make a Right to Information request that the department determines could be satisfied by administrative release, you may be referred to this process instead.
Contact information
How to make a 'non-personal' RTI application
If you wish to seek access to documents that do not concern your personal information and the information you are looking for is not available online, you can request the information under the
Right to Information Act 2009 using the
e-RTI online form.
Alternatively you can download the
Right to Information and Privacy Access Application Form (PDF, 207KB) located on the
Queensland Government Right to Information and Information Privacy website and lodge it with:
Manager, Information Release
Legal and Administrative Law Branch
Department of Education
PO Box 15033
City East Qld 4002
Telephone: (07) 3513 5858
Email:
rti@qed.qld.gov.au
Personal information 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.
If you want to couple your non-personal application with an additional request for documents containing your personal information in the same application - you can apply under the RTI Act for the entire set.
Please note though, there are
no application fees or processing charges if you apply for your personal information under the IP Act. If you apply under the RTI Act - there are cost implications (see section below entitled "Charges under the RTI Act").
If you are not sure which Act you should apply under - please contact Information Release, Legal and Administrative Law Branch for help on (07) 3513 5858.
If the information you request is not related to your personal information, you must pay an application fee (refer to application form for details of the application fee). This fee must be paid before your application can be processed. You may also be charged for processing the application and for making copies of documents.
All applications under the RTI Act must:
- be in the approved form and accompanied by the application fee;
- give sufficient information concerning the document 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 ten (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 10 business days.
How to make an application for access to or amendment of your 'personal information'
Personal information access application
Personal information about individuals is not published by the department in accordance with the
Information Privacy Act 2009. If you wish to access documents held by the department containing your personal information or if you wish to amend the personal information that the department holds about you, we recommend you apply under the IP Act.
Personal information 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.
You can request access to your personal information under the Information Privacy Act 2009 using the
e-RTI online form.
Alternatively you can download the
Right to Information and Privacy Access Application Form (PDF, 207KB) located on the
Queensland Government Right to Information and Information Privacy website and lodge it with:
Manager, Information Release
Legal and Administrative Law Branch
Department of Education
PO Box 15033
City East Qld 4002
Telephone: (07) 3513 5858
Email:
rti@qed.qld.gov.au
All applications under the IP Act must:
- be in the approved form
- give sufficient information concerning the document to enable a responsible officer of the department to identify the document
- state an address to which notices under the IP Act may be sent
- 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) within10 business days.
Personal information amendment application
Under the Information Privacy Act 2009, you may apply for an amendment to a document that contains your personal information, if that document contains information that is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date or misleading.
Your application should specify:
- 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.
You can download the
Information Privacy Personal Information Amendment Application and lodge it with:
Manager, Information Release
Legal and Administrative Law Branch
Department of Education
PO Box 15033
City East Qld 4002
Telephone: (07) 3513 5858
Email:
rti@qed.qld.gov.au
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 department is required to respond to your application within 25 business days of receipt of a valid application. If consultation with another person or entity is required under the RTI Act or IP Act, another 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 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 name of the child
- provide documents proving his or her identity and evidence of their relationship to the child.
Reporting of Right to Information and Information Privacy applications
DoE promotes a culture of openness and respect for the independence of RTI and IP decision-makers and follows a 2-stage process for reporting RTI and IP applications and/or decisions to the Minister and Senior Executive (including the Director-General).
Read more about
DoE's reporting processes (DOC, 50KB).
Procedures and Policies relating to information and data