This
Statement of Affairs has been published to comply with Section
18 of the Freedom of Information Act 1992.
Information
included in the Statement of Affairs
Ø
Consultation arrangements
for public participation in the Board’s policy making activities;
Ø
Bodies established
to advise the Board and whose meetings and minutes are open to
the public;
Ø
How to access Board
documents under Freedom of Information (FOI);
Ø
Type of documents
held by the Board;
Ø
Publications available
from the Board
Consultation
arrangements for public participation in
Board policy making activities
The Board recognises that extensive
industry consultation is necessary whenever major policy and legislative
initiatives are being developed.
The Board also employs a range
of other methods including working parties, surveys and consultation
with industry participants.
Members of the public are invited
to write to the General Manager concerning the Board’s policies
and functions.
Bodies
established to advise the Board
Although there
are several bodies set up to advise the Board on various matters,
none of the meetings of those bodies are open to the public and
the minutes of those meetings are not distributed to the public.
Documents
held by the Board
The Board holds a broad range
of materials and records relating to internal operations.
Freedom of Information
How to access GQL documents
The Freedom of Information
Act 1992 gives community members a legally enforceable right to
access documents held by Queensland Government agencies and Ministers
of the Crown.
Although the overall spirit
of the Freedom of Information Act 1992 encourages the release
of documents, some documents may be restricted to protect essential
public interests or the private or business affairs of members
of the community where disclosure would be contrary to the public
interest. Other documents
are also available to review and download directly through our
website-
http://www.greyhoundsqueensland.com.au
How
do I obtain documents?
1.
Ask if the documents you require are publicly
available.
2.
Identify the documents you require, where they are located (region, division)
and type of access sought (inspection or copy).
3.
Make the application. A formal
application under the Freedom of Information Act 1992 may be made
on either an application form or by letter.
The application
must:
Ø
Be in writing;
Ø
State an address
to which a notification of the decision may be sent;
Ø
Be accompanied by
a $32.50 application fee, if the information relates to non-personal
matters (personal information about yourself is available at no
cost); and
Ø
Be addressed to
the Freedom of Information Officer
4.
Post or deliver the application to:
The Freedom of Information
Officer
Greyhounds Queensland
PO Box 250
Albion Qld 4010
3 Amy Street
Breakfast Creek Qld 4010
Telephone (07) 3262 7800
Facsimile: (07) 3262 7809
If the documents
you require relate to your personal affairs, you must apply in
person and provide identification.
Consultation
While processing
an FOI application, it may be necessary to consult with a third
party where disclosure of the matter contained in the document
may reasonably be expected to be of substantial concern to the
third party.
While the third
party’s views will be taken into consideration, the final decision
on whether to permit access rests with the Board.
Time frames for
decisions
Strict time limits
apply for making decisions on FOI applications.
The timeframes commence
from the receipt of the application, except in the case of applications
for access to non-personal affairs documents, when the timeframes
commence from receipt of both the application and the application
fee.
FOI applications
are acknowledged by the FOI Officer within 14 days of receipt.
For requests to
access personal affairs documents, decisions are made within:
Ø
45 days where no
consultation is required; and
Ø
60 days where consultation
is required.
For requests to
access non-personal affairs documents, decisions are made within:
Ø
45 days for documents
created after 1987 where no consultation is required;
Ø
60 days for documents
created after 1987 where consultation is required;
Ø
60 days for documents
created prior to 1987 where no consultation is required; and
Ø
75 days for documents
created prior to 1987 where consultation is required
Types
of Access
You may nominate
to have copies sent to you at a charge or you may inspect documents
at a suitable location, usually the Board’s main office.
Review
of Decisions
Internal
Review
If you are dissatisfied
with the FOI Officer’s decision, you may apply for an internal
review of the decision.
A senior officer
of the Board will review the decision within 14 days of receipt
of your application. There
is no right of internal review of a decision made by the Board
Chairman or General Manager of the Board.
External
Review
The Information
Commissioner is an independent body responsible for reviewing
decisions under the Freedom of Information Act 1992.
The Information
Commissioner has the power to change, amend or confirm a decision
of an agency or to mediate a settlement amongst the parties.
You may seek an
external review of the decision from the Information Commissioner
if:
Ø
you are dissatisfied
with the internal review decision;
Ø
the Board fails
to make a decision within the internal review time limits; or
Ø
the Board Chairman
or General Manager made the decision.
Applications for
external review must be sought by an applicant within 60 days
of receipt of the decision, or by a third party within 28 days
of recept of the decision.
An application for
external review must be in writing, specify your address and give
particulars of the decision for review.
Requests should be forwarded to:
The Office of the
Information Commissioner, located at:
Level
25
288 Edward Street
Brisbane Qld 4000
Or mailed to:
GPO Box 3314
Brisbane Qld 4001
Enquiries
Enquiries about
FOI may be made between 8.30 am and 4.30 pm Monday to Friday by
telephoning the FOI Officer on (07) 3262 7800.
Publications
The GQL produces
a monthly Journal which is available to the public. The following documents can be accessed electronically on the website
http://www.greyhoundsqueensland.com.au
Ø
Australian Greyhound
Racing Rules
Ø
Privacy Plan
Ø
Stewards Reports
Ø
Fields
Ø
Formguides
Ø
Registration Forms
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