The Law Handbook 2024

1136 Section 12: Government and the individual • would give a misleading impression (FoI Act (Vic) s 39). Note that any corrections or amendments made to information will not have the effect of completely deleting or expunging the information from records – they will generally take the form of altering the record or placing a note on the document (s 49). An application for the amendment of personal records must: • be in writing; • provide an address; • specify how the information is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date or would give a misleading impression; • specify the amendment or correction sought; and • be submitted directly to the agency that has the relevant document(s) (s 39). The VI Commissioner’s website provides an ‘amendment request form’, which may be used (see www.ovic.vic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/ requesting-an-amendment/) . An agency has 30 days to process a request once it has been received. How can I make a complaint? Complaints about how an FoI request has been handled by an agency or minister can be made to the VI Commissioner (s 61A(1)). A complaint must: • be in writing (s 61A(2)(a)); • set out the nature of the complaint (s 61A(2)(b)); • identify the agency, principal officer or minister concerned (s 61A(2)(c)); and • be made within 60 days of the action or conduct occurring (s 61A(4)). The VI Commissioner’s website provides an online FOI complaints form (www.ovic.vic.gov.au/freedom- of-information/for-the-public/foi-complaints/) . There is no timeframe within which a complaint must be resolved. What fees or charges will I have to pay? FoI applications The fees and charges that apply to making a FoI application are outlined in section 17(2A) of the FoI Act (Vic) and in the Freedom of Information (Access Charges) Regulations 2014 (Vic). The fees and charges for FoI applications as at 1 July 2023 are set out in the table below. Fees and charges related to FoI applications $ Application fee (2 fee units) 31.80 Search and retrieval, calculated per hour or part of an hour (1.5 fee units) 23.85 per hour Supervision per hour, calculated per quarter hour or part of quarter hour (1.5 fee units) 23.85 per hour Photocopying (black and white), per A4 page 0.20 per page When will fees or charges not apply? Section 22 of the FoI Act (Vic) lists specific circumstances where charges cannot be imposed, namely: • time spent searching for a lost or misplaced document (s 22(1)(a)); • time spent determining if a document contains exempt matter or deleting exempt matter in a document (s 22(1)(e)); • inspection of a document that should be available under Part II of the FoI Act (Vic) (s 22(1)(f)); and • any tasks, other than making copies, a transcript or producing a document in accordance with section 19, where: – the applicant’s intended use of the document is one that is in the general public’s interest or benefit (s 22(1)(h)(i)); – the applicant is a member of the Victorian Parliament (s 22(1)(h)(ii)); or – the request is for a document containing information relating to the personal affairs of the applicant (s 22(1)(h)(iii)). Additionally, fees may be waived or reduced if: • regarding an application fee, the payment of such fee would cause hardship to the applicant (s 17(2B)); • the request is a routine request for access to a document (s 22(1)(g)); or • regarding photocopying, or the costs incurred in making a transcript or producing a document