Access to information

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Your rights

You have a right to request information held by the Department. Depending on the information you need, you may be able to access it under:

• an administrative access request
• the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) ​(Australian Privacy Principle 12, or APP 12)
• the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
  

Administrative Access Requests

We encourage you to consider an administrative access request first. In most cases, it is a simpler, faster and more efficient way to access your personal information and some corporate (non-personal) information.

You can access the following information through administrative pathways:​​

• You can get information about your visa or citizenship applications in ImmiAccount.
• You can find information about your current visa status in VEVO.
• You can get specific dates of your travel into and out of Australia, or another person’s travel records using Request for international movement records.
• If you have an application with the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), you can get a copy of the documents the Department has provided to the Tribunal by completing a Client merits review file request form.
• Check our website for corporate information published under the Information Publication Scheme.
• Search for previously released documents in our FOI Disclosure Log.
• We publish data and statistics regularly on our website including visa and citizenship.
  

Request your personal information using the Privacy Act

Under APP 12 of the Privacy Act, you can request access to the personal information that the Department holds about you. Personal information is information that identifies you or could reasonably identify you. Examples include:

• information you provided in a visa, citizenship or migration application
• correspondence you have sent to the Department
• personal information collected or created by the Department when assessing an application or providing a service.

Requests for your personal information under the Privacy Act are free of charge and provide a faster way to access your documents than requests made under the FOI Act. You will receive written reasons why information is limited or removed, but there is no formal internal or external review process for these decisions.​

Request documents under the FOI Act

Under the FOI Act, you can request access to documents held by the Department, including:

• your own personal information
• policy documents
• administrative records
• documents relating to Departmental decisions
• information about another person or organisation (subject to legal restrictions and consultation requirements).

Some requests for information under the FOI Act are provided at a cost. You will receive detailed written reasons why information has been deleted or removed. There are formal internal and external review options available.

Choose the type of information you would like to access​

Personal access request​ I want to access my own or someone else's personal information

Non-personal access request I want to access non-personal documents such as departmental procedures or records

Information Publication Scheme I want to view the documents published under the Information Publication Scheme

FOI disclosure log I want to view the Freedom of Information (FOI) disclosure log

Data requests​ ​I want to view or request data​