The information officer of a public body is required to develop a voluntary disclosure notice for the public body, and make it available at the offices of the public body as well as publish it in the Government Gazette. The voluntary disclosure notice must be updated every year. The voluntary disclosure notice contains categories of records and a description of those records that are automatically available:  For inspection in terms of any legislation other than PAIA;  For purchase or copying from the public body; and  From the public body free of charge. The voluntary disclosure notice must describe how to access the records that are voluntarily disclosed and automatically available. There is no point making a formal request for certain records if those same records have already been voluntarily disclosed and are available automatically. In many instances, a fee is required in order that a formal request be processed and this may take up to 30 days. This may be avoided if you first consult the voluntary disclosure notice and identify whether or not the record you are seeking is available automatically. Although it is mandatory for a public body to publish a voluntary disclosure notice, it is not ‘voluntary’. The notice is termed a ‘voluntary disclosure notice’ because it gives notice of all the information that has been voluntarily disclosed, not because it is up to the discretion of the information officer as to whether to publish the actual list or not. South African Human Rights Commission 26