OVIC’s 2021-22 Annual Report tabled in Victorian Parliament
A renewed focus on empowering members of the community
OVIC’s 2021-22 annual report was tabled in the Victorian Parliament on Tuesday 20 September 2022.
In 2021-22, Victorians made 43,978 freedom of information (FOI) requests to Victorian government agencies and Ministers. This is another all-time record for FOI requests made in a single year, up from 42,249 in 2020-21.
In September 2021, OVIC’s investigation report into delays in FOI decisions was tabled in the Victorian Parliament. The report called for a wide-ranging review of Victoria’s FOI laws and was the first investigation of its kind under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) (FOI Act).
In January 2022, we published our 2021-24 Strategic Plan to guide our work over the next three years. It contains a renewed focus on engaging directly with members of the community to ensure they are aware of their information rights and how to exercise them.
In April 2022, we published a special report on the State of FOI in Victoria: 2019-21 which examined FOI data during the pandemic. The report highlighted that the public’s right to access government information suffered during this time.
In May 2022, we conducted research into how members of the community use our website for the first time. We also refreshed our website guidance on how to make a privacy complaint.
In terms of information security requirements under the Victorian Protective Data Security Framework, we supported public sector organisations in the lead up to the Attestation submission deadline in August 2021, and the Protective Data Security Plans submission deadline in August 2022. We developed new animations, published a range of guidance and created an agency reporting obligations hub on our website.
In 2021-22, OVIC’s events, forums and webinars were attended by more than 6,400 attendees, up from approximately 3,000 in 2020-21.
As we look ahead, our focus will be on empowering Victorians to better understand and exercise their information rights while educating and supporting government agencies to respect those rights at all times.
Read OVIC’s 2021-22 annual report.