Our Training

FOI Solutions regularly conducts training sessions on a broad range of FOI, privacy, public interest (protected) disclosures, and other government law topics. We regularly amend our timetable of upcoming sessions which can be viewed here.

These training sessions are commonly lunchtime seminars, half-day sessions, or full-day comprehensive events. We usually limit numbers of attendees to small groups. This maximises potential benefits to participants through interactive engagement. 

Training can be as a seminar, workshop, comprehensive Q&A session or other format.

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Our Training

FOI Solutions regularly conducts training sessions on a broad range of FOI, privacy, public interest (protected) disclosures, and other government law topics. We regularly amend our timetable of upcoming sessions which can be viewed here.

These training sessions are commonly lunchtime seminars, half-day sessions, or full-day comprehensive events. We usually limit numbers of attendees to small groups. This maximises potential benefits to participants through interactive engagement. 

Training can be as a seminar, workshop, comprehensive Q&A session or other format.

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Customised Training

FOI Solutions provides an in-house, on-site training service. We can deliver customised training on any government law area including FOI, privacy, public interest (protected) disclosures, and other topics. 

A list of some suggested training sessions, that can be used as inspiration for developing a customised session for your agency, is available by contacting us.

Some of the most popular training sessions we conduct for clients include:

  • FOI awareness for agencies – aimed at officers and staff not required to make FOI decisions

  • Privacy awareness for agencies – giving all officers and staff a practical outline and understanding on how privacy laws can affect them on a day-to-day basis

  • Proper decision making – how to prepare a legally effective statement of reasons for decision

  • Complaint handling –outline of what a properly functioning complaint handling system should look like

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Customised Training

FOI Solutions provides an in-house, on-site training service. We can deliver customised training on any government law area including FOI, privacy, public interest (protected) disclosures, and other topics. 

A list of some suggested training sessions, that can be used as inspiration for developing a customised session for your agency, is available by contacting us.

Some of the most popular training sessions we conduct for clients include:

  • FOI awareness for agencies – aimed at officers and staff not required to make FOI decisions

  • Privacy awareness for agencies – giving all officers and staff a practical outline and understanding on how privacy laws can affect them on a day-to-day basis

  • Proper decision making – how to prepare a legally effective statement of reasons for decision

  • Complaint handling –outline of what a properly functioning complaint handling system should look like

Our Publications

Manuals

FOI Solutions has developed comprehensive and easy-to-follow manuals in the FOI/RTI areas. These are designed to assist agencies in handling requests for access to documents or information under the following laws:

  • Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic)
  • Right to Information Act 2009 (Tas)

The manuals include:

  • step-by-step flow charts 
  • simple explanations of how to handle requests for access or assessed disclosure applications
  • template letters for important procedural steps 

For more information or to order a copy, contact us

Case Summaries

Victoria - Monthly

FOI Solutions offers a monthly subscription service to all FOI and Privacy decisions made by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. By subscribing to this service, you will have timely access to the most recent VCAT decisions, in an easy-to-understand format within days or weeks of them being made. These practical summaries will help maintain your knowledge in a non-legalistic way. 

For more information or to subscribe to this invaluable service, click here. 

Victoria – Annual

We publish an annual summary of all decisions of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in FOI and Privacy. Those summaries are practical and easy to read and include:

  • legislation index referring to the main sections of the Acts dealt with in each case
  • comprehensive index of key words and phrases
  • alphabetical case index
  • links to full-text copies of each case.

Annual summaries are available from 2004, providing you with an immediate library of previous cases. To order any of those summaries or for more information, click here. 

Commonwealth – Monthly

FOI Solutions offers a monthly subscription service to all FOI decisions made by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. 

By subscribing to this service, you will have timely access to the most recent decisions, in an easy-to-understand format as soon as possible after they are published. These practical summaries will help maintain your knowledge in a non-legalistic way. 

For more information or to subscribe to this invaluable service, click here. 

Commonwealth – Annual 

In 2020, we will be creating an annual summary of all FOI decisions made by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. 

Those summaries will be practical and easy to read and will include:

  • legislation index referring to the main sections of the FOI Act dealt with in each case
  • comprehensive index of key words and phrases
  • alphabetical case index
  • links to full-text copies of each case.

By subscribing to this service, it will provide you with an immediate library of cases for the immediately preceding year. To register interest in this service or for more information click here.

Principal Officer Information Kit

For Victorian government agencies, we have developed an information kit for principal officers. The Kit details the powers, functions, obligations and duties that principal officers have under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) and Professional Standards made under that Act. 

The Kit includes:

  • a simple flowchart to help agencies determine who their principal officer is
  • a detailed description of powers, functions, obligations and duties 
  • a copy or extract from relevant sourced documents,

providing a comprehensive, self-contained resource. This will help agencies avoid potentially serious and embarrassing consequences from not knowing this information. 

For more information or to order a Kit, click here. 

Public Interest Disclosures

Significant legal changes in Victoria from 2020 will impact on how agencies deal with public interest (protected) disclosures and integrity bodies. The legal obligations on agencies include having appropriate policies and procedures in place. 

FOI Solutions has extensive skills and experience in drafting or reviewing policies and procedures required to be implemented by Victorian government agencies to be compliant with legal requirements. 

For more information, click here.