Contend the charge
Should you contend that the charge has been wrongly assessed, or should be reduced or not
imposed, you may apply for the department to waive or reduce the charge. The department will
take into account whether:
the payment of the fee or a part of the fee would cause you financial hardship; and
the giving of access to documents relevant to your request is in the general public interest
or in the interest of a substantial section of the public.
A departmental decision-maker will take into account any considerations you put forward, and will
make a decision on whether the charge should be imposed, and in what amount.
Processing period or withdrawal of request
Section 31 of the FOI Act provides that the 30-day processing period to assess your request is put
on hold until we receive your payment of the deposit/payment in full of the charge, or we decide
not to impose a charge. Should you withdraw your request at this stage, no charge will be
imposed.
If we do not receive your response to this letter within 30 days of its receipt, I will consider that
you no longer wish to continue with your request, and I will deem it withdrawn.
Narrow scope of request
Finally, you may elect to narrow the scope of your request, which may reduce the applicable
charge.
Should you have any queries, or wish to discuss revising the terms of your request, please contact
me by email at xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx.
Yours sincerely
Tom Beamish
Director
Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section