Freedom of information

Read below to find out about the fees you may have to pay to make a freedom of information (FOI) request.

Personal information

There is no application fee to get personal information but there may be other fees that apply.

Government information or a mix of government and personal information

There is an application fee of $30 (including GST) that must be made before an application for government information is accepted, as well as search, processing and copying fees.

To find out more about fees, go to the Office of the Information Commissioner NT website.

Processing fee

Once your request for information has been assessed, an agency may ask you to pay them a fee to process it.

You will first need to pay a deposit for this processing fee.

Once you've paid the deposit, the agency will process your request and then tell you what access is available.

You'll then be asked to pay the balance of the processing fee and the information that has been determined to be released will be given to you.

Deposit for processing fee

The deposit for the processing fee you may be asked to pay is:

• $25 if the processing fee is estimated to be $100 or less
• 50% of the estimate if the processing fee is estimated to be more than $100.

All of the following apply to processing fee deposits:

• the agency will not proceed with your application until you have paid the required deposit
• paying the deposit does not guarantee that you will get all the information you requested
• if the actual cost of processing ends up being less than your deposit (e.g. if it is quickly discovered that no information exists) you will be refunded the excess amount
• an agency can keep your deposit even if no information is ultimately released to you, if the actual processing costs are higher than the deposit.

How to pay your FOI fee

The application and processing fees can be made in cash or cheque by:

• mail
• in person to the nearest Receiver of Territory Monies (RTM) office.

Credit card payment can be made by:

• calling 08 8999 1606
• in person to the nearest RTM office.

Find the address and contact details for your nearest RTM office.

How to apply for a waiver of fees

If you do not have much money or your information has a strong public interest value, you can apply to have your fee waived or reduced.

A waiver of fees is not automatically granted, and a dispute about paying fees or a fee waiver can delay your application from being processed.

To apply for a waiver of fees submit the application form below.

Application to waive or reduce fees DOCX (40.1 KB)
Application to waive or reduce fees PDF (79.3 KB)

For more information about waiving of fees, go to the Office of the Information Commissioner NT website.