Your right to information

As a member of the public you have the right to apply for access to government information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA) when you request it.

The right to information legislation is designed to meet community expectations of a more open and transparent government, and encourages government agencies to proactively release government information. Under the right to information legislation, you must be given access to government information when you request it, unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure. Agencies must apply a public interest test to determine whether there are public interest considerations against disclosure which, on balance, outweigh the public interest considerations in favour of disclosure. If an agency decides to refuse to provide access to government information, it must give its reasons for doing so.

The Small Business Commission operates under the Department of Customer Service and you can find out how to make a formal GIPA request for its information by visiting the Customer Service website.

You can find out more about your right to information by visiting Information Privacy and Commission NSW.