FOI Professional Standards Self Assessment Tool

Introduction

The Professional Standards (Standards) have been prepared in accordance with Part IB of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) (the Act).

Section 6U of the Act enables the Information Commissioner to develop Standards relating to the conduct of an agency in performing its functions under the Act, and the administration and operation of the Act by an agency.

The purpose of the Standards is to ensure the Act is administered by agencies consistently with:

• the Act’s object – to extend as far as possible the right of the community to access information in the possession of an agency subject to the Act; and
• Parliament’s intention – that the provisions of the Act are interpreted so as to further its object and any discretions conferred by the Act are to be exercised as far as possible to facilitate and promote the prompt disclosure of information at the lowest reasonable cost.

Professional Standards Self Assessment Tool

The FOI Professional Standards Self-Assessment Tool (the Tool) has been designed to assist Victorian public sector organisations under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) measure their adherence to, and compliance with, the FOI Professional Standards.

The Tool is voluntary and the self-assessment process takes approximately 15 – 20 minutes to complete. It is an interactive document consisting of 91 statements, across the 10 themes.

When completing the Tool, a choice of four responses are provided for each statement. Responses to the initial self-assessment can be used as a starting point or benchmark to identify how current processes could be improved to satisfy obligations under the Professional Standards. It is not expected that agencies will answer ‘yes’ in response to all the statements presented in the tool. Agencies can consider adopting the suggested strategies, or they can develop their own different strategies to address each individual Standard.

The interactive Tool also includes useful links to OVIC’s guidance material to help agencies improve their compliance with the Professional Standards.

The self-assessment can be completed several times per year and results can be used to track improvements and the maturity of agency FOI processes.

For more information or questions about the Tool, please contact us at enquires@ovic.vic.gov.au.

Find additional agency guidance materials to support agencies in the implementation of the Professional Standards.