Freedom of Information

FOI process

• Requesting an FOI

  A valid request for access to council documents under the FOI Act must observe all the following criteria:

  • be in writing (emailed applications are accepted)
  • be accompanied by a non-refundable $32.70 application fee. This fee can be reduced/waived by the provision of a copy of a valid Gold DVA Card, Senior Health Care Card, Pension Concession Card or any other documentation that gives evidence that payment of the fee would cause hardship.
  • provide information that is reasonably necessary to enable the documents to be identified.

  
  To make a request, complete the FOI Request for Information Form (PDF 101 KB).

  Requests can be emailed to Helpfoi@portphillip.vic.gov.au

  FOI Applications and payments by cheque can still be made via Australia Post.

• How to make Freedom of Information payments

  If paying in person at one of Council's Town Halls, payments can be made by credit card, cheque, money order or by cash.

  If paying by mail, currently there are only 2 methods by which Freedom of Information payments can be made:

  1. By cheque or money order via Australia Post.
  2. By direct transfer into Council's bank account. If you wish to make a payment by this method please email Council's FOI Helpdesk at Helpfoi@portphillip.vic.gov.au and the banking details will be provided.

• How long for a response

  Once all the statutory requirements have been met in order to declare requests to be valid the City of Port Phillip initially has 30 days to respond to them. This timeframe can be extended under certain circumstances.

• Fees and charges

  Search and access charges, allowable under the Act, are applicable to each application.

  Current fees and charges

  Service	Cost (AUD)
  Application fee	$32.70
  Search fees	$24.50 per hour or part thereof
  Copying	20 cents per black and white A4 page, or $1 per colour A4 page

  Other charges including transcription are charged as reasonable costs incurred by the agency.