Freedom of Information
Our Information Law team offers two courses designed to assist agency personnel to understand the process and obligations of agencies managing FOI requests under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act).
The details of our courses are set out below or you can download our flyer.
FOI Fundamentals
Part one: Overview of FOI Act (1 hour)
- Object of the FOI Act.
- Scope of the FOI Act.
- what is “government information”?
- what is a “record”?
- when is a record “held”?
- What is a valid FOI request?
- Who can seek access and how?
- Timeframes, extensions of time and how to proactively manage them.
- Documents of an Agency, including:
- Commonwealth contracts
- Minister Office documents
- Communications on message apps (WhatsApp / Signal).
Part two: Role of an FOI Officer (1 hour)
- Proactively managing the process.
- Search obligations.
- Decision-making.
- Refusals:
- information not held
- practical refusals - unclear and voluminous request
- information already available
- third party consultations
- courtesy consultations.
Part three: Exemptions and conditional exemptions and reasons for refusal overview (1 hour)
- Exemptions.
- Conditional exemptions.
- Balancing the public interest:
- factors in favour of disclosure
- factors against disclosure
- balancing the factors.
Cost
$590 plus GST per person.
2025 Course Dates
Online — Tuesday 4 March, 9am -12pm AEDT.
CPD Eligibility
3 points
Advanced FOI
Part one: Deep dive into exemptions, conditional exemptions and reasons for refusal - subject to comment from client about what exemptions are most appropriate to them (1 hour)
- Exemptions.
- Conditional exemptions.
- Balancing the public interest:
- factors in favour of disclosure
- factors against disclosure
- balancing the factors.
- Practical refusals.
Part Two: Third party consultation, courtesy consult and PMC consult (1 hour)
- When to undertake third party consultation.
- How to undertake third-party consultation.
- Impact on timeframes.
- Third-party appeal rights.
Part three: Risks and review process (1 hour)
- Risks.
- Review options:
- Internal review
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner Review
- Administrative Review Tribunal review
- Federal Court Appeal.
Cost
$590 plus GST per person.
2025 Course Dates
Online — Coming soon.
CPD Eligibility
3 points
Organisational training
This course can also be delivered on site within your Agency or organisation. Please email government.training@sparke.com.au for more details.
Contacts

Chantal Tipene
Partner
t: +61 2 9260 2542+61 2 9260 2542
m: +61 447 795 892+61 447 795 892
o: Sydney
Partner
t: +61 2 9260 2542+61 2 9260 2542
m: +61 447 795 892+61 447 795 892
o: Sydney

