Right to Information

This information is provided to assist your understanding of Right to Information requests, when they are required and how they will be assessed by Tasracing.

Right to Information
The Right to Information Act 2009 commenced on 1 July 2010 and provides for greater access to information held by government bodies by:

• authorising and encouraging greater routine disclosure of information held by public authorities without the need for requests or applications;

• authorising and encouraging greater active disclosure of information held by public authorities in response to informal requests without the need for applications;

• giving members of the public an enforceable right to information held by public authorities; and

• providing that access to information held by government bodies is restricted in only limited circumstances which are defined in the Act.

Tasracing Pty Ltd is a public authority.

Objectives of the Right to Information Act

Section 3 of the Act includes this statement of the objects of the Act:

(1)       The object of this Act is to improve democratic government in Tasmania –

(a)       by increasing the accountability of the executive to the people of  Tasmania;

(b)       by increasing the ability of the people of Tasmania to participate in their governance; and

(c)        by acknowledging that information collected by public authorities is collected for and on behalf of the people of Tasmania and is the property of the State.

(2)       This object is to be pursued by giving members of the public the right to obtain information held by public authorities and Ministers.

(3)       This object is also to be pursued by giving members of the public the right to obtain information about the operations of Government.

(4)       It is the intention of Parliament –

(a)       that this Act be interpreted so as to further the object set out in subsection (1); and

(b)       that discretions conferred by this Act be exercised so as to facilitate and promote, promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost, the provision of the maximum amount of official information.

How to access information
Tasracing is required by the Right to Information Act 2009 to make information available to the public through proactive disclosure, this means we are to routinely make information available which will assist the public in understanding what it is we do and how we do it.

This may be done via our website, through publications (e.g. news releases and fact sheets) and via reports (e.g. our Annual Report).

Some information is not released in this way, either because it is not of general public interest or because it is information Tasracing would need to assess against the exemptions in the Right to Information Act 2009 prior to disclosure.

If you cannot find the information via one of the means below contact us and we may be able to assist you in finding it or we may give it to you. If it is not freely available you are able to make an application for assessed disclosure.

You may find information from Tasracing in one of the following ways:

• Tasracing website;
• Tasracing Annual Reports;
• Tasracing news releases;
• Tasracing Social Media platforms; and
• Tasracing Newsletters.

Applications for assessed disclosure

RTI applications for assessed disclosure to be made to:

RTI Officer
Tasracing Pty Ltd
PO Box 730
GLENORCHY  TAS  7010

or email to the above person and company at admin@tasracing.com.au

A form to assist in making an application is available here.

If you are not using the form provided, please note that your application must be made in writing and include the necessary information required under Regulation 4 of the Right to Information Regulations 2010.

Applications are to be accompanied by the application fee. This fee is 25 fee units, which is $46.75 as from 1 July 2024 and is indexed annually. For payment, please make cheques payable to “Tasracing Pty Ltd” or pay via EFTPOS by calling our administration desk on (03) 6212 9333.

The application fee may be waived in certain circumstances. Tasracing will waive the application fee if you are able to sufficiently satisfy us that:

• You are in financial hardship;

• You are a member of Parliament and the application is connected with official duties;

• You are able to satisfy Tasracing that the information sought is intended to be used for a purpose that is of general public interest or benefit.

Make sure you have looked for the information before you make a formal application, because if the information is otherwise available your application may be refused without the return of you application fee.

Once we have your application

• We will check your application to make sure we have the information we need and that you have paid the application fee unless we have waived the fee.

• We may transfer your application to another public authority if we do not believe we are best placed to provide you with the information.

• Before your application is accepted, we may need to contact you to ask about your application, this will help us to understand your request.

• Once we have done these steps an officer will assess your application against the Right to Information Act 2009 and let you know the outcome of that process in writing.

• You will be notified of the decision on your application for assessed disclosure as soon as practicable, but no more than 20 working days of the application being accepted.

• If your request is complex or for a large amount of information we may ask you to give us more time.

• If there is a need to consult with a third party about their business affairs or about their personal information, more time is automatically given and we will let you know the outcome as soon as practicable, but no later than 40 working days – we will let you know if this is happening.

If the application or part thereof is refused by Tasracing, you are entitled to seek a review by writing to:

RTI Principal Officer
Tasracing Pty Ltd
PO Box 730
GLENORCHY  TAS  7010

If the officer assessing your request does not get back to you in the timeframe allowed then we are taken to have refused your application and you are able to make an application for review to the Ombudsman if you choose. Information on reviews by the Ombudsman can be found on the Office of the Ombudsman’s website.

 
More information about Proactive Disclosure in Tasracing

You may request a copy of Tasracing’s Right to Information policy by contacting us.

Right to Information Manual and Guidelines
The Manual and Guidelines will provide you with a little more detail on making requests under the RTI Act and how they are processed by the agency to which the request is sent.  These are available on the Office of the Ombudsman’s website.
Related Acts and Regulations
You can view, download and print the following Acts and Regulations made available by the Tasmanian Legislation Online website:

• Right to Information Act 2009
• Right to Information Regulations 2010