Substantial and Unreasonable diversion requests: How much is too much?

When the work involved in a processing an FOI request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of your agency from its other operations, s 25A (1) of the FOI Act allows you to refuse access to the request without having processed it.

Agencies have used this avenue usually when requests are “voluminous”. However, the volume of documents is not the only basis for refusal under s 25A (1).

With the new flexible and hybrid working arrangements seeing more people working from home as a permanent and ongoing arrangement, the issues evident since March 2020 continue to have an impact on FOI officers’ ability to retrieve, search for documents, review and edit them, or to consult with others regarding exemptions.  In addition, some agencies have raised concerns about the impact of lockdowns and remote working on ensuring all relevant records were appropriately saved for retrieval and search.  Others have not had access to the same technology that allowed you to process a request as quickly or as efficiently as previously.

In this one-hour webinar, we will cover:

• what is a substantial and unreasonable diversion request and what factors you must consider;
• the required procedural steps before you can refuse access; and
• analysis of recent cases decided by OVIC and the VCAT.

Book now and keep your knowledge up to date.

The webinar will be conducted using WebEx (end to end encryption).  For information about how this will work, click here for FAQs.