Subpoenas and Requests for Information


Western Sydney University receives numerous requests for documents and information (including personal and health information) held by the University from various sources. The majority of requests are by way of a subpoena.

Subpoenas

A subpoena is an order issued by a court or a tribunal for a person to attend court to give evidence and/or produce documents. Failure to comply with a subpoena within the specified deadline without lawful excuse is a contempt of the court or tribunal and may result in arrest of the person to whom the subpoena is addressed. All subpoenas for production of documents should be addressed to and served on Western Sydney University at the Office of General Counsel via the below address:

Western Sydney University
Office of General Counsel
Locked Bag 1797
Penrith NSW 2751

Please email us at subpoenas@westernsydney.edu.au or call us on (02) 9685 9895 if you require further information on the service of subpoenas.

OGC does not accept service of subpoenas addressed to individual staff members required to give evidence. These must be served on the individual staff member concerned.

The prescribed amount of conduct money must be paid for all subpoenas. If the amount of conduct money is not prescribed then the minimum cost of handling a subpoena at the University is $100.00 (the University reserves the right to apply for additional costs where the costs of compliance with the subpoena exceed the prescribed amount of conduct money). Payment must be provided upon service of the subpoena.

If a University staff member is served with a subpoena to give evidence and/or produce documents, then they should forward it to OGC immediately. OGC will contact all relevant academic or administration units and will then compile and review all documents to ensure they fall within the scope of the subpoena.

Requests for information

The University is subject to the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW).

The University will not disclose personal information about staff or students except as permitted under those Acts. Any requests for personal information about staff members or students of the University should be directed to OGC. These will be dealt with in accordance with the University's Privacy Policy and Privacy Management Plan.

All requests for personal information must be accompanied by a Consent to Release Information form (found below), signed by the relevant person.

Consent to Release Information forms:

The prescribed amount of conduct money must be paid for all requests for information. The minimum cost of handling a request (except requests made under any statutory authority) is $100.00. Payment is required at the time of the request. Please note that if the cost of processing this request exceeds two hours we may request an additional amount, calculated at $60.00 per hour, to cover those costs before we release any records or information.

Requests for access under Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (formerly the Freedom of Information Act 1989 (NSW))

All requests for access to information under the GIPA Act should be directed to the University's Right to Information Officer. For more information, please go to the Right to Information (opens in a new window) website.

If you have any queries in relation to subpoenas or requests for information, please phone (02) 9685 9895 or email subpoenas@westernsydney.edu.au

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