Application for External Review by the Information Commissioner

Use this form if you are applying for an external review by the Information Commissioner of a reviewable decision under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act).

The Information Commissioner undertakes external reviews of decisions by agencies in deciding access applications under the GIPA Act. Under section 92A of the GIPA Act the Information Commissioner must complete the external review, and make any recommendations to the agency, within 40 working days after the Information Commissioner receives all information the Information Commissioner thinks necessary to complete the review.

The Information Commissioner may seek agreement from you to extend the 40 working day review period. Any agreed extension to the timeframe must also be notified to the agency. You will be advised when the Information Commissioner has received all the information necessary to progress your review, including the date that your external review is due to be completed. You will be advised once the review is completed, including any recommendations made by the Information Commissioner.

If the Information Commissioner does not complete the external review within 40 working days, the Information Commissioner is deemed to have made no recommendations to the agency. This means that the original decision made by the agency stands and you must seek a review by the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

NOTE:

  • Applications for review by the Information Commissioner do not require the payment of a fee and, in most cases the review can be conducted without you attending the IPC. At the conclusion of the review the Information Commissioner may make recommendations to the agency including a recommendation to reconsider the decision. Reviews by the Information Commissioner are conducted promptly and through an inexpensive process. However, reviews are reliant upon the cooperation of the applicant and the agency – in particular, the provision of information by agencies and applicants. This form highlights the importation that is essential to progressing your application.
  • We will need to contact you about the external review, so please provide your name and contact details including one contact number if possible and an email address. If you do not provide this information we may not be able to contact you should we need to discuss your review.
  • We will use the information you provide to assess, and undertake your external review application. We will usually provide a copy of your external review application (excluding your contact details) to the agency concerned, and if necessary, others who have relevant information about the external review. By completing and submitting this form you consent to the IPC using your information for these purposes. If you have any questions about this or need held to complete this form, please contact our enquiry line on 1800 472 679.
  • Your personal information will be used and stored in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW). Further information about how the IPC manages personal information is available in the IPC Privacy Management Plan available at https://www.ipc.nsw.gov.au/privacy-management-plans 
Section 1: Details
Do you require special assistance when communicating with us? If so, please select:
One file only.
2 MB limit.
Allowed types: gif, jpg, png, bmp, eps, tif, pict, psd, txt, rtf, html, odf, pdf, doc, docx, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx.
Does this person know you have submitted this application on their behalf?
Please tick which of the following describes your application (you may tick more than one option):
We must receive this application within 40 working days of the date the agency made a formal decision (or within 40 working days of the date when the decision was due), or we may not be able to help you. For further information about timeframes for submitting an external review to the Information Commissioner, please refer to the IPC website at www.ipc.nsw.gov.au. If we cannot help you, we will let you know what your other options are.
How did you receive the decision?
Note: If you have sought a review with NCAT, the IPC cannot review the same decision. You must seek an internal review before coming to us unless you are the person who asked for the information.
This section of the form will be removed and a copy provided to the Agency as part of the IPC’s notification of an application for external review. This is to assist the Agency in responding to the IPC’s external review.
It will assist the Information Commissioner to have your consent for this section of your application for external review to be provided to the agency so that the Commissioner can collect all of the information required to deal with your application.
Please confirm:

Since 2017, the IPC has conducted client satisfaction surveys to find out how we can further improve our services. We also report on the results of this survey.

After your external review has concluded, you may be randomly selected to be part of this voluntary survey. The survey will be sent to participants via an email from the IPC. Your personal details, and contact information provided in this form will be used to contact you for the IPC client satisfaction survey. Should you choose to complete the survey, we assure you that all comments you make will be completely confidential.

Should you prefer NOT to take part in the survey, you may be assured that your decision will in no way affect the services you receive from the IPC. You can choose to opt-out of participating in the survey by advising us via return email.

Section 2: Footnotes

It is not a requirement under the GIPA Act that you complete an application form when making an application for external review. This form is designed to assist you in providing the key information we might need to with application for external review.

Please refer to our fact sheet External Review by the Information Commissioner.

Section 3: Other information
Please upload any supporting documents below. 

Note: Submissions may only contains files with a total file size of 5MB or less. Please contact the IPC should you need to submit documents which exceed this limit. 

Maximum 3 files.
5 MB limit.
Allowed types: gif, jpg, png, tif, txt, html, pdf, doc, docx, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx, avi, mov, mp3, wav, zip.

 

You can print and send this form and any attachments to us by one of the following methods:

By email: ipcinfo@ipc.nsw.gov.au
By fax: (02) 6446 9518
By mail: GPO Box 7011, Sydney, NSW 2001
Electronically: By clicking SUBMIT

Please keep a copy for your records.

For more information
For more information about the GIPA Act visit our website: www.ipc.nsw.gov.au

If you are deaf or you have a hearing or speech impairment, you can call us through the National Relay Service on 133 677, or if you would like the assistance of an interpreter, call us through the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.

To assist us with processing your application the IPC requires that you include a copy of your original access application to the agency as well as a copy of the agency's notice of decision on your application with this application for external review by the IPC.

Please select upload to add supporting documents. This may include a copy of correspondence between you and the agency, your access application, the agency’s decision, your internal review application, and the agency’s decision on your internal review request. We prefer to receive electronic copies of all documents wherever possible.

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