Other Information
FOI Solutions Training Sessions
The upcoming training sessions for April and May are as follows:
- Basic 1: Wednesday 15 April
- Basic 2: Thursday 16 April
- Intermediate 1: Tuesday 21 April
- Intermediate 2: Thursday 23 April
- Top 11 tips for Streamlining FOI Processing: Tuesday 5 May
- s 35(1) FOI Act Training: Thursday 7 May
- Understanding Amendment of Personal Information: Tuesday 12 May
For more information or to register, please view our website or send an email to marketing@foisolutions.com.au requesting a copy of the brochure/registration form.
Question Time
Q: What can my organisation do about vexatious complainants and applicants making FOI requests?
A: There is little protection afforded to statutory bodies when members of the public make repeated persistent and burdensome (or vexatious) complaints. Some protection arises with persistent litigation under the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2014 (Vic) (“VP Act”) which empowers the Courts and VCAT to intervene at early stages of proceedings to prevent a litigant from engaging in vexatious litigation through ‘litigation restraint orders’. Such orders can curb a person’s ability to commence specified types of proceedings or from commencing proceedings against specified persons or entities without first seeking leave to proceed from the relevant Court or VCAT. Where a person’s conduct in litigation is particularly egregious, the Supreme Court may make “general” litigation restraint orders to prevent the litigant from commencing proceedings in all Victorian Courts and Tribunals. However, while orders can prevent unnecessary and burdensome litigation, there is no similar provision for vexatious complainants. For FOI requests, agencies can consider their present workloads when considering whether a request made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) (“FOI Act”) could be a substantial and unreasonable diversion of its resources. But there is presently nothing in the FOI Act allowing for an agency to declare an individual a vexatious applicant to avoid dealing with their requests. These must be processed in accordance with the FOI Act. For vexatious complainants making repeated, persistent or burdensome complaints, these can be handled in accordance with your agency’s policies as long as there is no legislative framework that your agency must follow. If you would like assistance in managing repeated, persistent or burdensome complaints or to understand more about the VP Act and how it may affect your agency, please let us know.
Q: What documents should I be looking for when a request seeks “all correspondence”?
A: While FOI requests often state that access is sought to “all correspondence” it is less clear what this really means. Victorian cases have determined that the search needs to be a thorough and diligent one, but also one that is reasonable in the circumstances. If your agency uses various methods for correspondence, such as text messages, emails, Microsoft Teams, then these are all avenues that must be searched for documents. Other possibilities include case management systems, record management systems and hard copy files. Contemplate the different locations that correspondence could be held on, such as electronic documents saved on electronic devices, which is not just limited to a computer, this could include smartphones, tablets and Applications used by your organisation for communication. If the request is seeking “all communications” then keep in mind that your organisation needs to ensure that each possible communication device has been searched if there is no automatic process to download and record such communications in a document management system. If a device contains documents, or can produce a document, that may be relevant to the FOI request, then the search should incorporate those devices. For assistance with advice on requests for “all correspondence” or “all communications”, please contact us.