Council holds a large amount of current and historic information about our city and its activities. We make this information available to the public in line with the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act). In the past, this has also been called Freedom of Information.
You have a legal right to access most government information, and you can expect this access to be open and freely available.
The Information and Privacy Commission NSW (IPC) has a number of resources to assist you with accessing government information.
There are several ways you can find or ask for information held by Council:
1. Search our website
Start by checking Council's website to see if the information you're looking for is freely available.
Under section 18 of the GIPA Act, certain information is considered 'Open Access' information. This information must be made available free of charge on Council's website.
Open Access information includes:
- Agency Information Guide
- Policy documents
- Disclosure Log of access applications
- Register of government contracts.
We also keep several information registers and a wide range of general information on our website.
2. Make an informal GIPA request
If the information you're looking for is not on Council's website, you can make an informal GIPA request.
There are two types of informal GIPA requests:
- General Information
- Development Application Information.
There’s no cost to make an informal application. However fees may apply for information provided on USB or CD, or photocopied documents. Current costs are shown in our Fees and Charges.
Use the button below to make an informal GIPA request.
Please note: due to a large number of applications, there may be a delay in response times to requests.
3. Make a formal GIPA request
If you can’t get the information you want through one of the methods above, you will need to make a formal application using the form below.
Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 - Formal Access Application PDF, 221.83 KB
Formal requests are often needed for:
- large amounts of information
- when we need to do an in-depth search to find what you want
- information that includes someone else’s personal or business details
- other sensitive information.
You will need to pay a compulsory $30 fee to make a formal application. You may also be charged additional processing fees in line with the GIPA Act.
More information
Not sure what type of application to make? Call us on (02) 4227 7111 and we can point you in the right direction.
You can also visit our Privacy page to learn about how personal information collected by Council is managed.
- Your Council Officials
- 2023 Referendum: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
- Council Meetings
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Access to Information
- Agency Information Guide
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Information Registers
- Contracts Register
- Contracts Register - Class 1
- Contracts Register - Class 2
- Contracts Register - Class 3
- Council Position Statements Register
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- Delegations Register
- Designated Officers
- Development Application Register (Application Tracking)
- Development Approvals
- Development Contributions Register
- Disclosure Log
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- Land Register
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- Political Donations and Gifts
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- Variation to Development Standards Register
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Committees and Groups
- Aboriginal Reference Group
- Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee
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- Floodplain Committees
- Lake Illawarra CMP Implementation Group
- Sports and Facilities Reference Group
- Traffic Committee
- Walking, Cycling and Mobility Reference Group
- West Dapto Review Committee
- Wollongong Heritage Reference Group
- Southern Regional Planning Panel
- Wollongong Local Planning Panel
- Community Land