Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 1991 (FOI Act) provides members of the public with a legally enforceable right of access to documents held by the Government of South Australia, subject only to such restrictions as are reasonably necessary for the proper administration of the state government.

The FOI Act also enables people to apply for the amendment of records concerning their personal affairs if they consider them to be incomplete, incorrect, out-of-date or misleading.

The following information statement for Renewal SA is published pursuant to Section 9 of the FOI Act.

An overview of how Freedom of Information operates in South Australia is available from the State Records website.

Renewal SA coordinates, manages and delivers activities and initiatives on behalf of the Urban Renewal Authority Board of Management.

The board is responsible for continual improvements in performance and protecting both the long term viability of, and the government’s financial and other interests in, the Urban Renewal Authority (trading as Renewal SA).

Our organisation is made up of the following divisions.

• People & Place Management – responsible for the functions of people and culture, place, communications and engagement, residential and sales marketing and delivery of city projects and initiatives such as Lot Fourteen and Adelaide Riverbank.
• Property – delivers residential, industrial, commercial and urban renewal projects such as Tonsley Innovation District, Playford Alive, Bowden, Our Port and Woodville West. This area of our organisation also supports the organisation with specialist environmental, planning and design services.
• Corporate Services – supports our organisation with the functions of finance, records management, information technology, corporate governance and procurement.

Find further information about how these functions contribute to delivering an inspiring urban future for South Australia on our About Renewal SA page.

As the state government’s key urban development agency, Renewal SA recognises that communities can contribute critical insight into elements of projects and potential risks which will impact on Renewal SA’s ability to deliver successful project outcomes.

We engage extensively and inclusively to bring community voices into decision-making for better outcomes and pride ourselves on making a genuine attempt to engage and bring people along on the journey.

Our Engagement Policy and Engagement Guidelines are consistent with the state government’s Better Together principles-based approach and are based on the core values and practices recommended by the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2), which is recognised internationally as best practice.

Renewal SA’s engagement comprises some or all of the levels of public participation from the IAP2 spectrum, for different communities across the different stages of our projects.

Engagement therefore can include members of the public being encouraged to assist in developing a project’s vision, contributing ideas towards planning, reviewing building and public realm design options, providing feedback on specific proposals, and partnering to deliver and manage specific elements such as community gardens.

Reports on our past engagement projects are available to download from our Community page and on our individual project pages.

Documents held within Renewal SA

• Corporate files containing correspondence, memoranda and minutes
• Policies and procedures
• Personal information
• Finance, expenditure, procurement and contracts
• Annual reports
• Administrative records
• Documents relating to the functions of Renewal SA.

Policy documents

• Asset Management
• Commercial & Industrial
• Communications & Engagement
• Corporate Governance
• Environment
• Finance
• ICT Management
• Office of the Chief Executive
• People & Culture
• Planning & Design
• Project Delivery.

Documents available for inspection (whether as part of a public register or otherwise)

Renewal SA currently hold many series and consignments of permanent records at State Records of South Australia’s permanent repository. Some of these include, but are not limited to:

• Land Disposal dockets
• Urban Project Site files
• Land acquisition dockets
• Allotment sales – South Australian Land Commission and successor
• Corporate files
• Land Management dockets
• Board agendas and papers
• Land Development dockets
• Factory construction program files
• Project files
• Infrastructure development projects.

Documents available free of charge

The following types of documents and information are available on the agency’s website or upon request:

• Reports and publications
• Annual reports
• Policies
• Newsletters
• Media releases
• Brochures
• Fact sheets.

Documents available for purchase

Renewal SA does not have any documents available for purchase.

In accordance with the FOI Act, applications for access to documents held by an agency must:

• be made in writing (you may choose to use the application form or write a letter)
• specify that the application is made under the Freedom of Information Act 1991
• be accompanied by the application fee (exemptions apply for Members of Parliament and pensioners or health care card holders)
• specify an address in Australia to which information can be sent
• clearly identify the documents being sought or the matter to which they pertain
• specify whether the documents contain information of a personal nature
• specify the desired type of access to the document, such as inspection of the document at an arranged location or having a copy made.

Applications can be made to amend a record held by the agency concerning personal affairs if they are incomplete, incorrect, misleading or out of date. In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1991, applications for amendment of documents held by an agency must:

• be made in writing (you may choose to use the application form or write a letter)
• specify that the application is made under the Freedom of Information Act 1991
• specify an address in Australia to which information can be sent
• clearly identify the record to be amended
• provide such information as is necessary in order for the records to be amended.