OVIC’s 2020-21 Annual Report tabled in Parliament
A record year for information rights in Victoria
OVIC’s 2020-21 annual report was tabled in the Victorian Parliament on Thursday 7 October 2021.
The 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic again highlighted the importance of learning, building resilience and adapting to change.
One thing that has not changed is public interest in accessing government information. In 2020-21, Victorians made 42,249 freedom of information (FOI) requests to government agencies. This is an all-time record for FOI requests made in a single year.
In 2020-21, OVIC transitioned its face-to-face training program to webinars and attracted over 3,000 attendees at events and forums, more than doubling attendance rates from the previous year.
We commissioned research on the informal and proactive release of information, the culture of FOI in Victoria, and the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to privacy.
August 2020 saw the second complete attestation cycle for Victorian public sector organisations to submit protective data security plans under the Victorian Protective Data Security Framework.
In September 2020, we commenced an own motion investigation into the timeliness of FOI decisions in Victoria, the first of its kind to be undertaken under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic). We also proactively published our regulatory priorities for the first time.
In October 2020, our second annual stakeholder engagement survey confirmed that Victorian public sector organisations continue to see OVIC as a trusted advisor and source of expertise on FOI, privacy, and information security.
In December 2020, OVIC hosted the 54th meeting of the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities forum virtually. Attendees from across the Asia Pacific region discussed the privacy implications of the global response to COVID-19 and more.
In June 2021, after consultation across the Victorian public sector, we published a comprehensive Privacy Officer Toolkit – combining useful tools and resources in one place.
OVIC’s 2021-24 strategic plan will build on these achievements while also enhancing our efforts to engage more directly with the people of Victoria.
Read OVIC’s 2020-21 annual report.