Charges
Processing charges
Under the FOI Act and regulations (see below) there is no charge for:- making an application to Comcare for access to a document
- making an application for amendment or annotation or a personal record
- making an application for internal review of a decision
- making an application for review by the Information Commissioner
- making a complaint to the Information Commissioner
- providing access to personal information
- providing access outside the statutory processing period unless that period has been extended
Comcare may decide to impose charges under the FOI Act for the time taken to process your application. This includes charging for the time taken to search and retrieve the documents relevant to your request, the time taken to make a decision on your request and the costs associated with photocopying and postage.
Fees and charges are set by the Freedom of Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations.
Currently these include:
| Search & Retrieval: | $15 per hour |
| Decision making, including examining documents, consulting with other parties, and making deletions. | No charge for an applicant who seeks access to their own personal information. For all other applications, the first five hours of time is free. Subsequent hours: $20 per hour |
| Electronic production: retrieving and collating information stored on a computer or on like equipment | Actual cost incurred by Comcare in producing the copy. |
| Photocopying: | $0.10 per page |
| Delivery: posting or deliverying a copy of a document at the request of the applicant | Cost of postage or delivery. |
If the request for documents is broad - for example, a number of documents are requested - the fees for processing the request can be high.
You will be notified in writing if Comcare decides to impose charges. A deposit may be required if the amount of the charges is over $25. If a deposit is required, the statutory time limit is stopped until your deposit is received.
Comcare will notify you of the final amount of charges once a decision has been made on your request. Payment of the charges is required before you are given access to documents.
The FOI Act gives you the right to seek an internal review [link to review section below] or review by the Information Commissioner of the decision to impose a charge.
Request for waiver of fees and charges imposed by Comcare
Comcare has the discretion to consider not imposing charges associated with processing your request for any reason, including, but not limited to:
- the payment of the charge or a part of the charge would cause you financial hardship
- the giving of access is in the general public interest or in the interest of a substantial section of the public
If you believe that any of the relevant criteria has been met or that the overall circumstances justify not imposing the charge, you should provide adequate supporting evidence to Comcare clearly demonstrating this fact.
If Comcare does not hear from you within 30 days from the date you received the estimate of charges, your request will be treated as withdrawn.