From the Executive Director
How else can we help you?
Many of you will be aware of the broad range of services we offer in the areas of freedom of information and privacy law.
We pride ourselves as being a "one stop shop" in those areas where clients can confidently engage us knowing we can assist them from when a privacy complaint or FOI request is received, right through to dealing with those matters before a relevant Commissioner, at the relevant Tribunal, or right through the Court system if necessary.
Most of you also know that our firm is unique in that we act only for government agencies. This almost totally eliminates any risks of conflict of interest arising when we are engaged to provide legal services.
But clients are sometimes surprised to learn that FOI Solutions is about more than FOI or privacy law. Our mantra is "Professional Excellence in Government Law". And that is what we strive to provide in all government law areas also known as administrative law. Those areas include:
- public interest disclosures (also previously known as protected disclosures and whistleblowing)
- other information law areas such as data protection, records management (public records)
- delegations and authorisations
- dealing with issues associated with integrity bodies like the Ombudsman, IBAC matters, Commissioners and other similar bodies
- advising on or conducting merits review proceedings in Tribunals or Boards charged with reviewing decisions made by statutory decision-makers
- judicial review matters where the lawfulness of decisions may be challenged such as natural justice issues
- statutory interpretation more generally
- complaints handling and disciplinary procedures and processes
We have highly expert lawyers including 2 accredited specialists in administrative law, where there are only a handful of accredited specialists in the private legal sector in Victoria. We can assist with legal advisory and representation matters, but also deal with practical matters such as conducting training and preparing policies, processes, and manuals.
Feel free to contact us for a confidential discussion if you think we might be able to assist you in any of those areas. If you think there are other areas within your organisation who might be able to benefit from our services, please feel free to pass on our details.
In the meantime, we hope everyone is keeping safe and well during these unsettling times and look forward to catching up over a cup of coffee at some stage in the not-too-distant future.
Mick Batskos