Brewarrina Shire Council is required to publish information about our council and administration activities.

As members of the public, you have the right to access certain local government information.

Under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, there are four ways you can access information about council – mandatory release or open access information, proactive release, informal request and formal application.

Mandatory Release or Open Access Information

Certain information, referred to as open access information, must be published on our website, free of charge. This includes:

• Council’s current Publication Guide
• Documents tabled in Parliament on behalf of the Council
• Council’s Policy documents
• Council’s disclosure log
• Register of Government Contracts
• General details of unpublished open access information

Other information readily available on our website or available via request include:

• Reports such as annual reports, financial reports, auditor reports and department reports
• Plans, including Community Strategic Plan
• Council Meeting agendas and business papers as well as meeting minutes
• Codes and Policies, including the model Code of Conduct prescribed under section 440 (1) of the LGA; Code of Meeting Practice; Payment of Expenses incurred and the Provision of Facilities to Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councillors
• Registers including councillor disclosures of interest, land registers, register of investments and delegations
• Land, Building and Development applications
• Orders

Proactive Release

Beyond the mandatory release of information on our website, we are encouraged (and authorised) to release as much government information as possible.

You can ask Council what information we will make available to the public, in addition to the information contained on our website. Council will release as much government information as possible, in an appropriate way and free of charge (or at the lowest reasonable cost) providing there is no overriding interest against disclosure.

Informal Release

If the information is not available on our website, please contact us, and we will endeavour to share this information with you, unless there is an overriding interest against disclosure.

Formal Application

As a last resort, and if the information has not been accessible in any of the above three ways, a formal application may be required.

A formal application form can be obtained here.

Decisions made in response to formal applications can be reviewed.

Further information about your rights to information can be found at https://www.ipc.nsw.gov.au/

Contact

If the information is not available online or you require an old version of a document, please contact council’s office on 02 6830 5100 or via email breshire@brewarrina.nsw.gov.au