Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009

The Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 came into effect on 1 July 2010. The Act stipulates that the Sydney Catchment Authority (SCA) must publish a publication guide each year. This document is the SCA’s Publication Guide for 2011.

Written enquiries about the Government Information (Public Access) Act should be directed to:

Right to Information Officer
Sydney Catchment Authority
PO Box 323
Penrith NSW 2751

Telephone enquiries regarding the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 should be made to 1300 SCA GOV (1300 722 468).

About the Sydney Catchment Authority

Information about our organisational structure, the SCA Board, legislative framework, vision, role and values, Corporate Sustainability Strategy and other corporate information  is available in the About us section of this website.

Public consultation in the Sydney Catchment Authority

Effect of functions on members of the public

The SCA’s task is to manage and protect Sydney's catchments and supply raw water to its customers, which include Sydney Water, two local councils and others.

These customers treat the water and distribute it to households, businesses and other users. More than four million people, or about 60 per cent of NSW's population, consume water supplied by the SCA.

The SCA seeks to provide the best quality raw water available and monitors and analyses the water that flows into the dams as well as the water contained in the dams.

The SCA is a key agency in catchment management along with the Office of Environment and Heritage, the NSW Office of Water and the catchment management authorities.

Local government, catchment communities, industry, environment groups and landholders also have an interest in catchment health and work with the SCA to protect the health of the catchments.

Public participation in SCA policy development

The SCA consults with stakeholders, as well as consultative groups. The SCA comments on issues through calls for public submissions. There are a range of policies and plans on which the SCA seeks the views of the community. These include the Special Areas Strategic Plan of Management, Wingecarribee Swamp and Special Area Plan of Management, Bulk Water Supply Agreement, Raw Drinking Water Management Framework and Memoranda of Understanding with NSW Health and the Office of Environment and Heritage.

Documents held by the SCA

The SCA holds a variety of documents including:

The SCA’s policy documents and annual reports, setting out its functions and responsibilities, can be obtained by contacting the SCA’s Right of Information officer (RIO) at the address shown below.

The SCA’s publications are available at no cost at Level 4, 2-6 Station Street, Penrith between the hours of 8.30am to 5.00pm, Mondays to Fridays. All SCA publications, including those published only on the website, are available on request as a printed copy. A full list of publications is published in the SCA’s 2009-2010 Annual Report (Appendix 10). SCA publications are available by contacting our offices or by visiting our website at www.sca.nsw.gov.au.

The website also provides access to a range of SCA data including bulk water supply and storage reports.

Obtaining information from the SCA

Accessing and amending the SCA’s documents

Government Information Public Access (GIPA) Act 2009

Informal release of government information

1. An agency is authorised to release government information held by it to a person in response to an informal request by the person (that is, a request that is not an access application) unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure of the information.
2. An agency can release government information in response to an informal request subject to any reasonable conditions that the agency thinks fit to impose.
3. An agency cannot be required to disclose government information pursuant to an informal request and cannot be required to consider an informal request for government information.
4. An agency can decide by what means information is to be released in response to an informal request.
5. An agency can facilitate public access to government information contained in a record by deleting matter from a copy of the record to be released in response to an informal request if inclusion of the matter would otherwise result in there being an overriding public interest against disclosure of the record.
6. The functions of an agency under this section may only be exercised by or with the authority (given either generally or in a particular case) of the principal officer of the agency.

A request for informal access of information should be made by contacting the SCA’s Right of Information Officer on 1300 722 468.

Formal access of information

Members of the public wanting formal access under the GIPA Act 2009 to documents held by the SCA should submit a Right of Informationapplication form. The application must be in writing, preferably on the standard application form available from the SCA and accompanied by a fee of $30, which covers the first hour of processing. Each additional hour costs a further $30.

A fifty per cent fee reduction may be granted to an individual if they:

• are a concession holder
• are a child
• represent a non-profit organisation
• are undergoing financial hardship, or
• can demonstrate they are acting in the public interest.

Lodge applications in writing to:

Right to Information Officer
Sydney Catchment Authority
PO Box 323
Penrith NSW 2751

The SCA must respond to all requests within 20 business days. An additional 10-15 days may be required if we need to consult a third party. You will be advised as soon as possible of the SCA’s response to your application.

In addition to the application fee, you may be required to pay processing charges of $30 per hour. The SCA will determine whether to apply any fees or charges. When processing an application, we will make every effort to minimise the cost to the applicant. When appropriate, we will contact the applicant to discuss options of limiting the cost of processing. There is no charge for the first 20 hours for processing for personal information.

Policy documents

What constitutes an agency’s policy documents?

An agency’s policy documents are such of the following documents as are used by the agency in connection with the exercise of those functions of the agency that affect or are likely to affect rights, privileges or other benefits, or obligations, penalties or other detriments, to which members of the public are or may become entitled, eligible, liable or subject (but does not include a legislative instrument):

(a) a document containing interpretations, rules, guidelines, statements of policy, practices or precedents,

(b) a document containing particulars of any administrative scheme,

(c) a document containing a statement of the manner, or intended manner, of administration of any legislative instrument or administrative scheme,

(d) a document describing the procedures to be followed in investigating any contravention or possible contravention of any legislative instrument or administrative scheme,

(e) any other document of a similar kind.

Effect of policy documents not being publicly available

(1) a person is not to be subjected to any prejudice because of the application of the provisions of an agency’s policy document to any act or omission of the person if, at the time of the act or omission:

(a) the policy document was not publicly available as required by this Act, and

(b) the person was not aware of those provisions, and

(c) the person could lawfully have avoided the prejudice had the person been aware of those provisions.

(2) this section does not apply to any matter forming part of an agency’s policy document that is not made publicly available as a result of being deleted as required by this Act from copies of the policy document that are made publicly available.

Please refer to the SCA’s policy documents.

More information

Contact the SCA's GIPA Coordinator:

Sydney Catchment Authority
Level 4, 2-6 Station Street

PO Box 323, Penrith NSW 2751
Penrith NSW 2750

Email: info@sca.nsw.gov.au
Telephone: 1300 SCA GOV (1300 722 468)
Fax: (02) 4725 2599

Contact the Office of the Information Commissioner:

Free call telephone: 1800 INFOCOM (1800 463 626)
Email: oicinfo@oic.nsw.gov.au
Postal address: GPO Box 7011 Sydney NSW 2001
Website: www.oic.nsw.gov.au

Disclosure Log

Please refer to the SCA’s disclosure log.