Section 61ZD - Office of the Information Commissioner to report to the Victorian Inspectorate on issue of notice to produce or attend

The Victorian Inspectorate oversees Victoria’s integrity agencies, including the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC). One of the Victorian Inspectorate’s roles is to oversee OVIC’s use of coercive powers including issuing, varying or revoking a notice to produce or attend.

OVIC must give a written report to the Victorian Inspectorate within three days of issuing, varying or revoking a notice to produce or attend to a person.⁴

A report on the issuing of a notice to produce or attend must include the:

• name of the person to whom the notice relates; and
• reasons why the notice was issued.⁵

A report on varying or revoking a notice to produce or attend must include:

• the notice to which the variation or revocation relates;
• the reasons why the notice was varied or revoked; and
• where a notice has been varied, the nature of the variation.⁶

The Victorian Inspectorate may review a written report that OVIC prepared under section 61ZD and a copy of an audio or video recording and any transcript of an examination given under section 61ZH to assess whether:

• the requirements under the Act were met;
• the requirement for a person to produce a document or thing for an investigation or complaint reasonably helped OVIC to achieve the purpose of the investigation or to deal with the complaint; or
• questioning a person at an examination reasonably helped OVIC to achieve the purpose of the investigation, the review, or to deal with the complaint to which the examination relates.⁸

The Victorian Inspectorate may require OVIC to provide it with a written report in relation to an appearance by a person before an OVIC officer in an investigation, complaint or review under the Act (whether in response to a notice or otherwise), which includes:

• the name of the person who appeared before OVIC;
• the reasons for the person’s appearance;
• the place and time of the person’s appearance;
• the relevance of the appearance to OVIC’s investigation;
• the name of any other person who was present during the appearance in an official capacity under any Act, including the person’s legal representative; and
• any other prescribed matter.¹¹

OVIC must respond to a request from the Victorian Inspectorate to provide a report as soon as possible after the request is made.¹²

A person may complain to the Victorian Inspectorate about OVIC staff’s use or purported use of coercive powers.¹⁶

A person may also complain to the Victorian Inspectorate about how OVIC staff comply with procedural fairness requirements when:

• exercising coercive powers under the FOI Act and the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) (PDP Act);
• conducting investigations under Part VIB;
• making recommendations under section 61L;
• making investigation reports under section 61Q; and
• making compliance notices under Part 3 of the PDP Act.¹⁷

A complaint may be made about the exercise or purported exercise of coercive powers and procedural fairness requirements outlined above, including on the basis that the conduct was:

• contrary to law;
• unreasonable, unjust, oppressive, or improperly discriminatory;
• based on improper motives;
• an abuse of power; or
• otherwise improper.¹⁸