Queensland Consolidated Acts

RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2009 - SECT 30

30 Decision-maker for application to agency

(1) An access application to an agency must be dealt with for the agency by the agency’s principal officer.

(2) The agency’s principal officer may delegate the power to deal with the application to another officer of the agency.

(3) Also, for an agency other than a local government, the agency’s principal officer may, with the agreement of another agency’s principal officer, delegate the power to deal with the application to the other agency’s principal officer.

(4) The principal officer of the other agency may subdelegate a power delegated to him or her under subsection (3) .

Note—

Under the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 , section 27A (2) , a delegation may be revoked, wholly or partly, by the delegator. Accordingly, a delegation may be revoked before a decision is made in a particular case and the delegator may make the decision.

(5) However—

(a) a principal officer may not, under subsection (2) or (4) delegate the power to deal with the application to the extent it involves—

(i) making a healthcare decision; or

(ii) appointing a healthcare professional under paragraph (b) ; but

(b) the agency may appoint an appropriately qualified healthcare professional to make a healthcare decision in relation to the application.

(6) In this section—

"healthcare decision" means a decision about any of the following matters—

(a) whether disclosure to the applicant of relevant healthcare information about the applicant might be prejudicial to the physical or mental health or wellbeing of the applicant under section 51 ;

(b) whether to refuse access under section 47 (3) (d) ;

(c) whether to give access despite being able to refuse access under section 47 (3) (d) ;

(d) whether to give a direction under section 77 (2) ;

(e) whether to approve a healthcare professional under section 77 (2) .

"power to deal" , with an access application, includes power to deal with an application for internal review in relation to the access application.

Examples of dealing with an application for internal review—

• making a new decision under section 80 (2)

• giving notice under section 83 (3)