Freedom of Information
Find out about your rights, how to make an FOI request, and learn about Tourism Australia's publication obligations.
On this page, you will find information about:
- Freedom of Information - Your rights and how to make an FOI request
- Disclosure Log - Information that has been released in response to an FOI request
Your rights
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) gives any person the right to:
- access copies of documents we hold (excluding some exempt documents);
- ask for information we hold about you including information which may need to be changed or annotated if it is incomplete, out of date, incorrect or misleading; and
- seek a review of our decision not to allow you access to a document or not to amend your personal record.
You can ask to see any document that we hold. However, we can refuse access to some documents, or parts of documents that are exempt. Exempt documents may include those relating to national security, containing material obtained in confidence, Cabinet documents, and an official document of a Minister, or other matters set out in the FOI Act.
Documents available outside the FOI Act
You can get certain information, including personal information we hold about you, without following a formal process under the FOI Act.
You should also check the information we have published under the Information Publication Scheme and FOI Disclosure Log to see if what you are seeking is already available.
How to make a request
Your request must:
- be in writing;
- state that the request is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act;
- provide information about the document(s) to assist us to process your request; and
- provide an address for reply.
You can send your request via the following methods:
| Method | Contact details |
|---|---|
| By email | foi@tourism.australia.com |
| By post | Attn: Freedom of Information Officer |
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.
If you require assistance with your request, please contact the FOI Officer on +61 2 9360 1111 or by email to foi@tourism.australia.com.
Fees and charges
There is no application fee to make a FOI request.
There are no processing charges for requests for access to documents containing only personal information about you. However, processing charges may apply to other requests. The most common charges are:
| Activity item | Charge |
|---|---|
| Search and retrieval: time we spend searching for or retrieving a document | $15.00 per hour |
| Decision Making: time we spend in deciding to grant or refuse a request, including examining documents, consulting with other parties, and making deletions | First five hours: Nill Subsequent hours: $20.00 per hour |
| Transcript: preparing a transcript from a sound recording, shorthand or similar medium | $4.40 per page of transcript |
| Photocopy | $6.25 per half hour (or part thereof) |
| Inspection: supervision by an agency officer of your inspection of documents or hearing or viewing an audio visual recording at our premises | $6.25 per half hour (or part thereof) |
| Delivery: posting or delivering a copy of a document at your request | Cost of postage or delivery |
If we decide to impose a charge, we will give you a written estimate and the basis of our calculation. Where the estimated charge is between $20 and $100, we may ask you to pay a deposit of $20, or where the estimated charge exceeds $100, we may ask you to pay a 25% deposit before we process your request.
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.
What you can expect from us
We will confirm in writing to you within 14 days that we have received your request. We will also provide you with an estimate of the charges that apply to your request. We will give you our decision within 30 days unless that time has been extended. If a document contains information about a third party, we will need to consult them and may need to extend the time to give you our decision by another 30 days. We may also seek your agreement to extend the time by up to 30 days if your request is complex.
If you disagree with our decision
When we have made a decision about your FOI request, we will send you a letter explaining our decision and your review and appeal rights.
You can ask for the following decisions to be reviewed:
- if we refuse to give you access to all or part of a document or if we defer giving you access;
- if we impose a charge; or
- if we refuse to change or annotate information about you that you claim is incomplete, incorrect, out of date or misleading.
A third party who disagrees with our decision to give you documents that contain information about them can also ask for our decision to be reviewed.
Internal review
You can request in writing that we reconsider our decision through an internal review. An internal review will be conducted by another officer in our agency. We will advise you of our new decision within 30 days of receiving your request.
Information Commissioner review
You can ask the Australian Information Commissioner to review our original decision or our 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.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request, you can complain to the Australian Information Commissioner who may investigate our actions. More information is available on the OAIC’s website. The Commonwealth Ombudsman can also investigate complaints about our actions. However, the Commonwealth Ombudsman and the Information Commissioner will consult to avoid the same matter being investigated twice.
