Section 1 - Short title and commencement

Victoria was the first Australian State or Territory, and the second Australian jurisdiction, to enact freedom of information (FOI) legislation. The Act received Royal Assent on 5 January 1983.³ It came into operation on 5 July 1983 except for Part II, which came into operation on 5 July 1984.⁴

The first Australian FOI legislation was enacted at the Federal level, with the Commonwealth Freedom of Information Act 1982 receiving Royal Assent on 9 March 1982.

FOI legislation promotes greater transparency and accountability in government and enables the public to better understand the decision-making processes of government. It does this by giving any person the right to request access to documents held by Victorian government agencies and Ministers. It also gives each person the right to request access to, and correction of, information that concerns them and is held by the government.

Former Victorian Premier, John Cain, introduced the Act as ‘tangible proof of [his] Government’s commitment to open government in Victoria’.⁸ The introduction of the Act and the concept of open government is a ‘central need in a democracy’, with freedom of information closely connected with fundamental principles of a democratic society.⁹

The Act was introduced on three major premises:

• the public have a right to know what information is contained in government records about themselves;
• a government that is open to public scrutiny is more accountable to the people who elect it; and
• when people are informed about government policies, they are more likely to become involved in policy making and in government itself.¹⁰

The Act provides every person with a legally enforceable right to request access to government-held documents. While this formal right exists, since the Act was first introduced, many agencies provide access to information to the public outside of the Act. This helps to reduce the need to make formal FOI requests and increases transparency in, and public scrutiny of, the Victorian public sector.

There have been two significant suites of changes made to the Act since it came into effect in 1982, including:

• Introduction of the Freedom of Information Commissioner (FOI Commissioner):
  • On 1 December 2012 the FOI Commissioner was created to oversee how agencies administer the Act.¹⁵ Amongst other things, the FOI Commissioner was responsible for conducting reviews of agency FOI decisions, handling FOI complaints about agencies, monitoring compliance with FOI professional standards, and reporting to Parliament on the operation of the Act. The FOI Commissioner was also responsible for educating agencies on the Act and how it works. This was the most significant change to Victoria’s FOI laws since they were first introduced.¹⁶
• Introduction of the Victorian Information Commissioner, new regulatory functions and coercive powers, and changes to how agencies process FOI requests:
  • On 1 September 2017, another significant suite of changes to the Act came into effect.¹⁷ The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) combined and replaced the Office of the FOI Commissioner and the Commissioner for Privacy and Data Protection to oversee both the Act and the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) (PDP Act).¹⁸ The significant change brought together independent FOI, information privacy, and information security regulatory functions for the first time in Victoria.
  • The changes to the Act gave new FOI functions and powers to the Information Commissioner, such as:
    • to conduct own-motion investigations;
    • new coercive powers;
    • to make agency FOI Professional Standards;
    • to review Minister and Principal Officer FOI decisions;
    • to review decisions relating to Cabinet documents;
    • to handle complaints regarding Principal Officers; and
    • to handle more types of complaints regarding Ministers.
  • The Act also introduced a Public Access Deputy Commissioner with similar functions to the Victorian Information Commissioner under the Act.
  • The Victorian Government also changed how agencies process FOI requests, such as by:
    • introducing mandatory third-party consultation requirements when considering a range of exemptions (such as under section 33); and
    • reducing the time an agency has to process a request from 45 days to 30 days.