Victoria will celebrate the 40th birthday of its ground-breaking Freedom of Information Act by conducting a comprehensive review of the legislation.
Sven Bluemmel, who heads up the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner, has welcomed the deep dive into the legislation.
Victorians make more requests for government information than any other Australian jurisdiction, Bluemmel said.
During 2021-22, Victorians used FoI legislation to make 43,978 requests — an all-time record for the state.
Bluemmel noted the increase in requests creates another problem — a backlog of requests. Agencies struggle to cope with statutory time frames in the legislation.
“We are seeing a continuing trend of Victorians waiting longer to access information,” Bluemmel said. “This goes against the intent of the legislation.”
The commissioner made a recommendation in September 2021 to review the legislation to establish if it could be made more contemporary.
“I warmly welcome this first step towards reform that has been taken by the legislative assembly and the committee,” Bluemmel said.
“It is both an acknowledgement of the importance of the FOI Act to the public’s legal right to access government-held information and a recognition that the current process is falling short of meeting this expectation in a timely way.”
Bluemmel said the inquiry presents an opportunity to overhaul the act to make it fit for purpose in the digital age. It can also “look closely at how access to government-held information can be made simpler, quicker and cheaper for all Victorians”, he said.
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