Access to information

What would you like to know?

As an organisation serving over 5 million people every day, we deal with lots of information. This includes many documents. Most of our documents are about our core services of water, recycled water, wastewater and stormwater. You'll find a lot of information by searching on this website. But there are other ways to access information if you can't find it here.

Open Access Information

Informal Release

Formal Access Application

Rights of review

Contact us

How we provide Information

To promote transparency and accountability, Sydney Water provides publicly accessible information including access to certain government information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW) (the GIPA Act).

Sydney Water provides access to information in 4 different ways:

1. Open Access Information (Mandatory)

Section 18 of the GIPA Act advises agencies that certain information is mandatory for agencies to publish and make accessible on their website unless there is an overriding public interest against doing so. This is referred to as open access information and includes:

The guide:

  • describes the structure and functions of Sydney Water and how its functions affect members of the public
  • specifies arrangements that enable members of the public to participate in the formulation of Sydney Water policy and the exercise of its functions
  • identifies the various types of information held by Sydney Water and the kinds of information Sydney Water makes, or will make, publicly available
  • identifies the kinds of information that are, or will be, made publicly available free of charge and those kinds of information for which a charge is, or will be, imposed.

You can access the Agency Information Guide here.

The annual report outlines the operations and performance of Sydney Water for each financial year including its financial reporting for that year.

You can access Sydney Water’s past and current annual reports here.

The disclosure log contains details of the formal access applications which have been made to Sydney Water and is updated on a quarterly basis.

You can access the latest Sydney Water Disclosure Log here.

The documents tabled in Parliament, other than those in response to a Parliamentary Order (such as documents tabled under a Standing Order 52) can be accessed here.

The Contract register contains a register of government contracts with Sydney Water. You can access it here.

Sydney Water policies can be accessed here.

Sydney Water must also keep a record of open access information (if any) that it does not make publicly available on the basis that there is an overriding public interest against disclosure. Currently there is no such record.

 

2. Proactive Release

Sydney Water is authorised under section 7 of the GIPA Act to make any government information held by Sydney Water publicly available unless there is an overriding public interest against disclosure of the information. 

This authority allows Sydney Water to decide what government information it will proactively choose to release free of charge by publishing the information on its website.    

Sydney Water continues to proactively release as much information of public interest as it can through publication on the Sydney Water website. Please refer to Reports and publications for further information. 

Accessibility on our website
We want to make our information accessible to everyone. We've designed our website to meet the web content accessibility guidelines version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) at AA level. Please contact us if you have problems accessing our content

 

3. Informal Release

The informal release of government information under section 8 of the GIPA Act is subject to any reasonable conditions that Sydney Water thinks fit to impose. Government information that is already publicly available or can be easily disclosed without third party consultation or the need for public interest considerations to be made, can be released informally.

Examples of informal requests include requests for policy documents, guidelines, reports, publications, or requests made for personal information directly related to the person making the request. This maybe you or someone lawfully appointed by you to make the request on your behalf.

An informal release of information can be requested by you, but it is ultimately up to Sydney Water whether it considers an informal release more appropriate than a release under a formal access application.

There is no timeframe governing an informal release and there are no review rights under the GIPA Act if you make a request under an informal release and you are not satisfied with Sydney Water’s response.  

Informal requests for information MUST:

  • be in writing
  • be sent to the email address provided below and in the application form
  • for informal requests concerning personal information, include a valid copy of the applicant's identification, e.g. Driver Licence, Passport, Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card.
  • must include as much specific information as possible to assist the GIPA Team to identify the information you are requesting.

To lodge an informal request 
Download and complete the Informal access application form and return via GIPA@sydneywater.com.au.

 

4. Formal Access Application

If the release of government information cannot be accessed by you under the 3 methods described above, you can make a formal access application for information under section 9 of the GIPA Act. In contrast to an informal release, standard fees and charges apply, as well as timeframes within which Sydney Water must respond to you. This timeframe is 20 working days, unless you are notified by the GIPA Team that the process will take longer.

You also have review rights under the GIPA Act on any decision made by Sydney Water's GIPA Team to release or not to release the information you have requested as part of the formal access application. See your rights of review below.

All formal requests (access application) for information MUST:

  • be in writing
  • be sent to the physical address or email address provided below and in the application form
  • clearly state that the information is being sought under the GIPA Act
  • include as much specific information as possible to assist the GIPA Team to identify the information you are requesting.
  • be accompanied by the application fee of $30
  • must have a return email or postal address
  • for request for personal information, include a valid copy of the applicant's identification, e.g. Driver Licence, Passport, Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card.

To lodge a request under formal access
Pay the relevant fee, download and complete the Formal access application form, and return by:

Email
GIPA@sydneywater.com.au

Post
GIPA Officer
Sydney Water
PO Box 399
PARRAMATTA  NSW  2124

Rights of Review

If you are aggrieved by a decision made by Sydney Water's GIPA Team, there are 3 options available to you:

 

1. Internal Review

An Internal Review may be sought within 20 working days of a Notice of Decision (NOD) on certain decisions. 

To lodge a request for internal review, download and complete the Internal Review Application Form along with an application fee of $40.

An internal review request will be acknowledged within 5 working days and completed within 15 working days, unless advised of extension.

 

2. External Review by the Information Commissioner at the IPC

You can ask for an external review by the Information Commissioner within 40 working days, you do not have to have an internal review of the decision before requesting an external review by the IPC.

Please refer to the IPC website for further information at www.ipc.nsw.gov.au.

 

3. External Review by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal

If you disagree with any of the decision, you can request for a review by NCAT with 40 working days. However, if you applied for a review by the Information Commissioner, you have 20 working days from being notified of the Information Commissioner's review outcome to apply to NCAT.  

Please refer to the NCAT website for further information at www.ncat.nsw.gov.au.

Contact us

For additional assistance relating to accessing information under the GIPA Act, or general enquiries, please contact the GIPA Team via phone on 02 8849 6834 or email GIPA@sydneywater.com.au.