Registered Migration Agents have been advised by OMARA of updates made by the Department’s Freedom of Information (FOI) section to its online resources.
The revised FOI webpages have been updated to enhance clarity, improve navigation, and provide a more user-friendly experience for those seeking information or lodging requests. The full communication is provided below:
“A fresh look for the Department’s access to information web pages
In the Freedom of Information Section, we are committed to constantly refining our services to ensure an improved experience for you and your clients. Behind the scenes, we have been working on a number of initiatives to improve our processes to benefit clients needing to access their own personal information.
Our external web pages have been redesigned to make the navigation experience more user-friendly, including a new landing page that is titled ‘Access to information’. The landing page separates personal and non-personal requests and clearly directs the user to the ‘Personal access request’ tab. Please follow the link here.
To help us help you!
We encourage you to use our online webform to submit your requests.
• If you are requesting a visa file, this is typically more efficiently processed under Privacy Act provisions, and we have designed our new automation tools with this efficiency in mind.
• If you are happy for your request to be processed under the Privacy Act, we encourage you to state this clearly in your requests to us.
• To access improved automation to access information under the Privacy Act provisions you will need to ensure you do not specifically mention FOI or the Freedom of Information Act 1982 in your request.
We will continue to ensure that if you indicate your preference is for us to manage your request under the FOI Act that these requests are registered and finalised as FOI requests.
Whether you are requesting access to information under the FOI Act or Privacy Act we encourage you to use our online webform—it’s the fastest way to get started.
If you have questions or feedback about these changes or how to frame your next request, our team is here to help. Just reach out to us.
Email: request.personal.information@homeaffairs.gov.au”