Victoria's Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 1982 (FOI Act) gives members of the public the right to apply for access to information held by Ministers, State Government departments, local councils, public hospitals, most semi-government agencies and statutory authorities.
1. If you wish to access documents held by VicScreen, you must forward a request in writing addressed to the FOI Officer, at the contact details below.
2. All FOI requests must be accompanied by a $30.10 application fee. This fee is subject to an increase on 1 July every year.
This fee may be waived in cases where payment would cause an applicant financial hardship. Where an applicant seeks a waiver of this fee, the request should indicate the grounds on which a waiver is being sought (for example, low income or holder of Commonwealth Health Care Card).
Access charges may also apply once documents have been processed and a decision on access made for example, 20c per A4 page photocopying charge and a $20 per hour search and retrieval charge. It should be noted that, under certain circumstances, some of these charges can be waived.
3. An FOI request must be specific enough to allow VicScreen to identify documents considered relevant to a request. Where the terms of a request are vague, assistance will be provided to applicants to help determine the type of documentation being sought.
Once VicScreen has received your request, we will review the request to make sure that all the necessary information has been included and the documents you are requesting have been clearly identified. VicScreen will contact you if further information is required.
The FOI Act requires an agency to complete your request within 45 days from the date that it was received. This time limit only applies if your request is sufficiently clear for the officer to process it and the application fee has been paid or waived.
When your request has been processed, and where VicScreen holds some or all of the documents requested, you will be sent a letter with VicScreen’s decision on the release of information. VicScreen will decide to:
→ release all the documents you requested, or
→ release some or part of the documents you requested, or
→ release none of the documents you requested.
You may wish to visit the Victorian Government's FOI website for further information on FOI in Victoria, including the application process.
Contact
Freedom of Information Officer
VicScreen
563 Bourke Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000
FOI@vicscreen.vic.gov.au