NSW Ombudsman finds local councils illegally charge for access to documents

The NSW Ombudsman's Annual Report includes a section on local government 13 local government.pdf

Access to council information is one of the matters covered. The Ombudsman, following an investigation found Leichhardt Council was charging illegal fees for providing information to the public. This was despite a Local Government Act requirement to provide theinformation for free. Other councils were also charging unlawful fees to cover processing and file retrieval costs, or charging unreasonable amounts for photocopying. “Our investigation found many councils with unreasonable photocopying charges and unlawful processing fees. We have put a stop to these charges, and to unnecessary redtape for persons seeking access to council documents,” said Mr Barbour.