Substantial and unreasonable diversion requests: how much is too much?

Morning videoconference session

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 Victorian FOI Act allows you to refuse access to the request without having processed it.

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

During this COVID-19 period, many officers are working remotely under flexible working arrangements, amongst other disruptions.  FOI processing is no longer the same as what it once was. You may be unable to conduct searches of hardcopy documents or you may not have the same technology that allows you to process a request with ease.  These circumstances are naturally relevant to considerations under s 25A(1).

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.

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