Accessing NSW Government information
The Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) creates rights to information and is designed to:
- meet community expectations of open and transparent government
- encourage government agencies to proactively release government information.
You can find out more about your right to information and new ways to access NSW Government information on the Information and Privacy Commission NSW website.
Agency information guide
Find out what type of information Forestry Corporation holds which could be applied for under the GIPA Act.
Accessing information
There are four ways in which Forestry Corporation makes information available under the GIPA Act.
Mandatory disclosure
Forestry Corporation is required to publish open access information on our website, free of charge. This information includes:
- Documents tabled in Parliament by or on behalf of the Forestry Corporation
- Forestry Corporation Annual Report
- Auditor General's Performance Audit of Native Forest and Hardwood Plantation Operations
- Policy documents
- Disclosure log of access applications (see below)
- Register of contracts - see the contracts register and Wood Supply Agreements
- Register of Government Tenders
- Other tenders and proposals
- Record of open access information not disclosed
- Properties disposed of by Forestry Corporation. This information can be found in Forestry Corporation annual report
Proactive release
Forestry Corporation will proactively release as much information as possible. Sometimes this may not be possible where the information concerns another party's affairs or there is an overriding public interest against public disclosure of the information.
Information that is proactively released can be found on our website and includes:
- An annual Sustainability Report
- Information about proposed operations and harvest plans
- Timber volumes and modelling data
- Spatial data
- Manuals and practice codes
- A range of other publications and reports.
Informal release
You can also ask for specific information (including your personal information) on an informal basis. Consider this option if no third party personal information is involved.
Formal release
This is a last resort. You should first see what information is publicly available or will be made available. However, there may be public interest reasons why the information may not be released informally, or a third party may need to be consulted, in which case a formal application should be made.
For more information on how to access information, please see the Access information held by Forestry Corporation of NSW.
Disclosure log
Under section 25 of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) we are required to keep a disclosure log that documents the information we release in response to access applications, and which may be of interest to other members of the public.
Appendix 1
Information not publicly available
The Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 requires all agencies to make available, free of charge on their websites, their open access information.
However, there is an overriding obligation under the Act not to publish any specific 'open access information' if there is an overriding public interest against disclosure of that particular information.
Whenever it is decided that particular 'open access information' should not be publicly available, a record of the decision is made and listed below.
Compliance and regulatory matters
There is considered to be an overriding public interest against disclosing policy documents concerning some compliance and regulatory guidelines, functions and activities. A redacted version may be available where sensitive information can be excluded without compromising the integrity or understanding of the document.
Sensitive information may, for example, be thresholds for escalation of sanctions from warning to infringement notice or court appearance. If this information was disclosed it may lead to multiple consecutive offences by the same offender at levels just under the designated threshold. Similarly, information on inspection planning activities may allow offenders to avoid detection.