Section 33A - Notice requirement where person is a child—document affecting personal privacy or information communicated in confidence
Extract of legislation
| 33A | Notice requirement where person is a child— document affecting personal privacy or information communicated in confidence | ||
| (1) | For the purposes of sections 33 and 35, if the person who is required to be notified about a request is a child, the agency or Minister may notify either or both of the following— | ||
| (a) | the child; | ||
| (b) | a parent or guardian of the child. | ||
| (2) | An agency that is an information sharing entity or a Minister responsible for that agency must not notify a parent or guardian of a child under subsection (1) if— | ||
| (a) | the child is a primary person; and | ||
| (b) | the parent or guardian is a person of concern or is alleged to pose a risk of family violence to that child. | ||
| (3) | In this section— | ||
| person of concern has the meaning given in section 144B of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008; | |||
| primary person has the meaning given in section 144E of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008; | |||
Section 33A outlines an agency’s or Minister’s obligations when consulting with a child under section 33 and section 35.
The obligation to consult a child under section 33 will arise where a document contains or would reveal personal affairs information of the child.
The obligation to consult a child under section 35 will arise where a document contains or would reveal information communicated in confidence by the child to an agency or Minister.
A ‘child’ is defined in section 5 as a person under the age of 18 years.
Where the third party to be consulted is a child, an agency or Minister may notify either the child and/or their parent/guardian.2
There are some exceptions to consulting with a child, outlined below.
When considering whether to consult with a child and/or their parent or guardian, an agency or Minister should consider the other exceptions to consultation in section 33 and section 35.
The exceptions address situations where there are risks to life and safety, the risk of undue distress, or where consultation is unreasonable or not practicable in the circumstances.
Where an exception applies, the agency or Minister is not required to conduct consultation.
For more information, see the FOI Guidelines on:
- section 33(2C) for personal affairs information
- section 35(1B) for information communicated in confidence
- Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic), section 33A(1).
- Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic), section 33A(1).
- Defined in section 144D of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic).
- Defined in section 144E of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic).
- Defined in section 144B of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic).
- Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic), section 33A(2).
- Defined in section 144D of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic).
- Defined in section 144E of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic).
- Defined in section 144B of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic).
- Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic), section 33A(2).
