Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009

The notification of an agency’s decision that an application is not a valid access application must—

include a statement of the reason why the application is not a valid access application (including reference to the relevant provisions of this Act), and

if a reason is non-payment of the required application fee, invite the applicant to pay the fee, and

if a reason is failure to provide required information, invite the applicant to provide the information, and

notify the applicant of the right of review under Part 5 that applies in relation to a decision that an application is not a valid access application.

The application becomes a valid access application if the applicant pays the required fee or provides the required information (as appropriate), and is then deemed to have been made when the fee or information was received by the agency.

An agency must provide advice and assistance, so far as it would be reasonable to expect the agency to do so, to assist an applicant to provide such information as may be necessary to enable the applicant to make a valid access application.

(Repealed)

An applicant is entitled to a refund of any application fee that accompanied an invalid access application (unless the application subsequently becomes valid).