Freedom of Information

 The Freedom of Information Act embodies the following basic principles: 

1. That members of the public have a legally enforceable right of access to government information.

2. That government departments and agencies are required to publish information concerning the documents they hold.

3. That people may ask for inaccurate, incomplete, out of date or misleading information to their personal records to be amended.

4. That people may appeal against a decision by a government body not to give access to the information or not to amend a personal record.

The Freedom of Information Act provides the opportunity for public access to certain Council documents and Council fully supports these principles and makes a wide range of information available to the public.

The initial point of contact for any request relating to Freedom of Information (FOI) is the Manager Administration who is Council's Freedom of Information Officer (telephone 54 610 610).

Advice will be provided on the documents that may be accessed without the need to make a formal FOI request. For example, many of Council's documents are open for public inspection.

Procedure

If an FOI request is necessary an application form must be completed and can be lodged either in person, mailed or emailed. An application form is available by using the link below, or by contacting the Shire Office.

Application Form (pdf 10kb)

In accordance with the Act the application must be accompanied by a fee of $23.90 and by law cannot be processed until this fee is received.

Other charges which may be imposed are: 

- Search fee $20 per hour (or part thereof)

- Supervision (inspection of documents) $5.00 per 15 minutes (or part thereof)

- Photocopying $0.20 cents per A4 page  

The FOI Officer will determine the imposition or otherwise of the additional charges.

Timelines

Upon receipt of a valid application, it will be duly processed and a decision on a request for access to a document will be made as soon as possible, but not later than 45 days after the day on which the request is received.

In any instance where access is denied (or a decision deferred) to a document, rights of appeal exist to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (and in some cases, to the Ombudsman). Where this is the case the applicant will be advised of the reasons for the decision and their rights of appeal.

 

Contact:

Freedom of Information Officer
Phone: (03) 54 610 610
Fax: (03) 54 610 668
Email: mail@cgoldshire.vic.gov.au