Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009

An agency can decide that information is already available to an applicant only if the information is—

made publicly available by the agency or some other agency in accordance with a legislative instrument other than this Act, whether or not availability of the information is by inspection only and whether or not availability is subject to a charge, or

available to the applicant from, or for inspection at, the agency free of charge in accordance with this Act or the agency’s policies and practices, or

contained in a document that is usually available for purchase, or

available to the applicant as the applicant has already been provided with access to the information and the agency has no reason to believe the information is no longer in the applicant’s possession, or

publicly available on a website, or

available to the applicant by way of a standing rule or order of the Legislative Council or Legislative Assembly.

An agency is not required to provide access to information that the agency has decided is already available to the applicant, but notice of the decision must indicate why the agency believes the information is already available to the applicant and, if necessary, how the information can be accessed by the applicant.