Access to information

Section 18 of the GIPA Act provides that certain prescribed information must be made available free of charge. This includes the following documents which can be found on our website:

• Agency Information Guide
• Policy documents
• Disclosure logs
• Register of government contracts
• Record of the open access information (if any) that the agency does not make publicly available on the basis of an overriding public interest against disclosure
  • Nil
• Information about the agency contained in any document tabled in Parliament by or on behalf of the agency
  • Annual Reports
  • Standing Committee on Social Issues inquiry into the State Records Act and the Paper on its review

MHNSW will proactively release free of charge, certain other information made available on our website, such as:

• Annual Reports
• Strategic Plans
• Privacy Management Plan
• Media releases
• Major assets and acquisitions

If the information you are seeking has not already been published, and it’s not against the public interest for it to be made available, then we may be able to release it to you on an informal basis. If you think this applies to the information you are seeking, you can contact our Governance team via governance@mhnsw.au to make an informal request.

You will be provided with a decision about your informal request as soon as possible. If we are not able to make a decision within 20 business days, we will contact you to let you know when you can expect one.

Under the GIPA Act, government agencies are not required to release information informally. If you are not happy with an informal decision, there is no right of review. But you are then able to make a formal application.

Alongside the corporate records of MHNSW and its predecessors (NSW State Archives and Records Authority and the Historic Houses Trust of NSW, prior to 2022) MHNSW holds the following collections:

• The State Archives Collection
  Please see our State Archives Collection page for more information on the collection and how to obtain access.
• Caroline Simpson Collection
  Please see our Caroline Simpson Collection page for more information on the collection and how to obtain access.
• Museum Collections
  Please see our Museum Collections page for more information on these collections and how to obtain access.

If the information you are seeking is not available on this website and cannot otherwise be provided on request, then you have a right to apply formally for access to specific information under part 4 of the GIPA Act.

To be considered, formal applications must:

• be made in writing
• clearly state that the request is being made pursuant to the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009
• enclose a $30 application fee (EFT, money order or cheque)
• have a return postal address for correspondence
• include as much specific information as necessary to enable us to identify the information you are asking for.

Your application cannot be processed if does not meet these requirements. In this event, we will contact you with further advice on how to meet these requirements.

If your application is valid, you will receive acknowledgment of receipt within five working days. Your application will be dealt with within 20 working days, subject to any extensions allowed for under the GIPA Act. We will let you know in writing if any extension of time is required to deal with your application.