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Other Information

FOI Basic and Intermediate Training Sessions

FOI Solutions will be conducting its usual Intermediate FOI training sessions during various lunchtimes in June as follows:

  • 3 June 2024 - Professional Standards - 'Are you Complying?'
  • 4 June 2024 - Section 30(1) Public Interest Training
  • 6 June 2024 - Section 35 exemption - Misunderstood and Underutilised
  • 13 June 2024 - Top 11 Tips for Streamlining FOI Processing
  • 18 June 2024 - Model Litigant Guidelines and FOI
  • 24 June 2024 - Tackling the Challenges of Third-Party Consultation

For more information or to register, please view our website or send an email to marketing@foisolutions.com.au requesting a copy of the flyer.

Fees and Charges Amendment 

From 1 July 2024 the application fee for a request for access to documents under s 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) will be $32.70.   This arises from an increase of the value of a fee unit to $16.33.

 

This means that from 1 July 2024 agencies will need to ensure they have amended: 

  • any published material showing application fees payable for requests to access; 
  • website information referring to application fees or access charges; 
  • how access charges tied to "fee units" are calculated (for example search time which is calculated at 1.5 fee units per hour or part of an hour) 

FOI Solutions is happy to assist with any of queries about these changes.  In addition we have developed our 2024/5 Access Charges Calculator spreadsheet.   If you would like a copy of this spreadsheet, which will assist you work out those charges tied to fee units, please contact our office requesting a copy of the 2024/5 Access Charges Calculator. 

Question Time

Q: Is it necessary for my organisation to train all employees about protected disclosures?

 

A: Similar to the old Protected Disclosures Act and the current Privacy and Data Protection Act, regular training on public interest disclosure requirements will minimise the risks of your staff and organisation not complying with the Public Interest Disclosure ("PID") regime.  It is important to ensure that all employees are aware of how the PID regime operates for your organisation.

 

The level of training required will depend upon your organisation.  For instance, if your organisation is a Council, then some of your employees can receive public interest disclosure complaints.  Your organisation must ensure that they receive training on what they should do upon receiving public interest disclosure complaints.  It is also very important for those staff who hold responsible roles under the regime to know what these roles involve.  Your organisation will have conducted training for your Public Interest Disclosure Coordinators and Public Interest Disclosure Officers, however if there have been changes within staff since that training was last conducted, you should consider holding refresher training.  We can assist with these training needs.

 

 

Q: How do I manage an FOI request where the document being sought is available to the public records office?

 

A: If an FOI request is made for a document which your agency has provided to the Public Records Office of Victoria (“PROV”), then the FOI Act may not apply to that document.  Section 14(1)(c) states that a person is not entitled to use FOI to access documents that are available for public inspection at PROV. 

 

 First, check whether the document is available for public inspection at PROV.  Once you have confirmed that the document is publicly available, then the FOI Act provisions providing for access to documents will not apply to that document.  While you won’t be required to make a decision, you will need to let the FOI applicant know that you cannot deal with their request under FOI, and as a matter of best practice, consider giving them PROV’s contact details and returning the application fee.  If you have a query on whether one of your agency’s documents may be outside the scope of FOI, we would be happy to advise you further