Procedures & Application forms
How to Submit an Application for Government Information
An application form for access to Government or Personal Information is available through the link below. The Act requires you to provide proof of identity when lodging applications.
Applications for Government information may be submitted by mail or at the agency’s Offices in Darwin and Alice Springs. Applicants will be required to provide proof of their identity; as outlined in the Information Access Policy. Applications by mail should be accompanied by a photocopy of one of these means of identification.
A fee of $30 is required to lodge an application for Government information. Applications by mail should be accompanied by a cheque or money order.
If you disagree with OCPE’s decision on your application, you are able to request that the decision be reviewed. The review will be undertaken by an agency officer who was not the person who made the decision on your first application.
The Act provides for an appeal to the Information Commissioner where an applicant is not satisfied with the outcome of a review. Should you wish to raise an issue of concern with the Commissioner's office, please contact (08) 8999 1436.
How to Submit an Application for Personal Information
An application form for access to Government Personal Information is available through the link below. The Act requires you to provide proof of identity when lodging applications.
Applications for Personal information may be submitted at the agency’s Offices in Darwin and Alice Springs. Applicants will be required to provide proof of their identity.
You have the right to seek correction of any Personal Information that you believe is incorrect, incomplete or out-of-date. Where it is not possible to correct the information, or OCPE does not accept the information is incorrect, you are able to request that a clarifying statement be placed with the information.
You are able to seek a review of any decision by OCPE to refuse access to your Personal Information, or failure to correct Personal Information. [Review Form]
Getting the Best Response to Your Application
The most effective way to get the best response to your application is to be as specific as possible. Applications which are vague or very broad may take a long time to process or it may not be possible to process them at all.
Try to identify the information you wish to receive as clearly as you can. If possible, include dates, locations and any terms that may be specific to your topic. These will assist OCPE to locate the information more quickly and accurately.
It is also important to recognise that the information you seek may already be available, or may be published at regular intervals. Wherever possible, OCPE will provide you with access to information which would normally be publicly available outside of the FOI process.
You may find it helpful to check with the agency if the information you are seeking is already available before submitting an application. A good starting point would be the information about the agency elsewhere on this website, or by contacting the relevant area of the agency by telephone or email.
Applications from Rural and Remote Areas
Applications may be submitted by post from rural and remote areas. These should be accompanied by the appropriate proof of identity, as specified in the Information Access Policy.
The requirements for proof of identity for access to Personal Information are higher than those for access to Government Information, because the Act requires OCPE to protect the privacy of all Personal Information that it holds. This means that, if people requesting access to Personal Information are unable to satisfy OCPE of their identity, the application may be considered as not complying with the section 18 of the Act.
Where applicants from rural and remote areas are seeking access to Personal Information, the copies of the proof of identity should be endorsed by the local member of the NT Police Service, or the Local Government Clerk, or the most Senior Health Officer. The person making the endorsement must state that he or she has known the applicant for a (specified) period of time and can verify that the applicant is the person named in the application form.
Fees
There is a $30 fee to submit an application for Government Information. In addition, the Act provides for OCPE to apply processing fees to cover the cost of searching for and providing information. The costs are set out in the Information Regulations.
OCPE may require you to pay a deposit on the estimated cost of obtaining the Government Information you have requested. A deposit of $25 will be requested for estimated amounts less than $100. For estimated amounts greater than $100, a deposit equal to 25% of the total will be requested.
The application will not proceed until you have either agreed to pay the deposit and the final fee, or an application to waive or reduce fees has been resolved. Please note that you will not be asked to pay an amount greater than the estimate provided by OCPE.
There is no fee to submit an application for Personal Information, nor for searching for Personal Information. However, there may be fees for photocopying and other costs associated with providing you with the information.
You may apply to have the fees reduced or waived. There is no fee for submitting an application for fees to be waived or reduced.
Exemptions
The intention of the Northern Territory Information Act is that all Government Information should be available to the public except in those cases where it is in the public interest that information should not be released. Details of these exemptions can be found in the Act: Part 4 - Exemptions in the Public Interest.
Processing Time
The Act gives the agency 30 calendar days in which to process applications, although there are some circumstances in which OCPE may take longer than this. For example, where the information sought relates to a third party, the Act requires OCPE to consult the third party before any decision is taken to release the information. This includes provision for the third party to appeal against any decision to release information which relates to them.
You should also be aware that there are a number of points at which the 30-day processing period may be suspended. These are:
- If your application does not comply with the Act - an application is not deemed to have been received until it complies with section 18 of the Act, even though you may have paid your application fee.
- If you are requested to provide more information about your application - under section 19 of the Act, OCPE may request you to provide additional details from you to better identify the information you are seeking.
- If you are requested to pay a deposit - if OCPE provides you with an estimated cost for obtaining the information, the application will not proceed until you have paid the deposit and agreed to pay the total amount (not exceeding the amount of the estimate), or an application to waive or reduce fees has been decided.
If you are paying by cheque, the information located in response to your application will not be released until the payment is cleared.