Review Rights and Deadlines for Accessing Executive Records
Territory Records (Executive Records) Amendment Bill 2025
Private Member's BillTopics
administrative review freedom of information government records government transparency public records right to information
Introduced by: Andrew Braddock MLA (GRN)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
Principal officers must provide accessible executive records within 30 working days of a request.
A request is treated as a refusal if the principal officer fails to provide the record within the deadline.
Principal officers must tell people how to apply to the ombudsman or ACAT to review a refusal.
People can apply to the ombudsman to review a refusal within 28 days.
The ombudsman must decide whether to confirm, change, or cancel a refusal within 15 working days.
People can apply to ACAT to review a decision made by the ombudsman.
The ombudsman can extend the deadline for a principal officer to provide a record.
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Andrew Braddock GRN
“I move: That this bill be agreed to in principle. In December last year, I asked the following question on notice: What is the current average waiting time for a person who requests the release of cabinet documents found on the Canberra Day lists, from the date of request to the date they receive the requested documents. The answer was 321 days, or approximately 11 months.”