Section 6Y - Ministerial professional standards

The Professional Standards developed by the Information Commissioner under section 6U do not apply to requests made to Ministers.³ However, the Premier of Victoria can adopt the Professional Standards in whole or with changes and apply them to Ministers.⁴

If the Premier decides to adopt Ministerial Professional Standards, the Premier must publish:

• a notice in the Government Gazette, which states the date on which the Ministerial Professional Standards take effect;⁸ and
• the Ministerial Professional Standards on the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s website at least 20 business days before the commencement date stated in the notice.⁹

The obligations in sections 6Y(1) and 6Y(2) to publish a notice in the Government Gazette and to publish the Ministerial Professional Standards on the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s website are similar to the publication requirements in section 6V(1) in relation to the Information Commissioner’s Professional Standards.

While the Premier must publish information about the final Ministerial Professional Standards as outlined above, the Premier does not have the same consultation obligations when adopting Ministerial Professional Standards as the Information Commissioner does when developing Professional Standards.¹⁰

The Premier must review Ministerial Professional Standards whenever the Information Commissioner reviews or amends the Professional Standards under section 6X.¹³ The Premier may also amend the Ministerial Professional Standards at any time.¹⁴

Reviewing the Ministerial Professional Standards helps to ensure they continue to be fit for purpose and up to date. The review process provides the opportunity to:

• revisit the policy basis for existing Ministerial Professional Standards and consider whether they are still required or need to be amended or repealed;
• consider and introduce new Ministerial Professional Standards;
• update the Ministerial Professional Standards in response to any amendments to the Act where necessary;
• review the Ministerial Professional Standards for readability, useability, and clarity.

The power to amend the Ministerial Professional Standards at any time provides flexibility to make sure they stay up to date.

If the Premier amends the Ministerial Professional Standards, the Premier must publish:

• a notice in the Government Gazette, which states the date on which the Ministerial Professional Standards take effect;¹⁸
• the Ministerial Professional Standards on the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s website at least 20 business days before the date stated in the notice.¹⁹

The Premier is not required to go through the process outlined above if the changes to the Ministerial Professional Standards are typographical or similarly minor (for example, to fix a spelling error).²⁰