Elisa Hesling
Special Counsel
About
Elisa is a Special Counsel who commenced working with FOI Solutions in February 2012, having previously worked for the then Department of Human Services in Victoria. Elisa advises on all aspects of Administrative law focusing particularly on Information Privacy and Freedom of Information.
Elisa was admitted to practice in 1999. She has extensive experience in FOI law, privacy law and policy and other administrative law areas and has demonstrated those skills in assisting an extensive number of clients at FOI Solutions. In October 2015 Elisa obtained Accreditation from the Law Institute of Victoria as a Specialist in Administrative Law and now sits on various committees at the Law Institute.
Prior to working in administrative law, Elisa worked in a commercial building law firm and as an Associate to a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (in her earlier capacity as a Judge).
Elisa prides herself on providing practical legal advice to assist clients manage potentially complex and technical administrative law issues. Her favourite thing is to work with clients to promptly and thoroughly respond to their administrative law queries.
Areas of Expertise
Legislation/Regulation/Policy development
- Assisted a national regulator to develop a policy and legal submission to legislators for amendment to national legislation
- Advising on parliamentary privilege
- Advised various agencies on complaint management policies and developed training materials advising on policies
- Developed policies on FOI processing for agencies
- Reviewed and advised on likely impacts of draft legislation. Advised on policies required should the legislation proceed.
Judicial and Administrative Review
- Advised on and conducted through to final hearing administrative review proceedings in VCAT in FOI.
- Advised on and conducted administrative review proceedings in VCAT in privacy.
- Advised on good decision-making requirements and administrative law concepts in relation to public servants making statutory decisions.
- Developed and conducted training on making decisions and writing good statements of reasons for decision when exercising statutory powers
Public law matters –including public governance
- Advising many agencies on protected disclosure legislation including drafting processes and procedures and conducting training for agencies.
- advising on Ombudsman powers and participating in Ombudsman investigations
- advising and training on the requirements of the Public Records Act and its interaction with FOI Act
- Proficient in applying principles of statutory interpretation which is crucial in Administrative Law.
- Advised national regulators with an Ombudsman/Privacy Commissioner function in the handling of complaints including drafting policies, guidelines, manuals with template correspondence, customised correspondence for particular complaints, etc
- Identifying sources and limits of decision making power; preparing authorisations for decision making conducted training on the requirements for making valid administrative decisions
- Advising on and training on good decision making statements of reasons for decision
- Advising clients or directly dealing on their behalf with integrity or oversight bodies such as the Ombudsman, FOI/Information Commissioner, Services(Complaints) Commissioner, Commissioner for Privacy and Data Protection (and predecessor), IBAC, etc.
- Advising on and training on social media use and FOI/privacy risks associated with it
- Advising on and training on best practice for complaint handling for agencies where there is no specific legislative guidance.
Professional Experience
Qualifications
Bachelor of Laws, Deakin University, 1999
Bachelor of Arts, La Trobe University, 1995
Admitted to Practice, Supreme Court of Victoria (1999)
Accredited Specialist in Administrative Law, October 2015
Public law body office holder and numerous memberships including :
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- Member, Law Institute of Victoria, Administrative Review Constitutional Law Committee, January 2016 to date
- Member, Administrative Law Advisory Committee, Law Institute of Victoria, 2017 to date
- Committee Member, Australian Institute of Administrative Law, Victorian Chapter 2013 to December 2020
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FOI, Privacy and Data Protection
Training FOI decision makers generally and on specific topics
Advising on requests for access to documents
Advising on exceptions and exemptions under the FOI Act
Assisting agencies with processing FOI requests including processing documents and drafting correspondence
Advising clients or directly dealing with the FOI/Information Commissioner about reviews or complaints
Reviewing FOI processes, auditing, etc
Advising on and preparing Part II statements
Conducting or advising on reviews to VCAT
Elisa has dealt with all aspects of health and personal information privacy and data protection (under the Health Records Act 2001, Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 and repealed Information Privacy Act 2000) including:
Conducting numerous privacy impact assessments
Auditing agency compliance with privacy laws (including currently doing so for V/Line)
Advising on compliance including preparation of collection notices and policies
Training agency staff on privacy
Advising on potential interferences with privacy in numerous scenarios
Conducting investigations of complaints for clients
Assisting clients in dealing with Commissioners about privacy complaints
Conducting legal proceedings at VCAT
Advising on the interaction of FOI and privacy with other access regimes in legislation or subpoenas (summonses to produce)
Litigation and dispute resolution relating to the areas of law for nominated services
Elisa has personally conducted numerous cases at VCAT on FOI matters and some cases on privacy
