Circulars

What’s new or changing

• The formation of new councils will have implications for these councils’ management of their obligations under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act).
• The IPC has created new accounts for new councils in its online GIPA Tool.
• From 1 September 2016:
  • new councils will need to change how they use the online GIPA Tool to manage applications and report annual GIPA data.
  • external reviews and complaints under the GIPA Act and annual GIPA Act reporting to the IPC will be dealt with under the name of the new council.

What this will mean for your council

• New councils are requested to register GIPA Tool users at the IPC website at: http://www.ipc.nsw.gov.au/ipc-gipa-tool-registration-form#. This will allow the IPC to create logins for those users by 1 September 2016.
• Councils not already using the GIPA Tool are encouraged to do so. The GIPA Tool provides a streamlined approach to council GIPA reporting and allows councils to avoid the need to compile reports manually.

Key points

• The IPC will deal with all information access external reviews and complaints received on and from 1 September 2016 in the name of the new council.
• Applications received before 1 September 2016 will be managed in the name of the council in which the application was received until finalised.

Where to go for further information

• For more information, see the attachment to this Circular.
• Contact the Information and Privacy Commission on 1800 472 679 or ipcinfo@ipc.nsw.gov.au
• To register for the GIPA Tool please go to the IPC GIPA Tool web page at http://www.ipc.nsw.gov.au/ipc-gipa-tool-registration-form#.

Tim Hurst

Acting Chief Executive