Increase in FOI application fee 1 July 2026

From 1 July 2026, an request for access under the Victorian FOI Act must be accompanied by an application fee of $34.50-. The Treasurer published in the Victorian Government Gazette on 5 May 2026 that a fee unit will increase to $17.27 from 1 July 2026. An application fee under the FOI Act is 2 fee units, but the product of …

Pixelation vs. Deletion: Navigating Video Footage Requests under the Victorian FOI Act

We recently had reason to again consider whether an FOI applicant could obtain edited video footage with pixelation applied to avoid the footage being exempt from disclosure. Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage is ubiquitous with living in the modern day.  Government agencies are facing an increasing number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for access to video footage. The Personal Affairs …

Law firm investigation report held to be exempt from disclosure under FOI law

The 2025 decision in MVX v Ambulance Victoria [2025] VCAT 402: Key Takeaways Overview This case involved a Freedom of Information (“FOI”) dispute between a former Ambulance Victoria (“AV”) employee, referred to as MVX, and AV. The matter arose after AV refused to release a confidential investigation report prepared by its external lawyers. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (“VCAT”) …

Joint FOI requests invalid

The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner has accepted that where a law firm, which is a partnership, makes a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic), it is not a valid request.  A partnership is not a “person” that can make an FOI request. The factors which led to that conclusion were:·        the request …

Victorian FOI Application Fee

From 1 July 2025, the application fee for a Victorian FOI request is $33.60. Victorian agencies should change all public material where references to the fee occur. This includes request forms, websites, FOI policies, etc. The application fee changes each year from 1 July and is announced between February and May before the change. Come back regularly to our Recent …

Victorian Response to Proposed FOI Reforms

In late 2024 the Integrity and Oversight Committee of the Victoria Parliament published a report after conducting an Inquiry into the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) (“Report“). The Victorian Government has now provided its response to the Report.  The substance of that response is that “more time is needed to comprehensively assess” the recommendations made by …

Victorian FOI Application Fee

From 1 July 2024, the application fee for a Victorian FOI request is $32.70. Victorian agencies should change all public material where references to the fee occur. This includes request forms, websites, FOI policies, etc. The application fee changes each year from 1 July and is announced between February and May before the change. Come back regularly to our Recent …

Victorian FOI Application Fee

From 1 July 2023 the application fee for a VCAT FOI request is $31.80. Victorian agencies should change all public material where references to the fee occurs including request forms, websites, FOI policies etc. The application fee changes each year from 1 July and is announced between February and May before the change. Come back regularly to our Recent Developments …

FOI Requests can’t be amended during OVIC review

VCAT has confirmed that applicant’s cannot amend FOI requests during an OVIC review. That means that they cannot tell OVIC that they are now willing to get partial access. An applicant must be held to the terms of the original request and any decision by OVIC must be in relation to the original request: Davies v Victoria Police [2022] VCAT …