Legislation
On 1 January 1994, local government throughout Victoria, by legislation, was required to respond to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 1993. The legislation requires Councils to provide access to non-exempt information which came into existence up to five years prior to 1 January 1994. Section 17 of the Act requires that a request to access a document must be in writing. However, there is no prescribed form of request. Provided the written request contains sufficient information to enable the agency to identify a document, that is sufficient.
A fee of $22.70 (which may be waived) must accompany a request.
Time Limits
Each agency has 45 days from the date of receipt of a request in which to make a decision as to whether or not it will make the requested document available.
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