Right to Information Act 2009

Section 3 of the RTI Act includes this statement of the objects of the Act:

1. The object of this Act is to improve democratic government in Tasmania by:
   (a) increasing the accountability of the executive to the people of Tasmania;
   (b) increasing the ability of the people of Tasmania to participate in their governance; and
   (c) acknowledging that information collected by public authorities is collected for and on behalf of the people of Tasmania and is the property of the State.
2. This object is to be pursued by giving members of the public the right to obtain information held by public authorities and Ministers.
3. This object is also to be pursued by giving members of the public the right to obtain information about the operations of Government.
4. It is the intention of Parliament that:
   (a) this Act be interpreted so as to further the object set out in subsection (1); and
   (b) discretions conferred by this Act be exercised so as to facilitate and promote, promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost, the provision of the maximum amount of official information.

The Hobart City Council is required to make information available to the public through proactive disclosure. This means routinely sharing information which will help the public understand what the Council does and how it does it.

The Council and City of Hobart share information online, and through publications (e.g. Minutes, Agendas, City News, Annual Report, Strategic Plan, Hobart 2025 Strategic Framework).

Some information is not released this way, either because it is not of general public interest or because it needs to be assessed against the exemptions in the Right to Information Act 2009 before it is released.

If you cannot find information on our website, we may be able to help you, so please contact us.

If the information is not freely available we will help you make an application for 'assessed disclosure' to request its release.

If you want property information, please go to property information requests and follow the instructions there e.g. for property record retrievals.

Applications for information need to be made to the department, authority or council holding the relevant information or most closely linked to the information.

To make an application, you can complete the online Application for assessed disclosure of information (Right to Information request). A printable form is available on our forms page.

If you do not use the form, your application must be made in writing and include the information that is requested in the form. That information is a requirement of the Right to Information Regulations 2021, so the form is designed to help you to ensure you include in your application all the information required by the Regulations.

The RTI application fee of $47.75 applies to applications submitted from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, unless the fee is waived or a different fee is payable under section 9 of the RTI Act.

After your application has been initially assessed for compliance with the regulations, you will be emailed a unique link by which you can pay for your application.

You may use the application form to apply to have the fee waived if:

• you are impecunious – i.e. you are on income support payments (please upload a photo of your Low Income Health Care Card with your application)
• you are a Member of Parliament acting in connection with your official duty
• you are a journalist acting in connection with your professional duties
• you demonstrate that you intend to use the information for a purpose that is of general public interest or benefit.

Make sure you have looked for the information before you make a formal application, because if the information is already available your application may be refused without the return of your application fee.

We will check your application to make sure we have the information we need and that you have paid the application fee (or we will waive the fee). We may transfer your application to another public authority if we do not believe we are best placed to provide you with the information.

We may need to contact you to properly understand your application, or if the work involved in providing the information requested would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the City from its other work.

Once these aspects are resolved, we will search for the information sought in your application, then assess it against the Right to Information Act 2009.

We will let you know the outcome of our decision in writing as soon as practicable. The Act requires this generally be within 20 working days (add weekends and public holidays) of the application being accepted. If we need to consult a third party about their personal information or business affairs, then that extends the timeframe for a decision by a further 20 working days to 40 working days of your application’s acceptance. We may ask you to give us more time.

If the application or part of the application is refused, then the reasons for the refusal will be provided, together with details on the right to seek a review of the decision.

You can view, download and print the following Acts and Regulations made available by the Tasmanian Legislation Online website:

Right to Information Act 2009

Right to Information Regulations 2021