Freedom of Information (FOI)

Freedom of Information (FOI) affects records throughout the University. The Governance Support Unit, through the Freedom of Information Officer, provides advice and assistance to staff in compliance requirements and is also the point of contact for staff, students and members of the public who wish to use the Act to access documents.

University Records staff work closely with the University's FOI Officer and with members of staff to ensure issues in relation to the FOI Act are addressed when records systems are reviewed, updated or new systems are designed.

How to deal with a request to access your information

Any area of the University can receive a request from staff, students or members of the public to access their records.

When such a request is received you should undertake the following steps:

• Administrative action
  Does your faculty/unit or the University, have policy and procedures in place that allows access to that information through administrative procedures?
• If so, proceed with the request in accordance with the documented procedures. If no procedures appear to exist refer the matter to the senior officer in your area.
• An important consideration is that the Act encourages organisations to deal with routine or regular requests by administrative procedures rather then requiring people to lodge a formal FOI Request. For this reason it is important to maintain official records of any requests involving matters for which procedures do not currently exist to see if they warrant alternate access arrangements.
• FOI request
  If there is no procedure or you have any doubts about how to proceed refer the request to the FOI Officer who will confer with the applicant and take the necessary action to deal with the request.

For more information about FOI, see the Governance Support Unit's FOI website.

Privacy

Privacy is the responsibility of each faculty and unit at UTS. The Governance Support Unit, through the Privacy Officer, provides a source of advice on compliance requirements and a point of contact for students, staff and members of the public. This is not part of the responsibilities of University Records.

However, University Records works closely with the University's Privacy Officer to provide specialist advice in relation to the privacy issues related to record keeping and our staff also assist University staff to establish and maintain compliant systems.

For more information about privacy at UTS, see the Governance Support Unit's Privacy website.