Sharing national policing information for a safer community
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) gives any person the right to:
You can ask to see any document that CrimTrac holds. CrimTrac can refuse access to some documents, or parts of documents that are exempt.
Exempt documents may include those relating to national security, documents containing material obtained in confidence and Cabinet documents, or other matters set out in the FOI Act.
You can get certain information, including personal information CrimTrac holds about you, without following a formal process under the FOI Act.
Requesting information under the FOI Act is not the only mechanism available for accessing information in the possession or control of CrimTrac.
The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) governs how agencies may collect, store, use and disclosure personal information. You can request access to your personal information under the Privacy Act. For information on the Privacy Act and CrimTrac please see our privacy page.
There may also be mechanisms under other specific Commonwealth, state and territory legislation that entitles you to access to certain information.
You can request the following information from CrimTrac about yourself:
Any other requests will need to be directed to your local police station.
If you wish to request personal information about yourself from CrimTrac, you will need to attend your local police station to prove your identity and they will direct your request to CrimTrac.
Your request must:
Prior to making a request, you should check the information CrimTrac has published under the Information Publication Scheme and FOI disclosure log to see if what you are seeking is already available.
You can send your request to:
| By Post | The Freedom of Information Officer |
| By email | foi@crimtrac.gov.au |
The FOI Act provides for third parties to request information on your behalf. If you ask a third party to make an FOI request on your behalf, you need to provide a specific written authority to send copies of documents to you, care of that person, or to allow that person to inspect copies of documents containing information about you.
You should be mindful that if you ask a third party to make an FOI request on your behalf, additional processes are required to take place to ensure the identity of the person and that they have authority to access the information on your behalf. This may include a requirement to present to your local police station with appropriate proof of identity documents.
If you require assistance with your request, please contact the FOI Contact officer on (02) 6268 7614 or by email at foi@crimtrac.gov.au.
There is no application fee for an FOI request.
There are no processing charges for requests for access to documents containing only personal information about you. Processing charges may apply to other requests. If CrimTrac decides to impose a charge, the FOI Officer will give you a written estimate and the basis of our calculation.
You can ask for the charge to be waived or reduced for any reason, including financial hardship or on the grounds of public interest. If you do so, you should explain your reasons and you may need to provide some evidence.
CrimTrac will tell you within 14 days that CrimTrac has received your request. CrimTrac will also give you an estimate of any charges that may apply to your request. CrimTrac will give you its decision within 30 days unless the time has been extended.
If a document contains information about a third party, or contains information provided by state or territory police, CrimTrac will need to consult with them and may need to extend the time to give you our decision by another 30 days. CrimTrac may also seek your agreement to extend the time by up to 30 days if your request is complex.
When CrimTrac has made a decision about your FOI request, the agency will send you a letter explaining our decision and your review and appeal rights.
You can ask for the following decisions to be reviewed:
A third party who disagrees with CrimTrac's decision to give you documents that contain information about them can also ask for the decision to be reviewed.
You can request in writing that CrimTrac reconsider the decision through an internal review. An internal review will be conducted by another officer in the agency. CrimTrac will advise you of the new decision within 30 days of receiving your request.
You can ask the Australian Information Commissioner to review CrimTrac's original decision or the decision on internal review within 60 days of the date of decision (or 30 days after you are notified if you are an affected third party).
The Information Commissioner can affirm or vary the decision or substitute a new decision.
The Information Commissioner may decide not to conduct a review in certain circumstances. More information is available at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) website at www.oaic.gov.au.
If you are unhappy with the way CrimTrac has handled your request, you can complain to the Australian Information Commissioner who may investigate CrimTrac's actions. More information is available on the OAIC’s website at www.oaic.gov.au.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman can also investigate complaints about CrimTrac's actions. The Commonwealth Ombudsman and the Information Commissioner will, however, consult to avoid the same matter being investigated twice.
If you require more information, please contact the FOI Contact Officer on (02) 6268 7614 or by email at foi@crimtrac.gov.au.
Certain documents that CrimTrac has released under the FOI Act can be obtained from our FOI disclosure log page. Information about the agency's Information Publication Scheme can be obtained from the Information Publication Scheme page.