Streamlined access provisions are among major changes to information and privacy laws impacting Councils from 1 July

Local governments have just months to gear up for a raft of amendments to information and privacy laws, including a new “one stop shop” approach for the release of personal information.

Highlights

Our Kody’s Scott’s recent article reported that the stakes have been raised by the Queensland Government with the introduction of a Mandatory Notification of Data Breach scheme for local governments commencing from 1 July 2026. However, the Information Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023 (IPOLA Act) also contains significant reforms to the access application provisions of the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI Act) and Information Privacy Act 2009 (IP Act).

What must be done by your council to ensure compliance with the amendments to the RTI Act by 1 July 2025 is unpacked by our Michael Cerruto below.

Facts

The IPOLA Act was passed by the Queensland Parliament on 4 December 2023. The new laws enact substantive and procedural amendments to how access applications received from 1 July 2025 must be handled, a year earlier than when the mandatory data breach scheme will apply to councils (July 2026).

Amendments 

The IPOLA Act amends the access application provisions of both the RTI Act and the IP Act. The key amendments of relevance to the processing of access applications include:

• The removal of all access application provisions from the IP Act. Access to all information, including requests for information comprising only the applicant’s personal information, will now be dealt with in a single “one-stop shop” under the RTI Act. Agencies will no longer be able to process access applications under the IP Act;
• There will continue to be no application fee for RTI access applications limited only to documents containing the applicant’s personal information. An application fee will still apply otherwise;
• The removal of the requirement for an access application to be made in the ‘approved form’. Other relevant application requirements will remain, including that the request must still be made in writing;
• The removal of the requirement for the applicant to be given a ‘schedule of relevant documents’ for the access application, reducing the administrative burden on delegated RTI decision-makers;
• Simplified rules for the calculation of extensions to the standard 25 business day processing period for access applications;
• Additional time for processing access applications where the applicant only provides a postal address for correspondence in relation to the access application;
• Mandatory altered ‘publication scheme’ requirements; and
• Additional powers to the Office of the Information Commissioner Queensland, including to remit parts of access applications back to councils where additional documents are located during an external review.

Implications

The amended legislation applying to access application comes into effect for local governments on 1 July 2025, at which point all councils will need to be ready to process RTI access applications in accordance with the new requirements. It may also be necessary for councils to make amendments to their websites to reflect the new publication log and disclosure log requirements. New or amended templates for corresponding with applicants and deciding access applications will also be necessary.  

Ensure your Council has updated its procedures in compliance with these new laws. Contact Michael Cerruto or Kody Scott today.

Phone: 07 3243 0000. Email: michael.cerruto@kingandcompany.com.au or kody.scott@kingandcompany.com.au