More information:
If you require more information, please contact the FOI Officer on +61 2 9360 1111 or by email to foi@tourism.australia.com.
Certain documents that we have released under the FOI Act can be obtained at our FOI Disclosure Log. or find out about information shared as part of our Information Publication Scheme.
Disclosure log
Tourism Australia is required by the FOI Act to publish a disclosure log on its website. The disclosure log lists information which has been released in response to an FOI access request. This requirement has applied since 1 May 2011.
The disclosure log requirement does not apply to:
- personal information about any person if publication of that information would be ‘unreasonable’;
- information about the business, commercial, financial or professional affairs of any person if publication of that information would be ‘unreasonable’;
- other information covered by a determination made by the Australian Information Commissioner if publication of that information would be ‘unreasonable’; or
- any information if it is not reasonably practicable to publish the information because of the extent of modifications that would need to be made to delete the information listed in the above dot points.
The information described in this disclosure log has been released by Tourism Australia under the FOI Act and is available for public access.
A link is provided if the information can be downloaded from this website or another website.
Information that is not available on a website may be obtained by writing to Freedom of Information Officer, Tourism Australia, GPO Box 2721, Sydney, NSW 1006, or emailing foi@tourism.australia.com. A charge may be imposed to reimburse Tourism Australia for the cost incurred in copying or reproducing the information or sending it to you. There will be no charge for the time spent by Tourism Australia in processing the FOI request that led to this information being made available. You will be notified if any charge is payable and required to pay the charge before the information is provided.
There may be documents in the disclosure log that are currently not available in HTML format. If you are unable to read the format provided please contact the Freedom of Information Officer in writing at Tourism Australia, GPO Box 2721, Sydney, NSW 1006, or by email foi@tourism.australia.com. We will try to meet all reasonable requests for an alternative format of the document in a timely manner and at the lowest reasonable cost to you.
Information attached to, or referred to, in Tourism Australia's Disclosure Log will generally be removed after 12 months, unless the information has enduring public value.
To the extent that copyright in some of this material is owned by a third party, you may need to seek their permission before you can reuse that material.
| FOI reference number | Date of request | Date of access | FOI request | Information published | Other information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MR21/01285 | Initial request: 3 September 2021 Review request: 15 November 2021 |
17 January 2024 | 1. All communications (including emails, briefing, correspondence, phone calls, all messaging applications [e.g. WhatsApp] etc ) between Tourism Australia and Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister’s Office, and/or the Dept of Prime Minister and Cabinet concerning access to “Board Meeting July 2006”. It would cover the period 1 May 2021 to 30 August 2021. 2. All communication (including emails, correspondence, briefing phone calls, all messaging applications [e.g. WhatsApp] etc ) between Tourism Australia and any external party concerning my previous FOI request concerning access to “Board Meeting July 2006” |
Access granted in full to 2 documents. Access granted in part to 16 documents. | Access to released information can be arranged by contacting: foi@tourism.australia.com |
| MR21/01420 | Initial request:18 August 2021, Review request: 15 November 2021 |
17 January 2024 | 1. All documents/correspondence (including emails) between Tourism Australia and the Remuneration Tribunal over the period 1 August 2006 and 1 September 2006. 2. All documents/correspondence (including emails) that relate to the termination of the then Managing Director of Tourism Australia, Scott Morrison between Tourism Australia and the Department of Industry over the period 1 August 2006 and 1 September 2006. |
Access granted in full to 4 documents. Access granted in part to 4 documents. | Access to released information can be arranged by contacting: foi@tourism.australia.com |
