New FOI Application fee in Victoria

FEE UNIT AMENDMENT

Please note that from 1 July 2023 the application fee for a request for access to documents under s 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) will be $31.80.  

This is as a result of the amendments to Victorian fee units published in the Victorian Government Gazette by the Treasurer on 23 May 2023, with a new fee unit value being $15.90 from 1 July 2023.  Two fee units is $31.80, so there is no need to round this under the Monetary Units Act 2004 (which requires an amount to be rounded to the nearest 10 cents).

This means that from 1 July 2023 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 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 these areas and will be developing its 2023 Access Charges Calculator spreadsheet shortly.  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 2023 Access Charges Calculator.