Queensland Numbered Acts

PLANNING ACT 2016 - SECT 263

263 Public access to documents

(1) A regulation may prescribe, for a person who has, or has had, powers or functions in relation to this Act—

(a) the documents, including a register, relating to the person’s functions, that the person must or may keep publicly available; and

(b) where, and in what form the documents must or may be kept; and

(c) whether the documents, or a certified copy of the documents must, or may be kept; and

(d) whether the documents must or may be kept available for inspection and purchase, or for inspection only; and

(e) the period or periods during which the documents must or may be kept.

(1A) For a person who gives an exemption certificate, the regulation must require the person to keep the following available for inspection and purchase—

(a) a copy of each exemption certificate given by the person;

(b) a register of exemption certificates given by the person.

(2) Unless the regulation states otherwise—

(a) the person may keep the documents in electronic form; and

(b) different registers may be kept for different types of documents.

(3) Subject to subsections (4) to (6), the person must comply with the regulation.

Penalty—

Maximum penalty—50 penalty units.

(4) If a document is kept available—

(a) for inspection or purchase, the person must allow another person—

(i) to inspect the document free of charge at the place where the document is held, whenever the place is open for business; and

(ii) to get a copy of all or part of the document from the person, for the reasonable cost, but for no more than the cost, of supplying the copy; and

(b) for inspection only, the person must allow another person to inspect the document free of charge at the place where the document is held, whenever the place is open for business, but need not give a copy to the person; and

(c) on the person’s website, the person must allow another person to do the following free of charge—

(i) to view the document on the website; and

(ii) to download the document in the form that the person decides.

Penalty—

Maximum penalty—50 penalty units.

(5) For a document of a type prescribed by regulation, this section does not apply to the person to the extent the person reasonably considers the document contains—

(a) information of a purely private nature about an individual (the individual's residential or email address or phone number, for example); or

(b) sensitive security information (the location of a safe, for example).

(6) The person need not disclose a submitter’s name, contact details or signature.