| TA1222 | 8 November 2022 | 8 December 2022 | A copy of Tourism Australia’s estimates briefing pack, including back pocket briefs, for the 2022 October and November Budget Estimates. | Access granted in part to 4 documents | Access to released information can be arranged by contacting |
| TA0822 | 19 August 2022 | 16 September 2022 | The Incoming Government Brief, including any related briefs and materials from Tourism Australia to the Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator the Hon Don Farrell | Access granted in part to 1 document | Access to released information can be arranged by contacting |
| TA0622 | 20 June 2022 (refined 19 July) | 6 September 2022 | 1. All Board papers (inc Minutes) specifically associated with the awarding of the tender to M&C Saatchi over the period April 2005 to August 2005. Please exclude the actual contract between TA & M&C Saatchi. 2. All Tourism Australia Audit Committee minutes over the period April 2005 to August 2005 specifically concerning the successful M&C Saatchi tender. 3. All communication (emails/correspondence etc) between the Managing Director of Tourism Australia and KPMG over the period April 2005 to August 2005 with respect to the awarding of the of the [sic] M&C Saatchi tender. |
Access granted in full to Documents 2, 3a, 3b, 4 and 5 Access granted in part to Documents 1, 1a, 3, 5a, 6 and 7. |
Access to released information can be arranged by contacting |
| TA0322 | 28 March 2022 | 16 June 2022 | All documents/correspondence (including emails) pertaining to market segmentation research commissioned by Tourism Australia and completed by Crosby Textor from 2004 - 2007. All documents/correspondence (including emails) pertaining to a grant given to Helloworld to conduct a campaign from 2006 - 2007. All documents/correspondence (including emails) pertaining to the travel of board member Andrew Burnes to London and LA in 2006 and 2007. All documents/correspondence (including emails) pertaining to a severance package given to Scott Morrison at the time of his departure as Managing Director of Tourism Australia and subsequent correspondence/documents discussing the amount of the package and the role of Andrew Burnes had in negotiating the package. All documents/correspondence (including emails) pertaining to any contracts awarded to Crosby Textor from 2004 - 2007. |
Access granted in full to Document 8; and Access granted in part Documents 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5A, 6, 7, 7A, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. |
Access to released information can be arranged by contacting |
| TA1121 | 3 September 2021 | 15 November 2021 | 1. All communication (including emails, briefing, correspondence, phone calls, all messaging applications [eg. WhatsApp] etc ) between Tourism Australia and Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister's Office, and/or the Dept of Prime Minister and Cabinet concerning my previous FOI request concerning access to "Board Meeting July 2006". It would cover the period 1 May 2021 to 30 August 2021. 2. All communication (including emails, correspondence, briefing phone calls, all messaging applications [eg. WhatsApp] etc ) between Tourism Australia and any external party concerning my previous FOI request concerning access to "Board Meeting July 2006". |
Access granted in full to 2 documents, access granted in part to 16 documents, and access refused to 50 documents. Personal information in three published documents deleted under s 11C(1)(a) of the FOI Act 1982 | Access to released information can be arranged by contacting: |
| TA0821 | 18 August 2021 | 18 October 2021 | All documents/correspondence (including emails) between Tourism Australia and the Remuneration Tribunal over the period 1 August 2006 and 1 September 2006. All documents/correspondence (including emails) that relate to the termination of the then Managing Director of Tourism Australia, Scott Morrison between Tourism Australia and the Department of Industry over the period 1 August 2006 and 1 September 2006 |
Access granted as follows: grant full access to 3 documents, grant part access to 4 documents, and refuse access to 5 documents. | Access to released information can be arranged by contacting: |
TA0220 |
19 August |
17 November 2020 |
Tender documentation and/or associated emails/briefings held by Tourism Australia regarding the awarding of a contract in 2005 to KPMG to conduct a probity audit. The probity audit was commissioned by Tourism Australia to look into the awarding of advertising contract to M&C Saatchi in 2005. |
No documents met strict reading of criteria. Two documents provided to requesting party matched a broad interpretation of criteria. |
Access to released information can be arranged by contacting: |
TA0120 |
25 August 2020 |
24 September 2020 |
