The Freedom of Information Act 1982 does not apply to any request for access to documents of the Court unless the document relates to matters of an administrative nature. While there is no definition within this Act or the Privacy Act of the term ‘matters of an administrative nature’, the High Court decision in Kline v Official Secretary to the Governor-General and Another [2013] HCA 52 in their joint judgment considering this term pointed out:
[47],…the only documents which courts and specified tribunals, authorities and bodies are obliged to open to increase public scrutiny are those documents relating to the management and administration of registry and office resources.’
There were six Freedom of Information application requests made to the Court for the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
Agencies subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 are required to publish information to the public as part of the Information Publication Scheme. This requirement, in Part II of the Freedom of Information Act, has replaced the former requirement to publish a Section 8 Statement in an annual report.
An agency plan showing what information is published in accordance with the Information Publication Scheme requirements is accessible from agency websites.
Freedom of information and the Information Publication Scheme agency plan for the Federal Circuit Court can be found on the Court’s website at www.federalcircuitcourt.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/fccweb/contact-us/freedo….
Access to information outside the Freedom of Information Act
Rule 2.08 of the Federal Circuit Court Rules 2001 provides that a search of the Court’s records may be undertaken by the Attorney-General (in family law proceedings), a party, a lawyer for a party, a child representative (in family law proceedings) or a person granted leave by the Court or a registrar. Leave may be granted if a proper interest is shown and may be subject to conditions. In relation to access to documents in general federal law proceedings, the Court applies the same rule as that prescribed by the Federal Court; see rule 2.08B. This rule identifies certain categories of court documents as being available for inspection without leave.
There are other legislative provisions that limit publication in various proceedings; for example, section 121 of the Family Law Act 1975, section 110X of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 and section 91X of the Migration Act 1958. In addition, Part 6A of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia Act 1999 gives the Court general power to suppress/prohibit publication of evidence in respect of general federal law provisions (Part XIA of the Family Law Act 1975 deals with suppression and non-publication orders in proceedings under that Act).
Enquiries concerning access to documents or freedom of information matters generally should be directed to:
Chief Executive Officer and
Principal Registrar
Federal Circuit Court of Australia
GPO Box 9991
Melbourne VIC 3000
or emailed to customer.service@federalcircuitcourt.gov.au.
Further advice on making freedom of information requests may be obtained by calling (02) 6113 9331.
Categories of documents
The Federal Circuit Court registries maintain the following categories of documents on behalf of the Court:
- documents relating to matters heard by the Court including applications, affidavits, transcripts, orders and copies of judgments
- registers and indexes of matters coming
to the Court, and - general correspondence.
The Federal Circuit Court maintains the following categories of documents:
- general correspondence
- documents concerning the development and implementation of policy, guidelines and procedures, and
- documents concerning the Court’s administrative and financial operations.
Other documents
The Court holds and makes available on request a range of documents including brochures, fact sheets and general information leaflets. These are available on the Court’s website.
Privacy
The Court holds personal information for two purposes:
- to help resolve and, if necessary, determine matters before the Court (the judicial purpose), and/or
- to assist in administration (the administrative purpose).
Information used for judicial purposes is held in case files and the case management computer system. This information is exempt from the Privacy Act 1988 and Freedom of Information Act 1982. Other statutory provisions and non-publication powers of the Court, designed to protect parties and their children, are applicable to this information.
Information used for administrative purposes is collected as part of the day-to-day running of the Court. Many documents for administrative purposes are held by the Federal Court as the provider of the corporate services for the Court.
The collection, storage and disclosure of this information is governed by the provisions of both the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act.
The Australian Government Agencies Privacy Code came into force on 1 July 2018. Agencies are required to take reasonable steps to implement practices, procedures and systems to ensure compliance with the code.
Consistent with these requirements, the Court has the following in place:
The Court has a designated Privacy Champion and Privacy Officer.
