New Access Charges Regulations in Victoria

New regulations governing the imposition of access charges associated with FOI requests in Victoria commenced operation this week.

The Freedom of Information (Access Charges) Regulations 2025 commenced on 1 June 2025.

The main difference between these new regulations and the earlier ones (which are now revoked) is that a deposit on account of access charges is now only payable if the estimated access charges exceed $70.  That was previously a $50 threshold.

Therefore, in terms of calculating the deposit payable, what that now means is that if the estimated access charges are between $70 and $100, the deposit payable is a fixed $25 amount.  If the estimated access charges are more than $100, the deposit payable is still 50% of that estimated access charges amount.

The access charges regulations otherwise remain largely the same, apart from some simplification of language which does not affect how access charges are calculated.

If you have any outward facing materials referring to the deposit trigger, those materials will need to be amended.

If you have any queries more generally about calculation of access charges or estimating access charges at an early stage to determine whether a deposit is payable, please contact us.