What is RTI?

Section 7 of the Right to Information Act 2009 creates a legally enforceable right to information in the possession of public authorities and Ministers unless it is exempt information, often referred to as RTI.  The Right to Information Act replaced the Freedom of Information Act 1991 (FOI), but some other states and territories, and the Commonwealth still refer to FOI.  There is, ultimately, not much difference between the two.

The RTI process is the mechanism for people to access information that is not otherwise available to them.  The right to information contained in s7 furthers the object of the Act contained in s3, which is to improve democratic government in Tasmania by:

• increasing the accountability of the executive to the people;
• increasing the ability of the people to participate in their governance; and
• acknowledging that information collected by public authorities is collected for and on behalf of the people and is the property of the state.