Freedom of Information

The object of the Act is to extend, as far as possible, the right of the community to access documents in the possession of the Government of Victoria, including documents held by local councils.

In essence, it gives members of the public a right of access to documents in the possession of Council, which were created or received after 1 January 1989.

All members of the public have the right to apply for access to documents held by council. 

The protection of the public interest and private and business affairs may cause some documents to be exempted from access.

A person is not entitled to obtain access under Freedom of Information (FOI) to a document that:

• contains information that is open to public access or
• is part of a public register or
• in accordance with another Act, where access is subject to a fee or other charge or
• contains information that is available for purchase by the public in accordance with arrangements made by Council

Building plans

If you require a copy of building plans, you will be required to pay a fee via Statutory building fees and not go through the FOI request process. 

Planning permits and endorsed plans

You may request to inspect these documents, free of charge, without an appointment at our office during office hours (as per section 197B). If you wish to inspect documents in person, you do not need to make a FOI request. An FOI request is only needed if you wish to obtain a copy of the documents. 

The Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) prevents the unlawful reproduction of documents without the permission of the owner. In general, an author of a document owns the copyright in that document. If a plan is reproduced to obtain professional advice or as part of a legal process (for example, a VCAT review), specific exemptions under the Copyright Act may apply to enable the plans to be reproduced in those limited circumstances.

This legislation means that inspection of documents at the City must be done without use of any cameras or photography and no reproduction of the documents in question.

If you choose to come in to inspect the documentation/s, all personal and identifiable information will be removed from the document and would not be able to photograph or reproduce the document.

FOI principles

The FOI Act has four basic principles:

1. The public has a legal right of access to information
2. Local governments are required to publish information concerning the documents they hold
3. People may request that inaccurate, incomplete, out-of-date or misleading information in their personal records be amended
4. People may appeal against a decision not to give access to the information or not to amend a personal record.

FOI requests

Under Section 17(2A) of the Act, a Freedom of Information Access request must be accompanied by a non-refundable application fee of $32.70. 

You can submit a valid Freedom of Information request using the below link. You will be provided with the option to make an online card payment of the application fee.

Apply for a FOI request  

You may claim a waiver or reduction of the application fee if payment of the fee would cause hardship. You must use documents to support your hardship claim. Example: Centrelink Healthcare Card / Proof of Volunteer Organisation.

Further charges may be incurred, which can include the cost of accessing the information (that is: retrieval from storage) and photocopying.

Additional fees

Appeals procedure

If a FOI request is denied, the applicant can appeal against the decision. Appeals must be lodged within 28 days of the issue of the response by Council and should be addressed to:

Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner
PO Box 24274
Melbourne VIC 3001
[email protected]

Need to know more...

For all enquiries to access information available to the public, further information on the FOI Act and procedures please contact Customer service on 03 5272 5272 or send an email to [email protected].