I have made a request for access to the papers regarding my family’s immigration to Australia through recordsearch. I made the request at the beginning of November so the 90 days is almost up and still nothing. What I now realise is that if I can get the material digitised it will be available to all and sundry on recordsearch even though of the family only my father is now dead, the rest of us are alive and it is likely to have personal information that we wouldn’t like openly available. And will cost heaps. If I had made an FOI request I would have a decision in 30 days and it wouldn’t cost. Is this a correct reading of the situation?
You’re not alone—this confusion between an archives access request and an FOI request comes up quite a bit.
From what I understand, your reading is mostly on the right track. A standard RecordSearch access request (especially if digitisation is involved) can take longer and, as you mentioned, once digitised, the material may become publicly accessible unless there are specific sensitivities flagged. That’s definitely something to think about if the records include personal information about living family members.
On the other hand, an FOI request is more structured in terms of timelines (typically 30 days) and may give you more control over how the information is handled, including potential exemptions for personal or sensitive content.
It might be worth contacting the Archives directly before the 90-day mark to clarify:
Whether your request will lead to public digitisation
If any redactions or access conditions can be applied
Whether switching to or also submitting an FOI request is still an option
Also, if you’re looking for general guidance or similar experiences, you can visit I’ve seen some helpful discussions and resources there that might give additional perspective.
Hope that helps a bit, and good luck with your request!