Any information regarding the break down of how much funding is spent on each country with regards to tourism campaigning. |
Information provided directly to the requesting party. |
Access to released information can be arranged by contacting: |
N/A |
28 December 2019 | N/A |
Documentation containing information about the costs of the Tourism Australia Matesong advertising campaign, including: the total cost of payments made to all on-screen stars; and a breakdown of the amount paid to each on-screen star for appearing in the campaign. |
Access refused – s47G business affairs –a public interest conditional exemption, used to protect the business affairs of a person or organisation. |
N/A |
N/A |
13 December 2019 | N/A |
Documentation outlining the nature of Richard Allert's role at the opening of The Barn in Mount Gambier as Chairman of Tourism Australia in March 2010, and the reason for his attendance, including travel records and/or internal communications justifying his attendance; documentation outlining any grants, funding or promotion given to The Barn or Dale Cleves by Tourism Australia between 2007-2011. |
Access refused - applicant notified that no documents existed |
No such documents existed |
| N/A | 3 April 2019 | Minutes of board meetings referring to the tender process and management of Tourism Australia’s global creative and media services; correspondence relating to the performance of the Tourism Australia managing director during the period 1 April 2006 – 31 August 2006, documents relating to a 2006 internal and independent assessment of contracts relating to global creative and media services. | Two (2) documents that met the criteria | Access to released documents can be arranged by contacting: |
|
| TA0318 | 22 May 2018 | - Director emails relating to coral bleaching - Internal documents relating to coral bleaching and/or the health of Australia's coral reefs that are not publicly available - Guidelines issued by Tourism Australia to any private Australian tourism companies concerning the health of the coral reefs not publicly available |
Access granted in part, with redactions made per consultation with affected third parties; access refused in relation to third part - applicant notified that no documents existed | Access to released documents can be arranged by contacting: foi@tourism.australia.com | |
| TA01181 | N/A | Director emails relating to coral bleaching | N/A | Application withdrawn | |
| TA01182 | N/A | Internal documents relating to coral bleaching and/or the health of Australia's coral reefs | N/A | Application withdrawn | |
| TA01183 | N/A | Guidelines by Tourism Australia to any private Australian tourism companies concerning the health of the coral reefs | Access refused - applicant notified that no documents existed | No such documents existed | |
| TA01184 | N/A | Director emails relating to UNESCO's 2016 report World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate | Access refused - applicant notified that no documents existed | No such documents existed | |
| TA0817 | 14 August 2017 | Documents relating to Tourism Australia’s request to access, and/or use of, metadata information Documents relating to Tourism Australia’s request to access, and/or use of, metadata information. | No documents met this criteria. Nothing to publish. | Nil | |
| TA0116 | 4 June 2016 | Documents relating to Tourism Australia’s sponsorship of David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef series. | Clarification sought in relation to scope of request from applicant. No response received. Nothing to publish |
Nil | |
| TA0715 | 13 August 2015 | Documents about international travel taken by Tourism Australia's Sydney based employees in Bands 3 and 4 during the period March - July 2015. | One document met the criteria. | Nil | |
| TA0215 | 16 February 2015 | Correspondence between Tourism Australia and the Office of Andrew Robb between 9 September 2013 and 31 October 2014 that relates to the Boathouse, Palm Beach. | Two (2) documents that met the criteria | Nil | |
| TA0115 | 21 January 2015 | Documents relating to proposed or future tourism development of grants with The Entrance NSW 2261 and its surrounding areas. | No correspondence met this criteria. Nothing to publish. | Nil | |
| TA214 | 11 March 2014 | Letters written by select employees on the 2nd and 3rd December that ended in the letter 't'. | No correspondence met this criteria. Nothing to publish. | Nil | |
| TA0114 | 11 March 2014 | Correspondence from our Chairman to the Foreign Affairs Minister and from our Chairman to the Minister for Trade and Investment from Sept 2013 - Jan 2014. | Two (2) letters that met the criteria | Nil |
